Abstract Agricultural intensification causes habitat modification, sometimes leading to habitat loss and subsequent loss of connectivity. Remaining species in these agriculture-dominated landscapes often use hedgerows, such as windbreaks or riparian strips, as movement corridors or even as habitats. However, the understanding of the use of these hedgerows by mammals is limited and could be improved with the use of high-resolution remote sensing data, which are unbiased, detailed and repeatable. The aim of this study was to assess the attributes that affect medium- and large-sized mammals’ use of hedgerows, with in situ and remotely sensed data (including LiDAR and multispectral images) in an agriculture-dominated landscape in southern Quebec. Twenty-three hedgerows were selected and characterized with both field surveys and remote sensing analyses, like LiDAR metrics and vegetation indices. Wildlife frequentation of each hedgerow was measured using camera traps, from late spring to early fall in 2018. 431 mammal detections were obtained among all 23 hedgerows. From this, seven species were recorded, all of them opportunistic and well adapted to agricultural environment. Results showed significant differences in mammal use of hedgerows. Coefficients of the better-ranked models based on AICc indicated a positive relationship between hedgerow length and their use by mammals, and a negative relationship with the hedgerow width. Hedgerow use by mammals also increased as tree cover and understory density increased, and as human disturbance decreased. These results characterized for the first time the variables influencing hedgerow use by a broad set of medium- and large-sized mammal species and confirmed their use as movement corridors and/or habitat. This study also confirmed the complementary usefulness of variables derived from remote sensing combined with field data. The low explanatory power of variables often cited in the literature (e.g. NDVI, gappiness) also highlights the need to further explore their specific influence on mammals. The information provided by this study supports the beneficial role played by hedgerows for wildlife conservation in intensive agricultural landscapes. Management guidelines are provided as well as future research avenues.

中文翻译：

---

哺乳动物在集约化农业景观中使用树篱

摘要 农业集约化导致栖息地改变，有时会导致栖息地丧失和随后的连通性丧失。这些以农业为主的景观中的剩余物种通常使用树篱，例如防风林或河岸带，作为运动走廊甚至栖息地。然而，哺乳动物对这些树篱使用的理解是有限的，可以通过使用无偏见、详细和可重复的高分辨率遥感数据加以改进。本研究的目的是利用魁北克南部以农业为主的景观中的原位和遥感数据（包括激光雷达和多光谱图像）评估影响中型和大型哺乳动物使用树篱的属性。通过实地调查和遥感分析，选择并表征了 23 个树篱，像 LiDAR 指标和植被指数。从 2018 年春末到秋初，使用相机陷阱测量了每个树篱的野生动物频率。在所有 23 个树篱中检测到了 431 只哺乳动物。由此，记录了七个物种，它们都是机会主义的并且很好地适应了农业环境。结果显示哺乳动物对树篱的使用存在显着差异。基于 AICc 的排名较好的模型的系数表明，树篱长度与其被哺乳动物使用之间呈正相关，而与树篱宽度呈负相关。随着树木覆盖和林下密度的增加以及人类干扰的减少，哺乳动物对绿篱的使用也增加了。这些结果首次表征了影响范围广泛的中型和大型哺乳动物物种对绿篱使用的变量，并证实了它们作为运动走廊和/或栖息地的用途。这项研究还证实了从遥感得出的变量与现场数据相结合的互补作用。文献中经常引用的变量（例如 NDVI、gappiness）的低解释力也凸显了进一步探索它们对哺乳动物的具体影响的必要性。本研究提供的信息支持植物篱在集约化农业景观中对野生动物保护所发挥的有益作用。提供了管理指南以及未来的研究途径。这项研究还证实了从遥感得出的变量与现场数据相结合的互补作用。文献中经常引用的变量（例如 NDVI、gappiness）的低解释力也凸显了进一步探索它们对哺乳动物的具体影响的必要性。本研究提供的信息支持树篱在集约化农业景观中对野生动物保护所发挥的有益作用。提供了管理指南以及未来的研究途径。这项研究还证实了从遥感得出的变量与现场数据相结合的互补作用。文献中经常引用的变量（例如 NDVI、gappiness）的低解释力也凸显了进一步探索它们对哺乳动物的具体影响的必要性。本研究提供的信息支持植物篱在集约化农业景观中对野生动物保护所发挥的有益作用。提供了管理指南以及未来的研究途径。本研究提供的信息支持树篱在集约化农业景观中对野生动物保护所发挥的有益作用。提供了管理指南以及未来的研究途径。本研究提供的信息支持植物篱在集约化农业景观中对野生动物保护所发挥的有益作用。提供了管理指南以及未来的研究途径。