The common hamster as a synurbist: a history of settlement in european cities

Abstract

Following the expansion of agriculture in the Neolithic period, the common hamster has spread throughout Europe, and occurred abundantly until the recent past. However, in the last 45 years, populations declined markedly, partly attributable to urbanization and to major changes in agricultural practices. As a result, the species has been considered endangered at international levels as well as in most European countries. At the same time, the species has established populations in large Central and Eastern-European cities such as Vienna (Austria), Simferopol (Ukraine) and Nalchik (Russia), where it inhabits green spaces such as parks, gardens, embankments and buffer strips. In an attempt to reveal factors enabling hamsters to cope with urban environments, we reviewed historical data and habitat conditions of several urban hamster populations. We suggest that supplemental food resources and reduced predation pressure were the main factors promoting urban occurrence of common hamsters in the last 30 years. Its notable adaptability may be associated with higher stress resilience, ecological opportunism, polyphagy and higher fertility compared to species Unauthenticated Download Date | 5/13/18 9:19 AM 114 NATALIA -YU. relying on non-urban habitats. The phenomenon of synurbization implies coexistence of wildlife and our urban civilization, but at the same time conflicting interests in conservation and urban development. Thus, the common hamster might serve as a model species for efficient mitigation and compensation concepts in urbanism and spatial planning.

Hamsters in the city: A study on the behaviour of a population of common hamsters (Cricetus cricetus) in urban environment

“…The limited use of vocal communication in hamsters could explain their tolerance of, and/or indifference to, ambient noises [11,40,43]. This result is consistent with reports of burrows located along main streets that are high-traffic roads in Simferopol, Ukraine [11,16]. Moreover, the studied population has lived near this hospital for many generations and is probably accustomed to these repetitive disturbances [44], which are similar to a background noise, whatever their intensity.…”

“…It demonstrates some flexibility specific to urban context, which have been described above [14,15]. Nonetheless, this species–native to environments such as the steppes and grasslands–is usually found in agricultural areas of Europe and Asia [16]. The destruction of its natural habitat mainly caused by changes in agricultural practices and urban spread could explain its presence in towns [11,17].…”

“…It is thus of prime interest to study populations that have succeeded to adapt to an urban environment [21]. Some urban populations have been monitored for several years, providing information about settlement and distribution of populations as well as about reproduction and hibernation [11,16,22]. Nevertheless, knowledge is still missing on behaviour, an aspect addressed by few studies but not in depth [23,24].…”

All things considered? Alternative reasons for hamster extinction

“…European hamsters vanished nearly completely from the steppe zone but retreated to the forest-steppe zone, which is certainly richer of deep tree roots. Furthermore, the fact that hamsters are doing quite well in some towns (FEOKTISTOVA et al 2013), might be explained by a soil, which is extremely rich of vertical and horizontal structures (foundations of buildings, caves, stones and other demolition waste, tree roots in parks and gardens, pavements, pipelines, cable channels). Moreover, its surface remains in large parts untreated.…”

Circle of life: the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) adaptations to the urban environment

“…Once one of the most widespread rodent species in Eurasia, although their abundance has dramatically declined, is the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus Linnaeus, 1758) (Surov et al 2016a). Although considered endangered, stable populations of the common hamster were found in cities and suburbs across its range , including Germany (Feoktistova et al 2013), Poland (Hędrzak et al 2018), the Czech Republic (Petrova et al 2018 and Slovakia (Čanády 2013). The largest population of the common hamster in Central Europe is in Vienna, Austria (Schmelzer & Millesi 2008;Hoffmann 2011).…”