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Quantifying fine-scale resource selection by introduced European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in ecologically sensitive areas

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Abstract

Introduced predators are important drivers of ecosystem change and can threaten native species. The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) was introduced from Britain into New Zealand where it is currently widespread, including in braided-river environments of the interior cold drylands where it might threaten native species such as riparian ground-nesting birds. The establishment of hedgehogs in braided-river environments may be facilitated by adjacent pastoral landscapes that provide food, primarily invertebrates, and dry shelter. Forays by hedgehogs into native prey habitats, such as riverbed floodplains, increase predation pressure. Understanding the spatial ecology of introduced predators can improve effectiveness of control measures. We assessed spatial resource selection by hedgehogs in a braided-river environment by tracking 27 individuals for 4–8 days in summer and autumn using microGPS-backpacks. We extracted fine-scale landscape variables from a map created using very high resolution satellite imagery to model home range placement within the study area. We also assessed habitat composition and ranking within high-use areas using compositional analysis. Hedgehogs established home ranges in pastoral landscapes containing abundant edges and high vegetation productivity (mainly green pastures and shrubs), and selected pastures and patches of shrubs as high-use areas. Hedgehogs avoided riverbed floodplains, suggesting that reported predation events on ground-nesting birds might be a consequence of secondary predation or individual specialization. We recommend that predation of native species by hedgehogs might be best alleviated if trapping is focused on those areas selected by native fauna of conservation concern (e.g. riverbed floodplains), as well some biologically-determined buffer surrounding these sites.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Department of Conservation Twizel for logistic support and Chris Jones for suggestions on hedgehog handling. Special thanks to, Vivien Eyers, and Mary and Laurence Wallace for providing support during fieldwork in the Mackenzie Basin, and to the Mount Gerald Station for access permission to their lands. Also thanks to Emilio Virgós, Scott Fortmann-Roe and Todd Dennis for advises on data analyses, and Ella Davis from the BBC for media coverage of this project. This project was conducted under University of Otago Animal Ethics Approval 14/08, funded by a Department of Zoology Research Grant (PJS), School of Surveying Research Funds (PBRF), and a Hellaby Grassland Research Trust Fellowship Grant. Mariano R. Recio was funded by a University of Otago Ph.D. scholarship and by MSI grant UOOX09043 to PS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Surveying, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Mariano Rodriguez Recio

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Mariano Rodriguez Recio & Philip J. Seddon

  3. Earth Observation Research Group, CSIR-Natural Resource Environment, Pretoria, South Africa

    Renaud Mathieu

  4. Landcare Research, PO Box 40, Lincoln, 7640, New Zealand

    M. Cecilia Latham & A. David M. Latham

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  1. Mariano Rodriguez Recio
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  2. Renaud Mathieu
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  3. M. Cecilia Latham
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  4. A. David M. Latham
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  5. Philip J. Seddon
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Correspondence to Mariano Rodriguez Recio.

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Rodriguez Recio, M., Mathieu, R., Latham, M.C. et al. Quantifying fine-scale resource selection by introduced European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in ecologically sensitive areas. Biol Invasions 15, 1807–1818 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0410-6

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