Urban Hedgehog Behavioural Responses to Temporary Habitat Disturbance versus Permanent Fragmentation

Anthropogenic activities can result in both transient and permanent changes in the environment. We studied spatial and temporal behavioural responses of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to a transient (open-air music festival) and a permanent (highly fragmented area) disturbance in the city of Berlin, Germany. Activity, foraging and movement patterns were observed in two distinct areas in 2016 and 2017 using a "Before & After" and "Control & Impact" study design. Confronted with a music festival, hedgehogs substantially changed their movement behaviour and nesting patterns and decreased the rhythmic synchronization (DFC) of their activity patterns with the environment. These findings suggest that a music festival is a substantial stressor influencing the trade-off between foraging and risk avoidance. Hedgehogs in a highly fragmented area used larger home ranges and moved faster than in low-fragmented and low-disturbed areas. They also showed behaviours and high DFCs similar to individuals in low-fragmented, low disturbed environment, suggesting that fragmentation posed a moderate challenge which they could accommodate. The acute but transient disturbance of a music festival, therefore, had more substantial and severe behavioural effects than the permanent disturbance through fragmentation. Our results are relevant for the welfare and conservation measure of urban wildlife and highlight the importance of allowing wildlife to avoid urban music festivals by facilitating avoidance behaviours.

It’s the blues Jim, but not as we know it: a response to FitzGibbon et al. (2016)

A cautious approach to managing the impacts of disturbance on free-ranging koala (Phascolactos cinereus) populations is fundamental to effective management of this iconic species. The critique by FitzGibbon et al. (2017) of a pioneering study by Phillips (2016) on the impacts of noise on koalas argued that a departure from aspects of the methods, a disregard for disease issues, other koala mortality data and an onerous approach to mitigation of potential impact detracted from the merit of the work. In response and while acknowledging some departures in evaluation criteria, the primary outcomes arising from the study remain unchanged, concerns about unreported koala mortalities are premature, while mitigation measures proposed by Phillips (2016) have been misinterpreted. Unravelling the implications of anthropogenic disturbance on terrestrial wildlife communities is a rapidly expanding field of ecological study. The work in question provides novel descriptions of aversive behaviour by koalas, each of which remains testable in the context of disturbance ecology, thus laying the foundations for further research to be undertaken.