Species: Myodes gapperi
Southern Red-backed Vole
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Rodentia
Family
Cricetidae
Genus
Myodes
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Gapper's Red-backed Vole - campagnol de Gapper - campagnol à dos roux de Gapper
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Rodents
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Rodentia - Cricetidae - Myodes - .
Ecology and Life History
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds chiefly on vegetation, seeds, nuts, fungi, some insects; summer diet in Colorado (and much of western U.S.) consists almost entirely of fungi.
Reproduction Comments
Breeds mid-January to late November; peak activity February-October. Gestation lasts 17-19 days. Litters size is 1-9 (average 5.6 in Alberta, 6.5 in Colorado). Litters/year: 1-4 for young, 1-6 for older females in Alberta; 2/year in Colorado (young of year breed).
Ecology Comments
Disperses viable spores of mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (see Maser and Maser 1988). <br><br>Home range varies from 0.25 to 3.5 acres (Merritt and Merritt 1978). Experimentation by Gillis and Nams (1998) suggests that populations separated by an inter-patch distance of 60-70 m likely would be isolated from one another. Mature females are territorial. Populations noncyclic.
Length
16
Weight
42
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-12
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-12
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.LB=S5&CA.MB=S5&CA.NB=S5&CA.NF=SE&CA.NT=S4&CA.NS=S5&CA.NU=SNR&CA.ON=S5&CA.PE=S5&CA.QC=S5&CA.SK=S5&CA.YT=S2&US.AK=S4&US.AZ=S3&US.CO=S5&US.CT=S5&US.GA=S3&US.ID=S5&US.IA=S2&US.KY=S3&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S5&US.MA=S5&US.MI=S5&US.MN=SNR&US.MT=S4&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=S4&US.NM=S3&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S4&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=SH&US.OR=S4&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S4&US.SC=S2&US.SD=S4&US.TN=S4&US.UT=S2&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S5&US.WA=S5&US.WV=S4&US.WI=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Most of forested Canada (northern British Columbia to Labrador) south through the Rocky Mountains to central New Mexico and east-central Arizona, northern Great Plains (to Iowa), northern Great Lakes, New England and Appalachian Mountains (to northern Georgia).