Mice on the move: wheat rows as a means to increase permeability in agricultural landscapes

A crucial factor in determining the persistence of animal populations in fragmented landscapes is the individual’s ability to move through a hostile man-made environment (the agricultural matrix). Previous studies suggested appropriate orientation of manioc plantation rows as a possible means to facilitate animal movements and to increase landscape functional connectivity. The goal of our work was to broaden our understanding of plantation rows as a means to increase permeability in cereal-crop-dominated landscapes. In particular, we focused on (a) analyzing animals’ ability to localize and move towards habitat fragments in different matrix types (i.e. their perceptual ranges) and (b) testing whether the orientation of wheat rows acted as dispersal route during three stages of the wheat plant maturation. We carried out release experiments in an agricultural landscape of central Italy on three species of rodents: two forest specialists (Apodemus flavicollis and Myodes glareolus) and a habitat generalist (Apodemus sylvaticus). We released individuals in three matrix types (a bare field, a grass field and a wheat field at three maturation stages) and followed their movements. We found that (a) perceptual ranges were species- and matrix-specific, (b) individuals followed plantation rows when moving through the matrix at any stage of wheat growth, including recently planted wheat, (c) in the grass field individuals did not follow any preferential direction. These results provide strong empirical evidence that wheat plantation rows should be planted orientated between habitat patches and should be considered as a complementary conservation strategy to increase connectivity in agricultural landscapes.