Revision of bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780) (Mammalia, Rodentia) distribution in Serbia and Montenegro

The present article represents a complete review of all published data (with corrections) on bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus distribution in Serbia and Montenegro. On the other hand, data of 63 unpublished records stored in the period from 1956 to 1983 in the Mammal Study Collection of the Natural History Museum, Belgrade had not been processed until now. In the period from 1992 to 2004, 29 new findings were recorded, 12 of them outside the currently known area of distribution. New data reveal a wider distribution of bank vole than was known until now, completing and partly modifying previous knowledge about this rodent's bionomy and ecology in Serbia and Montenegro. The occurrence of bank vole in the Prokletije Mountains, Kosovo and Metohija represents its highest known altitude in Europe (2500 m). On the basis of these new data and observations, we can conclude that bank vole is continuously present in small and linear fragments of autochthonous woodlands on plains and hills, and that there are no large discontinuities in its distribution in Serbia and Montenegro, as was assumed earlier. In efforts to preserve overall biological diversity, the example of the bank vole underlines the need to intensify protection and management of woodlands especially remaining fragments of forests on plains and in hills.