Multilevel habitat preferences of Apodemus sylvaticus and Clethrionomys glareolus in an intensively cultivated agricultural landscape

Small mammals are considered good model species for assessing the global effects of habitat loss and fragmentation in agricultural landscapes. With the aim of investigating the composition and habitat preferences of the small mammal community in an intensively cultivated area, we sampled the three main “macro-habitats” (wood patches, poplar plantations and crops) available on the western plain of the River Po (North Italy). The influence of habitat variables on each species’ occurrence was assessed at three different scales of observation: “macro-habitat”, “micro-habitat” (i.e. vegetation layers at trap sites) and the landscape level (i.e. land cover in plots of 500 m radius centred on each trap line). Overall, 3344 trap-nights yielded 169 Apodemus sylvaticus, 28 Clethrionomys glareolus and two Sorex araneus. The first species was dominant in all macro-habitats, while the other two species were trapped only in residual wood patches. The thickness of the fine litter was the main micro-habitat factor affect...