Daily energy expenditure in the face of predation: hedgehog energetics in rural landscapes

Abstract

Failure to balance daily energy expenditure (DEE) with energy intake can have an impact on survival and reproduction, and therefore on the persistence of populations. Here we study the DEE of the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), which is declining in the UK. We hypothesise that there is a gradient of suitable habitat for hedgehogs in rural areas, which is a result of fewer food resources, a higher risk from predation by badgers (Meles meles) and colder ambient temperatures, as distance to the nearest building increases. We used the doubly labelled water method to obtain 44 measurements of DEE from hedgehogs on four predominately arable sites, to determine the energetic costs associated with proximity to buildings, on sites with and without badgers. The mean±s.e.m. DEE was 508.9±34.8 kJ day . DEE increased the further a hedgehog was from buildings during the study, possibly as they ranged larger distances on arable land, supporting the hypothesis that hedgehogs select villages owing to the lower energy demands in comparison to arable farmland. Hedgehogs had an approximately 30% lower DEE on sites with badgers. We speculate that on badger-occupied sites, hedgehogs may restrict movement and foraging in response to a threat from predation and thus have reduced DEE. Therefore, hedgehogs may also seek refuge in villages where the perceived threat of predation is lower and foraging is unrestricted. In a broader context, we demonstrate that individual differences in DEE can aid in understanding habitat selection in a patchily distributed species.

Forest structure and snow depth alter the movement patterns and subsequent expenditures of a forest carnivore, the Pacific marten

“…Additional research on the potential energetic associations of behaviors (e.g. dispersal; Benoit et al 2019, predator avoidance;Pettett et al 2017), life-stage (e.g. reproductive female; Fletcher et al 2012), or social status (e.g.…”

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

“…These findings indicate that amenity grassland is a valuable foraging habitat for hedgehogs and could explain why hedgehogs select villages. Hedgehogs were also frequently located at food left out specifically for hedgehogs or for pets, indicating that supplementary food availability is also important in determining hedgehog habitat use (Hubert et al 2011;Pettett 2016).…”

“…lower earthworm abundance, on arable land than on mowed grass habitats in rural villages (Doncaster 1992;Doncaster 1994;Doncaster et al 2001), and the availability of supplementary food, which might require hedgehogs to forage further on arable land. Increased locomotion may be energetically costly (Kenagy and Hoyt 1989;Covell et al 1996) and this could be a driver of hedgehogs' preference of villages (Pettett et al 2017). However, further study of prey availability in rural villages compared with arable land is needed to substantiate this.…”

“…Badgers are thought to limit hedgehog numbers in rural areas (Hof and Bright 2010a) and hedgehog abundance on grass fields is negatively correlated with badger activity and sett density in the local area (Micol et al 1994;Young et al 2006). The mechanism for this relationship is unknown, it may be due to direct predation (Doncaster 1994;Hof and Bright 2010a;Trewby et al 2014), avoidance of badgers (Hof et al 2012;Pettett et al 2017) or competition for food (Doncaster 1992). Badgers avoid building setts in residential areas (Neal and Cheeseman 1996) and therefore villages may act as refuge from badger predation (Doncaster 1994), although badgers can become quite abundant on the outskirts of urban areas (Davison et al 2008).…”

An easy, flexible solution to attach devices to hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) enables long‐term high‐resolution studies

“…This procedure is harmless because spines are made of keratin throughout and do not contain nerves or blood vessels. In contrast to previous studies of hedgehogs (Abu Baker, Reeve, Conkey, Macdonald, & Yamaguchi, ; Abu Baker et al, ; Braaker et al, ; Pettett, Johnson, et al, ; Pettett, Moorhouse, Johnson, & Macdonald, ; Reeve, ; Warwick et al, ), we used hot glue to attach the back plate because a mobile hot glue gun (neo1, Steinel Vertrieb GmbH, Herzebrock‐Clarholz, Germany) can be used very quickly and precisely and is cost effective. Hot glue sets within seconds and is therefore much faster and deliquesces much less than other commonly used and in this project previously tested glues and epoxies.…”