Understanding the ecology and welfare of field voles — keystone prey species supporting Britain's wildlife.
Field vole welfare is shaped by the extreme predation pressure they face as a keystone prey species. As prey for numerous predator species, field voles experience intense predation risk throughout their short lives (average lifespan 6-12 months in the wild). The fear response — freezing, hiding, and escape behaviour — occupies a significant proportion of their active time.
The boom-bust population cycle creates periods of intense competition for resources during peak years, followed by severe food scarcity and starvation as populations crash. Individual welfare during population crash years involves significant mortality from starvation and disease, as density-dependent factors suppress survival.
Habitat management has significant welfare implications. Rough, tussocky grassland provides thermal insulation, foraging substrate, and cover from aerial predators. Loss of this habitat to amenity grassland, intensive agriculture, or development exposes voles to greater thermal stress and predation risk. Maintaining and creating rough grassland benefits field vole welfare and the entire food web they support.