A shrew that lives beside fresh water and dives to search for prey.
Its back is dark and its underside is white. Bristles under its feet and tail are thought to help it swim.
Along a brook in the Netherlands, researchers tracked 20 Eurasian water shrews by radio in September and October 2022. They recorded 1,065 GPS positions and retained 332 after filtering. For each location, 11 vegetation and landscape variables from airborne LiDAR were entered into a habitat model.
Dense vegetation under one metre had the strongest positive relationship with occurrence; open areas were avoided. Occurrence probability decreased farther from water, although vegetation measures were more important predictors than distance. The results show why habitat assessments may consider fine vegetation structure and edges as well as the waterline. This was one site and a short autumn study.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
In an autumn 2022 study along one Dutch brook, dense vegetation below one metre was strongly associated with occurrence, while open areas were avoided. These local findings offer habitat-management context: vegetation structure in meadows and edges can matter alongside the waterline. The short, single-site study does not establish a formal species-wide conservation category or long-term trend.