Study

Potential benefits to water voles Arvicola terrestris of waterside buffer strips in an agri-environment scheme

  • Published source details Critchley C.N.R., Hodkinson D.J. & McKenzie S.E. (1999) Potential benefits to water voles Arvicola terrestris of waterside buffer strips in an agri-environment scheme. Aspects of Applied Biology, 54, 179-184.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Provide buffer strips alongside water courses (rivers and streams)

Action Link
Farmland Conservation
  1. Provide buffer strips alongside water courses (rivers and streams)

    A site comparison study in 1995 and 1997 of two areas under the Habitat Scheme Water Fringe Option in Wiltshire and Kent, UK (Critchley et al. 1999) found that the scheme, which includes establishment of riparian buffer strips (10-30 m wide), resulted in river bank vegetation associated with habitats preferred by water voles Arvicola terrestris (in terms of plant species and vegetation heights). Wetland, grassland or ruderal plant species dominated river bank vegetation in the three rivers studied in Wiltshire (40% wetland, 27% grassland and 6% ruderal species) and comprised over half the species along the one river studied in Kent (21% wetland, 20% grassland and 15% ruderal species). The three sites sampled in Wiltshire in 1997 had a relatively high frequency of vegetation up to 60 cm tall, which has been shown to be important for water voles. In Kent, two of the three sites also tended to have a higher frequency of taller vegetation. The species composition of bankside vegetation was sampled within 20 m long representative sections at 27 sites in the two areas in 1995. At six sites surveyed in 1997, plant species were allocated to different height classes and the number of species in each class summed for each of five 4 m sub-sections.

Output references
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