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Home/Species/ Eastern Meadow Vole

Microtus pennsylvanicus

(Ord, 1815)

Eastern Meadow Vole

G5Secure Found in 4 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
UnknownThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1322604
Element CodeAMAFF11230
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilyCricetidae
GenusMicrotus
Concept Reference
Jackson, D. J., and J. A. Cook. 2020. A precarious future for distinctive peripheral populations of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus). Journal of Mammalogy 101(1):36-51.
Taxonomic Comments
Following Jackson and Cook (2020) and accepted by the American Society of Mammalogists (2025), the taxonomy of Microtus pennsylvanicus has been revised, with the eastern clade now identified as M. pennsylvanicus (Ord 1815), the western clade as M. drummondii (Audubon and Bachman 1853), and the coastal Florida clade as M. dukecampbelli (Woods, Post, and Kilpatrick 1982). In addition, their analyses support the hypothesis that M. breweri is nested within the Eastern clade of M. pennsylvanicus.

Subspecies include acadicus, breweri, copelandi, enixus, fontigenus, labradorius, magdalenensis, nesophilus, nigrans, pennsylvanicus, provectus, shattucki, and terraenovae (Jackson and Cook 2020).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-08-18
Change Date2025-08-18
Edition Date2025-08-18
Edition AuthorsSears, N.
Threat ImpactUnknown
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This species is widespread in eastern North America and common in many areas.
Range Extent Comments
This is a wide-ranging species in the eastern United States and Canada, ranging from Labrador and New Brunswick, Canada, south to South Carolina and extreme northeastern Georgia; west through Tennessee to Ohio, USA.
Occurrences Comments
This species is known from a large number of occurrences.
Threat Impact Comments
Threats have not been assessed.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Found in a wide variety of habitats from dry pastures and wooded swamps to marshes and orchards. Needs loose organic soils for tunneling. Builds extensive underground tunnels. Nests in these tunnels under rocks or logs, and in self-constructed grassy clumps.

Ecology

Home range seldom exceeds 0.25 acres (Banfield 1974). Successful homing of 11 of 848 voles displaced 1.2 km indicates that dispersal distance likely is more than 1 km (Ostfeld and Manson 1996, J. Mamm. 77:870-873).

Cyclic density fluctuations may occur every 2-5 years (Krebs and Myers 1974). High densities of 50-60 per acre not unusual; average densities probably closer to 8-10 per acre (Baker 1983).

Can affect old-field succession through seedling predation (Ostfeld and Canham 1993).

Reproduction

Breeds throughout year, if snow provides an insulating layer. Peak breeding activity occurs April-October. Gestation lasts about 21 days. Litter size is 1-9 (average 4-5); litter size is smaller in fall than in spring/summer; 5-10 litters per year.
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralSavannaGrassland/herbaceousOld fieldCropland/hedgerow
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
Prince Edward IslandS5Yes
QuebecSNRYes
LabradorS5Yes
Island of NewfoundlandS5Yes
Nova ScotiaS5Yes
New BrunswickS5Yes
United StatesNNR
ProvinceRankNative
TennesseeSNRYes
IndianaS5Yes
District of ColumbiaSNRYes
VermontS5Yes
MissouriS4Yes
South CarolinaSNRYes
MassachusettsSUYes
New HampshireSNRYes
MaineS5Yes
New JerseySNRYes
New YorkS5Yes
West VirginiaS4Yes
MarylandSNRYes
ConnecticutSNRYes
DelawareSNRYes
VirginiaS5Yes
North CarolinaSNRYes
GeorgiaSNRYes
Rhode IslandSNRYes
PennsylvaniaS5Yes
MichiganS5Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
Unknown/undetermined———

