New mammal species for Latvia, the root vole (Microtus oeconomus)

Abstract

In the summer of 1989, a single adult male root vole (Microtus oeconomus) was trapped in the meadow at Kovališki, Latvia. It was registered in the site, characterised by low small mammal diversity (nine species, Shannon’s H = 0.97). Among three sampled habitats in the Kovališki site, meadow had most diverse small mammal composition, while forest and swamp were characterised by three species each in the period of 1984–1990. This is the first record of M. oeconomus for Latvia, thereby also expanding the known distribution range. This finding is very much in line with the north and eastward spread of the species in Lithuania, an expansion that started in the Nemunas Delta and, at least partly, tied to land abandonment in the years since the 1990s creating suitable habitat for M. oeconomus. Its distribution in Baltic countries is still however limited to Lithuania and, possibly, closely adjacent areas in Latvia. Old records of M. oeconomus from Estonia were not confirmed in the last decades.