Title |
Impacts of Removing Badgers on Localised Counts of Hedgehogs
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, April 2014
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0095477 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Iain D. Trewby, Richard Young, Robbie A. McDonald, Gavin J. Wilson, John Davison, Neil Walker, Andrew Robertson, C. Patrick Doncaster, Richard J. Delahay |
Abstract |
Experimental evidence of the interactions among mammalian predators that eat or compete with one another is rare, due to the ethical and logistical challenges of managing wild populations in a controlled and replicated way. Here, we report on the opportunistic use of a replicated and controlled culling experiment (the Randomised Badger Culling Trial) to investigate the relationship between two sympatric predators: European badgers Meles meles and western European hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus. In areas of preferred habitat (amenity grassland), counts of hedgehogs more than doubled over a 5-year period from the start of badger culling (from 0.9 ha-1 pre-cull to 2.4 ha-1 post-cull), whereas hedgehog counts did not change where there was no badger culling (0.3-0.3 hedgehogs ha-1). This trial provides experimental evidence for mesopredator release as an outcome of management of a top predator. |
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Scientists | 26 | 9% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 10 | 3% |
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Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
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United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
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Unknown | 113 | 98% |
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Student > Bachelor | 25 | 22% |
Researcher | 20 | 17% |
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Student > Master | 12 | 10% |
Other | 5 | 4% |
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Unknown | 28 | 24% |
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Unknown | 29 | 25% |