TY - JOUR

T1 - Anyone Can Get Old—All You Have to Do Is Live Long Enough

T2 - Understanding Mortality and Life Expectancy in European Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus)

AU - Rasmussen, Sophie Lund

AU - Berg, Thomas B.

AU - Martens, Helle Jakobe

AU - Jones, Owen R.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The European hedgehog is in decline, triggering a need to monitor population dynamics to optimise conservation initiatives directed at this species. By counting periosteal growth lines, we determined the age of 388 dead European hedgehogs collected through citizen science in Denmark. The overall mean age was 1.8 years (1.6 years for females and 2.1 years for males), ranging between 0 and 16 years. We constructed life tables showing life expectancies at 2.1 years for females and 2.6 years for males. We discovered that male hedgehogs were more likely to have died in traffic than females, but traffic-related deaths peaked in July for both sexes. A sex difference was detected for non-traffic deaths, as most males died in July, and most females died in September. We created empirical survivorship curves and hazard curves showing that the risk of death for male hedgehogs remains approximately constant with age. In contrast, the risk of death for females increases with age. Most of the collected road-killed individuals died in rural habitats. The degree of inbreeding did not influence longevity. These new insights are important for preparing conservation strategies for the European hedgehog.

AB - The European hedgehog is in decline, triggering a need to monitor population dynamics to optimise conservation initiatives directed at this species. By counting periosteal growth lines, we determined the age of 388 dead European hedgehogs collected through citizen science in Denmark. The overall mean age was 1.8 years (1.6 years for females and 2.1 years for males), ranging between 0 and 16 years. We constructed life tables showing life expectancies at 2.1 years for females and 2.6 years for males. We discovered that male hedgehogs were more likely to have died in traffic than females, but traffic-related deaths peaked in July for both sexes. A sex difference was detected for non-traffic deaths, as most males died in July, and most females died in September. We created empirical survivorship curves and hazard curves showing that the risk of death for male hedgehogs remains approximately constant with age. In contrast, the risk of death for females increases with age. Most of the collected road-killed individuals died in rural habitats. The degree of inbreeding did not influence longevity. These new insights are important for preparing conservation strategies for the European hedgehog.

KW - age

KW - age structure

KW - European hedgehogs

KW - life tables

KW - matrix models

KW - periosteal growth lines

KW - sex-biased longevity

KW - sex-biased mortality

KW - urban and rural

KW - wildlife conservation

U2 - 10.3390/ani13040626

DO - 10.3390/ani13040626

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36830413

AN - SCOPUS:85148879061

VL - 13

JO - Animals

JF - Animals

SN - 2076-2615

IS - 4

M1 - 626

ER -