RURAL ROADS AS BARRIERS TO THE MOVEMENTS OF SMALL MAMMALS

Over the last 50 years increasing fragmentation of habitats has occurred due to road building. Fragmenting a large population into smaller ones can have a negative effect on population demography. In England much small mammal habitat occurs in suburban and rural areas where the majority of roads are either single track or two lanes, and traffic density is light. This study investigated the effect of minor roads on the movements of two small mammals, the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) and bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Capture-Mark-Recapture was used to study movements beside and across rural roads of two different widths. The results suggest that even small roads less than 6metres wide, with relatively little traffic, do act as partial barriers for these small mammals, reducing their movement between habitats on either side of the road. It is evident that island populations are being created as a result of road construction, even access roads within nature reserves.