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Roadless Areas (4)
New Hampshire (1)
AreaForestAcres
WatervilleWhite Mountain National Forest4,312
Pennsylvania (1)
AreaForestAcres
Allegheny FrontAllegheny National Forest7,430
Virginia (2)
AreaForestAcres
Brush MountainJefferson National Forest6,002
Mill MountainGeorge Washington National Forest10,840
References (28)
  1. Allen, G.M. 1942. Extinct and vanishing mammals of the Western Hemisphere. Am. Comm. Int. Wild. Prot., Spec. Prob. No. ll. 620 pp.
  2. Ambrose, H.W. 1973. An experimental study of some factors affecting the spatial and temporal activity of Microtis pennsylvanicus. J. Mamm. 54:79-110.
  3. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2025. Mammal Diversity Database (Version 1.13) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10595931. Online. Available: https://www.mammaldiversity.org/
  4. Baker, R. H. 1983. Michigan mammals. Michigan State University Press. 642 pp.
  5. Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
  6. Chamberlain, J.L. 1954. The Block Island Meadow Mouse, <i>Microtus provectus</i>. J. Mammal. 35:587-589.
  7. Clark, B. K., and D. W. Kaufman. 1990. Short-term responses of small mammals to experimental fire in tallgrass prairie. Can. J. Zool. 68:2450-2454.
  8. Conner, P. F. 1971. The mammals of Long Island, New York. New York State Mus. Science Serv., Bull. No. 416. 78 pp.
  9. Conroy, C. J., and J. A. Cook. 2000. Molecular systematics of a Holarctic rodent (<i>Microtus</i>: Muridae). Journal of Mammalogy 81:344-359.
  10. Frey, J. K. 1992. Response of a mammalian faunal element to climatic changes. J. Mamm. 73:43-50.
  11. Godin, A. J. 1977. Wild mammals of New England. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 304 pp.
  12. Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I &amp; II. John Wiley &amp; Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
  13. Hamilton, W. J., Jr., and J. O. Whitaker, Jr. 1979. Mammals of the eastern United States. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 346 pp.
  14. Jackson, D. J., and J. A. Cook. 2020. A precarious future for distinctive peripheral populations of meadow voles (<i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 101(1):36-51.
  15. Jones, J. K., Jr., R. S. Hoffman, D. W. Rice, C. Jones, R. J. Baker, and M. D. Engstrom. 1992a. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1991. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University, 146:1-23.
  16. Krebs, C.J. and J.H. Myers. 1974. Population cycles in small mammals. Adv. Ecol. Res. 8:267-399.
  17. Modi, W. S. 1986. Karyotypic differentiation among two sibling species pairs of New World microtine rodents. J. Mammalogy 67:159-165.
  18. Moore, D. W., and L. L. Janecek. 1990. Genic relationships among North American <i>Microtus </i>(Mammalia: Rodentia). Ann. Carnegie Mus. 59:249-259.
  19. Moyer, C. A., G. H. Adler, and R. H. Tamarin. 1988. Systematics of New England <i>Microtus</i>, with emphasis on <i>Microtus breweri</i>. Journal of Mammalogy 69:782-794.
  20. Ostfeld, R. S., and C. D. Canham. 1993. Effects of meadow vole population density on tree seedling survival in old fields. Ecology 74:1792-1801.
  21. Plante, Y., P. T. Boag, and B. N. White. 1989. Macrogeographic variation in mitochondrial DNA of meadow voles (<i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>). Can. J. Zool. 67:158-167.
  22. Reich, L.M. 1981. <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>. Am. Soc. Mamm., Mammalian Species No. 159. 8pp.
  23. Schwartz, C. W., and E. R. Schwartz. 1981. The wild mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia. 356 pp.
  24. Sullivan, T. P., and D. S. Sullivan. 1988. Influence of alternative foods on vole populations and damge in apple orchards. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 16:170-175.
  25. Swihart, R. K. 1990. Quebracho, thiram, and methiocarb reduce consumption of apple twigs by meadow voles. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 18:162-166.
  26. Tamarin, R. H., editor. 1985. Biology of New World <i>Microtus</i>. American Soc. Mamm. Special Publication (8):1-893.
  27. Tobin, M. E., and M. E. Richmond. 1993. Vole management in fruit orchards. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Report 5. ii + 18 pp.
  28. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.