Ecological factors driving the higher hedgehog (Erinaceus europeaus) density in an urban area compared to the adjacent rural area

Hubert, Pauline; Julliard, Romain; Biagianti, S.; Poulle, Marie-Lazarine

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.05.010

Cited by 114 publications

(142 citation statements)

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“…Here, we focus on the Western European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), a generalist predator of macroinvertebrates, which is increasingly becoming associated with the human environment, such as gardens and rural villages, and less so with agricultural land (Hubert et al 2011;Yarnell et al 2014;Van De Poel et al 2015). In the UK, hedgehog numbers are declining, but with more severe declines in rural than urban areas (JNCC 2010;Aebischer et al 2011;Roos et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) attraction to rural villages in arable landscapes

et al. 2017

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Although residential areas are often unfavourable for wildlife, some species can take advantage of the available shelter and anthropogenic sources of food such as supplementary feeding. The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is increasingly associated with gardens and villages and less so with arable farmland. Suggested drivers for this include the following: hedgehogs' attraction to higher food densities, including natural prey and anthropogenic sources, a greater range of day nest sites and warmer microclimates in rural villages, coupled with decreased risk of predation by badgers (Meles meles). We investigated the contribution of these drivers by radio-tracking hedgehogs on four arable sites, two with badgers present. Seventy-eight hedgehogs were tracked, 32 yielding enough data to calculate home range sizes. At the home range and landscape scales, gardens and buildings were the highest ranked habitats compared with their availability. Woodland and arable land were the lowest ranked compared with their availability. Villages were the most selected habitat for nesting. When hedgehogs were found closer to buildings, their ranges were smaller and we speculate this is due to increased food availability in villages. Where badgers were present hedgehogs remained closer to cover and their home ranges were on average 12.2 ha smaller. On badger-occupied sites, 50% fewer radio-tracking fixes were on arable land. We conclude that resource availability coupled with nest site selection and badger presence drives hedgehogs' selection of rural villages. We found no effect of ambient temperature on habitat use. We recommend focusing conservation efforts on maintaining hedgehog populations in rural villages.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) attraction to rural villages in arable landscapes

et al. 2017

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“…Consistent use of only urban and suburban gardens as opposed to rural regions reduced the potential effect of a higher winter mortality rate in rural areas (Kristiansson 1990;Hubert et al, 2011), and also allowed for further evaluation of urban hedgehog frequency. Predation by badgers is also more intense in rural areas, resulting in higher densities of hedgehogs in urban and suburban areas (Doncaster et al 2001;Hof and Bright 2009;Hubert et al 2011).…”

Section: Data Verificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predation by badgers is also more intense in rural areas, resulting in higher densities of hedgehogs in urban and suburban areas (Doncaster et al 2001;Hof and Bright 2009;Hubert et al 2011). Excluding rural populations thereby helped to reduce these confounding factors.…”

Section: Data Verificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the winter of 2011-2012 was much milder than the 3 previous winters (MetOffice, 2012) so it is probable that many hedgehogs survived hibernation, especially due to the survey being undertaken in urban and suburban areas, where winter mortality is low (Kristiansson, 1990;Hubert et al, 2011).…”

Section: Real Urban Hedgehog Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, urban areas, notably playing fields and gardens, are important habitats for hedgehogs. This is suggested to be because they offer shelter from predation by badgers as well as a range of habitat features suitable for foraging and nesting (Rondinini and Doncaster 2002;Morris 2006;Hubert et al 2011). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biodiversity in urban gardens: Assessing the accuracy of citizen science data on garden hedgehogs

2014

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Urban gardens provide a rich habitat for species that are declining in rural areas. However, collecting data in gardens can be logistically-challenging, time-consuming and intrusive to residents. This study examines the potential of citizen scientists to record hedgehog sightings and collect habitat data within their own gardens using an online questionnaire. Focussing on a charismatic species meant that the number of responses was high (516 responses were obtained in 6 weeks, with a ~ 50:50% split between gardens with and without hedgehog sightings). While many factors commonly thought to influence hedgehog presence (e.g. compost heaps) were present in many hedgehog-frequented gardens, they were not discriminatory as they were also found in gardens where hedgehogs were not seen. Respondents were most likely to have seen hedgehogs in their garden if they had also seen hedgehogs elsewhere in their neighbourhood. However, primary fieldwork using hedgehog 'footprint tunnels' showed that hedgehogs were found to be just as prevalent in gardens in which hedgehogs had previously been reported as gardens where they had not been reported. Combining these results indicates that hedgehogs may be more common in urban and semi-urban gardens than previously believed, and that casual volunteer records of hedgehogs may be influenced more by the observer than by habitat preferences of the animal.When verified, volunteer records can provide useful information, but care is needed in interpreting these data.

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Assessing mammal population densities in response to urbanization using camera trap distance sampling

Li,

Shi,

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Environmental filtering is deemed to play a predominant role in regulating the abundance and distribution of animals during the urbanization process. However, the current knowledge about the effects of urbanization on the population densities of terrestrial mammals is limited. In this study, we compared two invasive mammals (dogs Canis lupus familiaris and cats Felis silvestris) and three indigenous mammals (Siberian weasels Mustela sibirica, Amur hedgehogs Erinaceus amurensis, and Tolai hares Lepus tolai) in response to urbanization using camera trap distance sampling (CTDS) in the rural–urban landscape of Tianjin, China. We used generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to test the specific responses of their densities to levels of urbanization. Invasive dogs (2.63 individuals/km2, 95% CI: 0.91–7.62) exhibited similar density estimations to cats (2.15 individuals/km2, 95% CI: 1.31–3.50). Amur hedgehogs were the most abundant species (6.73 individuals/km2, 95% CI: 3.15–14.38), followed by Tolai hares (2.22 individuals/km2, 95% CI: 0.87–5.68) and Siberian weasels (2.15 individuals/km2, 95% CI: 1.06–4.36). The densities of cats, Siberian weasels, and Amur hedgehogs increased with the level of urbanization. The population densities of dogs and cats were only influenced by urban‐related variables, while the densities of Siberian weasels and Amur hedgehogs were influenced by both urban‐related variables and nature‐related variables. Our findings highlight that the CTDS is a suitable and promising method for wildlife surveys in rural–urban landscapes, and urban wildlife management needs to consider the integrated repercussions of urban‐ and nature‐related factors, especially the critical impacts of green space habitats at finer scales.

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Ecological factors driving the higher hedgehog (Erinaceus europeaus) density in an urban area compared to the adjacent rural area

Cited by 114 publications

References 60 publications

Factors affecting hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) attraction to rural villages in arable landscapes

Factors affecting hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) attraction to rural villages in arable landscapes

Biodiversity in urban gardens: Assessing the accuracy of citizen science data on garden hedgehogs

Assessing mammal population densities in response to urbanization using camera trap distance sampling

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