Food over features: supplementary feeding has the strongest influence on hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) occupancy in urban gardens

Abstract

Private residential gardens provide habitats for many species of conservation concern, and often particular garden features are promoted to benefit biodiversity or particular faunal groups and species. However, quantifying and evidencing the benefits of garden features to particular species is challenging because the density and distribution of any feature varies between and within gardens and across wider urban landscapes. Here we present findings from a citizen science project that gathered information from 415 gardens across the City of Chester in the UK, to identify which garden features were related to garden use by Western European hedgehogs ( Erinaceus europaeus ) which is a species of conservation concern across Europe. Anthropogenic supplementary food was the only significant predictor of hedgehog occupancy, with 77.5% (95% CI: 68.8%, 84.3%) of gardens where food was supplied being used, compared to 49.9% (95% CI: 43.8%, 56.0%) in gardens without. Our findings show that no garden features were influential in predicting hedgehog occupancy. This included those features considered “wildlife-friendly” and promoted by conservation charities as being beneficial, such as log piles and bug hotels, illustrating the over-riding effects of supplementary food provisioning influencing garden use by hedgehogs.

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