Habitat

The California Meadow Vole is essentially named after the region in which they are found. Microtus californicus is found in the majority of California witch ranges from Eugene, Oregon to El Rosario, Baja California, Mexico (Cudworth and Koprowski 2010). 

There are many different species which are found throughout the country (McGuire 2011). As mentioned in 2002 on Animal Diversity Web by Peronne, Microtus californicus is found in the northern part of Baja California to central Oregon. These voles tend to live in grasslands, woodlands, and shrub lands in this region. This specific species of vole seem to choose very different conditions and habitats to live in compared to other species. They differ in the fact that in some cases, they choose to live in marshy ground, saltwater and freshwater locations, wet meadows, coastal wetlands and dry, grassy hillsides (ADW 2002). Microtus californicus is also recently known to live on Brooks Island, San Francisco Bay, California. The vegetation here is shrub-savannah type and very similar to the habitat on the mainland of California (Anderson and Lidicker 1962). The climate in the San Francisco Bay area is Mediterranean which means there are moderate temperatures throughout the year and winter is the wet season from December to June (Anderson and Lidicker 1962). During the dry season the voles tend to eat the seeds and roots because they do not have green vegetation to eat (Anderson and Lidicker 1962).
       California Meadow Voles are semifossorial which means they live partially underground in burrows. They inhabit grass runways, burrows, and earth tunnels (ADW 2002). There usually is only one opening to these burrows and they are made from cut grass shaped into a ball (Cudworth and Koprowski 2010). They use these runways to move through the regions they live in and also to track others. They track other voles in these runways by following the scents of feces and urine of those voles. Their habitat also determines the size they will be at full growth (ADW 2002.) Certain areas may cause them to be larger or smaller. Meadow voles will usually not invade crops until the plants are tall enough to shelter and cover them (Vertebrate Pest Control Handbook 2009). These voles are also active all year no matter their habitat or in which region they live (Vertebrate Pest Control Handbook 2009).
           
Microtus californicus  does not occupy all of California but rather specific home ranges. The home ranges of these species varies between 68 meters squared and 103 meters squared. When the population density of the  in these home ranges is low they can become temporarily extinct. Also, their survival rates seem to decrease in the summer months specifically June and July because mortality rate increases due to very dry weather. This dry weather shows that the habitat they live in can have a large impact on their populations. (Cudworth and Koprowski 2010).

 

Next, read about the Form and Function of the California Meadow Vole.