Evaluating different factors affecting nesting patterns of European and Algerian hedgehogs in urban and sub-urban environments

Abstract

Animals in urban environments are confronted with a high degree of habitat fragmentation. Small more natural or undisturbed areas embedded within the urban matrix serve as important refuges for wildlife. Hedgehogs are known to inhabit such areas, however, many unknowns remain when considering the effect of urbanization on certain biological aspects, like nesting behaviour. Thus, we captured and tracked the movement of 72 male hedgehogs of two coexisting species: the Algerian and the European Hedgehog. The study was carried out in two distinct study sites in the municipality of Valencia (eastern Spain). We recorded every nest the individuals visited, a total of 318. We distinguished six macrohabitat types and five subhabitat types. In each case, we analysed the proportions of macro and subhabitats the nests were found in by calculating a resource selection function and fitting GLMs. We also analysed the distances between nests fitting a GLM. Our results indicate that hedgehog nests clearly tend to concentrate in areas with low human disturbance and that nests are preferably build in hedges or under bush-like vegetation. In general we did not find significant differences between species or other groupings we considered. We also found that, in the more urbanized study area, nests were closer together and distributed around scarcely found suitable habitat patches. Our results suggest that hedgehog conservation in urban environments can be improved by a correct management of forest patches, conserving bush-like vegetation and improving the connectivity between suitable patches with ecological corridors.