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Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal

SAMANTHA SHOVE, Lilith Zecherle Bitton Orcid Logo, Simon Allen Orcid Logo, Gabrielle M. K. Howell Orcid Logo, Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo

Ecology and Evolution, Volume: 15, Issue: 4

Swansea University Authors: SAMANTHA SHOVE, Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/ece3.71201

Abstract

Understanding how landscape connectivity affects gene flow can help to guide the management of animal species of conservation concern. One such species is the West European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), which has seen significant declines across its distribution, with the highest rate of declines...

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Published in: Ecology and Evolution
ISSN: 2045-7758 2045-7758
Published: Wiley 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69132
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spelling 2025-04-10T11:30:15.2223920 v2 69132 2025-03-21 Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal 52153752d0169af408382c169459c078 SAMANTHA SHOVE SAMANTHA SHOVE true false 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe 0000-0002-4455-6065 Hazel Nichols Hazel Nichols true false 2025-03-21 Understanding how landscape connectivity affects gene flow can help to guide the management of animal species of conservation concern. One such species is the West European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), which has seen significant declines across its distribution, with the highest rate of declines being reported in rural areas of the UK. The drivers of these declines are not well understood, but anthropogenic changes in the landscape such as modified agricultural practices and increased road traffic have been proposed to play a part. These impacts are likely to fragment populations into smaller sub-populations, leading to genetic differentiation and depletion. Here, we used genetic (microsatellite) and landscape data to investigate the impact of habitat resistance and landscape features (roads and waterways) on the genetic structure of hedgehogs across a 5800 km2 area of South Wales, UK. We found evidence of weak genetic structuring, with four genetic clusters present across the study area, but many individuals were admixed. We found no evidence that this genetic structure was related to roads, waterways, habitat resistance, or geographic distance, suggesting that hedgehogs may be able to disperse across these potential barriers frequently enough to minimise genetic fragmentation. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding the interactions between a species and the wider landscape to inform conservation management. Journal Article Ecology and Evolution 15 4 Wiley 2045-7758 2045-7758 conservation management; dispersal barriers; gene flow; genetic structure; habitat resistance; hedgehogs; landscape connectivity; landscape resistance 7 4 2025 2025-04-07 10.1002/ece3.71201 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-04-10T11:30:15.2223920 2025-03-21T09:37:41.5073002 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences SAMANTHA SHOVE 1 Lilith Zecherle Bitton 0000-0001-6444-7512 2 Simon Allen 0000-0003-1280-1385 3 Gabrielle M. K. Howell 0009-0002-8105-1987 4 Hazel Nichols 0000-0002-4455-6065 5 69132__33982__7d135900e09141beb93c62958cf8a778.pdf 69132.VoR.pdf 2025-04-10T11:27:42.6577890 Output 590447 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
spellingShingle Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
SAMANTHA SHOVE
Hazel Nichols
title_short Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
title_full Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
title_fullStr Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
title_full_unstemmed Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
title_sort Evidence for High Levels of Gene Flow in Hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) Across South Wales, UK, Despite Potential Anthropogenic and Natural Barriers to Dispersal
author_id_str_mv 52153752d0169af408382c169459c078
43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe
author_id_fullname_str_mv 52153752d0169af408382c169459c078_***_SAMANTHA SHOVE
43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe_***_Hazel Nichols
author SAMANTHA SHOVE
Hazel Nichols
author2 SAMANTHA SHOVE
Lilith Zecherle Bitton
Simon Allen
Gabrielle M. K. Howell
Hazel Nichols
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container_title Ecology and Evolution
container_volume 15
container_issue 4
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
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doi_str_mv 10.1002/ece3.71201
publisher Wiley
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hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
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department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Understanding how landscape connectivity affects gene flow can help to guide the management of animal species of conservation concern. One such species is the West European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), which has seen significant declines across its distribution, with the highest rate of declines being reported in rural areas of the UK. The drivers of these declines are not well understood, but anthropogenic changes in the landscape such as modified agricultural practices and increased road traffic have been proposed to play a part. These impacts are likely to fragment populations into smaller sub-populations, leading to genetic differentiation and depletion. Here, we used genetic (microsatellite) and landscape data to investigate the impact of habitat resistance and landscape features (roads and waterways) on the genetic structure of hedgehogs across a 5800 km2 area of South Wales, UK. We found evidence of weak genetic structuring, with four genetic clusters present across the study area, but many individuals were admixed. We found no evidence that this genetic structure was related to roads, waterways, habitat resistance, or geographic distance, suggesting that hedgehogs may be able to disperse across these potential barriers frequently enough to minimise genetic fragmentation. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding the interactions between a species and the wider landscape to inform conservation management.
published_date 2025-04-07T05:27:22Z
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