Marco-Tresserras Jana, López-Iborra Germán M
Department of Ecology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Jul 29;13(15):2453. doi: 10.3390/ani13152453.
Appropriate nesting sites are needed for the presence of European hedgehogs () in an area, along with food availability. However, little attention has been paid to them in the literature. This study aimed at analysing, for the first time, the environmental characteristics of nesting sites chosen by hedgehogs, their spatial distribution and the effect of sex and season on them in two types of urban parks in southeastern Spain. A total of 31 hedgehogs were equipped with GPS devices, and 130 hedgehog nests were located and described. Both sexes had a similar number of nests; however, the spatial distribution of the male nests was larger, and they changed nests more frequently than females. The environment around the nests and hosting structures used also differed between the sexes, with males using a higher variety of nesting structures available and females being more selective. The differences in topography and habitat composition of the two urban parks also affected hedgehog nesting ecology, especially in reference to artificial elements like cat feeders. Further studies of nest locations at a microhabitat level are needed to contribute to a better understanding of a hedgehog's requirements, fostering the design of more effective conservation strategies.
一个地区要有刺猬（）生存，除了食物供应外，还需要合适的筑巢地点。然而，文献中对它们的关注很少。本研究首次旨在分析西班牙东南部两种类型城市公园中刺猬选择的筑巢地点的环境特征、其空间分布以及性别和季节对其的影响。总共为31只刺猬配备了GPS设备，并定位和描述了130个刺猬巢穴。雌雄刺猬的巢穴数量相似；然而，雄性刺猬巢穴的空间分布更大，并且它们比雌性刺猬更频繁地更换巢穴。巢穴周围的环境和所使用的栖息结构在性别上也有所不同，雄性刺猬使用的筑巢结构种类更多，而雌性刺猬则更具选择性。两个城市公园在地形和栖息地组成上的差异也影响了刺猬的筑巢生态，特别是在猫食盆等人工元素方面。需要在微生境层面进一步研究巢穴位置，以有助于更好地了解刺猬的需求，促进制定更有效的保护策略。
