Stealthy at the roadside: Connecting role of roadside hedges and copse for silvicolous, small mammal populations

An important factor in fragmented habitats is the connectivity between major occurrence areas of a species. Two corridors were modeled between two validated occurrences of Muscardinus avellanarius based on a habitat suitability map corrected for recent landscape changes. Especially roadside hedges and copse were identified as connecting landscape elements between woodland habitats occupied by neighboring populations of the hazel dormouse. The two corridors differed in total length (10.9 km vs. 15.5 km) but the longer corridor also had the better mean habitat suitability (0.77 vs. 0.80). The corridor usage was supported by field mapping of species’ individuals and traces. On both corridors hazel nuts gnawed open by M. avellanarius were found. It can be concluded that roadside hedges and copse with a high tree species diversity, a high proportion of deciduous and mixed forest, and a more open canopy play an important role for conservation management of silvicolous small mammals and improve their habitat connectivity. Therefore, continuous roadside hedges and regular copse as stepping stone habitats should be promoted in environmental planning and landscape preservation. Extensive coppicing of hedges, e.g., at highways due to traffic safety should be avoided to maintain landscape connectivity for small mammals.