| Habitat selection studies provide insight into what species require for survival and successful reproduction. I examined habitat selection by red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) in two boreal forests in Northern Ontario. Previous studies identified a number of habitat features selected by red-backed voles. This variation may be an artefact of resource availability or spatial extent and resolution at which studies have been conducted. To test the influence of spatial resolution on habitat features a generalized mixed-effects model was used to assess habitat selection, while accounting for spatial resolution.; Trapping was conducted biannually (spring and autumn) for two years in two study areas (Kapuskasing and Ear Falls, Ontario), in different landscapes (logged and unlogged) and in a variety of forest stand types. My results show that spatial resolution affected the perception of which habitat features were selected voles, explaining 45% of the variation in the data. Horizontal vegetation density, volume of fine woody debris (<10 cm diameter), soil moisture, lichen, and fern cover, and season also influenced habitat selection, explaining an additional 10% of the variation in the data, suggesting that these habitat features are preferred by red-backed voles. |
