Mammalian Biology 76 (2011) 570–576 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Mammalian Biology journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/mambio Original Investigation Traditional and diversified crops in South Moravia (Czech Republic): Habitat preferences of common vole and mice species Eva Janova a,∗ , Marta Heroldova a , Adam Konecny a , Josef Bryja a,b a Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic b Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic article info Article history: Received 9 September 2010 Accepted 14 April 2011 Keywords: Microtus arvalis Apodemus sylvaticus Agroecosystems Agricultural landscape Crop abstract Substantial changes in the composition of crops in Central Europe during the last two decades (increasing areas of maize, rape and sunflower fields) have significantly influenced the structure and dynamics of animal communities, though there is a lack of data available for small rodents. In this study, we assessed the importance of these three crops for rodents and compared it with traditional crops (alfalfa, barley, wheat). We observed that herbivorous species (especially the common vole) do not live in crops which do not have green leaves near the ground (e.g. sunflower, maize), while mobile granivorous species can inhabit all types of crop. We confirmed the presumed differences in habitat preferences; however we rejected the hypothesis of a general increase of rodent abundance during the vegetative season in man- aged fields. We found that (1) maize and sunflower had no importance for common voles, but they were favored habitats for wood mice; (2) numbers of wood mice in rape decreased during the season, while abundances of common voles increased; (3) common vole populations tended to increase during the season in all suitable crops (alfalfa, barley, wheat, tendency in maize and rape); (4) wood mice popula- tions seemed stable in all crops; i.e. without a seasonal increase. It can be concluded that even if the new crop fields are an important part of the agricultural landscape, they are only a temporal habitat for small mammals, especially granivorous species. © 2011 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. Introduction Many changes in agricultural land usage have occurred during recent decades in Central Europe. New practices, such as privatiza- tion and the introduction of the Agri-Environmental Scheme (AES) under the European Union, have influenced agricultural manage- ment. For example, based on data from the Czech Statistical Office (www.czso.cz; Fig. 1) areas planted with wheat have been stable since the 1970s, while areas of barley and alfalfa increased in the 1970s and 1980s and subsequently decreased slightly in the last 10 years. Notwithstanding these changes, these crops have tradi- tionally been the main agricultural crops planted in Central Europe. However, the area used for the cultivation of rape, sunflower and maize has significantly increased in the Czech Republic since the 1980s and 1990s in response to the increasing demand for these crops. The area of maize has increased fivefold in the last decade, and the area covered by rape has increased continuously during the last 20 years, making it one of the dominant crops in the Czech Republic. Sunflower is widely grown in the south-east of the Czech ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 543422549; fax: +420 543211346. E-mail address: janova.eva@seznam.cz (E. Janova). Republic (South Moravia), although its total production in the entire country is not high (Fig. 1). There are numerous studies on the occurrence and dynamics of small rodents in agroecosystems from Scandinavia (Loman 1991) and the UK (e.g. Tew and Macdonald 1993; Tattersall et al. 1999a,b; Tew et al. 2000; Todd et al. 2000), but these regions are outside the range of the common vole, which is one of the most important rodent pests in Central Europe (e.g. Kratochvil et al. 1959; Babinska- Werka 1979; Zapletal et al. 2001; Zejda et al. 2002). Therefore, it is difficult to compare the composition of rodent communities and their effects on agricultural production in different geographical regions. The majority of studies from Central Europe were carried out some time ago and do not reflect recent changes in crop com- position. They are usually focused on small mammals in traditional crops, while only partial (and often unpublished) data are available about rodents in “new” crops (i.e. maize, rape and sunflower). Traditional crops such as alfalfa and winter wheat are important habitats for overwintering and reproduction in small mam- mals (e.g. Zejda and Nesvadbova 2000; Heroldova et al. 2005; Aschwanden et al. 2007). The lack of information for the new crops; in particular whether rodents reproduce in these fields and how much their densities increase during the vegetative season, makes it difficult to predict the impact of new agricultural practices on small mammal populations and vice versa. Fragmented evidence 1616-5047/$ – see front matter © 2011 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2011.04.003