A continental‐scale analysis of feral cat diet in Australia

Doherty, Tim S.; Davis, Robert A.; Etten, Eddie van; Algar, Dave; Collier, Neil; Dickman, Chris R.; Edwards, Glenn; Masters, Pip; Palmer, Russell; Robinson, Sue

doi:10.1111/jbi.12469

Cited by 188 publications

(185 citation statements)

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“…Species such as cats (Felis catus), rats (Rattus rattus), mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), and stoats (Mustela erminea) threaten biodiversity through predation (4,5), competition (6), disease transmission (7), and facilitation with other invasive species (8). The decline and extinction of native species due to invasive predators can have impacts that cascade throughout entire ecosystems (9).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Doherty

Glen

Nimmo

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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910

762

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Invasive species threaten biodiversity globally, and invasive mammalian predators are particularly damaging, having contributed to considerable species decline and extinction. We provide a global metaanalysis of these impacts and reveal their full extent. Invasive predators are implicated in 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10 reptile species extinctions-58% of these groups' contemporary extinctions worldwide. These figures are likely underestimated because 23 critically endangered species that we assessed are classed as "possibly extinct." Invasive mammalian predators endanger a further 596 species at risk of extinction, with cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs threatening the most species overall. Species most at risk from predators have high evolutionary distinctiveness and inhabit insular environments. Invasive mammalian predators are therefore important drivers of irreversible loss of phylogenetic diversity worldwide. That most impacted species are insular indicates that management of invasive predators on islands should be a global conservation priority. Understanding and mitigating the impact of invasive mammalian predators is essential for reducing the rate of global biodiversity loss.I nvasive mammalian predators ("invasive predators" hereafter) are arguably the most damaging group of alien animal species for global biodiversity (1-3). Species such as cats (Felis catus), rats (Rattus rattus), mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), and stoats (Mustela erminea) threaten biodiversity through predation (4, 5), competition (6), disease transmission (7), and facilitation with other invasive species (8). The decline and extinction of native species due to invasive predators can have impacts that cascade throughout entire ecosystems (9). For example, predation by feral cats and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) has led to the decline or extinction of two thirds of Australia's digging mammal species over the past 200 y (10, 11). Reduced disturbance to topsoil in the absence of digging mammals has led to impoverished landscapes where little organic matter accumulates and rates of seed germination are low (10). In the Aleutian archipelago, predation of seabirds by introduced Arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus) has lowered nutrient input and soil fertility, ultimately causing vegetation to transform from grasslands to dwarf shrub/forb-dominated systems (12).Mitigating the negative impacts of invasive mammalian predators is a primary goal of conservation agencies worldwide (1,13,14). Regardless, there remains no global synthesis of the role of invasive predators in species declines and extinctions (but see refs. 3 and 15). Here, we quantify the number of bird, mammal, and reptile species threatened by, or thought to have become extinct (since AD 1500) due to, invasive mammalian predators. We use metaanalysis to examine taxonomic and geographic trends in these impacts and show how the severity of predator impacts varies according to species endemicity and evolutionary distinctiveness. Results and DiscussionIn total, 596 threatened and 142 extinc...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Doherty

Glen

Nimmo

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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910

762

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“…26% of recent extinctions (Doherty et al, 2016b). Furthermore, Doherty et al (2015a) for Australia and adjacent islands and Bonnaud et al (2011) for the rest of the world's islands, listed 16 and 29 IUCN Red-listed threatened vertebrate species respectively, in the diets of feral cats. Strong variations exist in the feral cat diet, mainly explained by biogeographic and bioclimatic factors, along with prey availability Doherty et al, 2015a;Medina et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, Doherty et al (2015a) for Australia and adjacent islands and Bonnaud et al (2011) for the rest of the world's islands, listed 16 and 29 IUCN Red-listed threatened vertebrate species respectively, in the diets of feral cats. Strong variations exist in the feral cat diet, mainly explained by biogeographic and bioclimatic factors, along with prey availability Doherty et al, 2015a;Medina et al, 2011). Bonnaud et al (2011) andDoherty et al (2015a) showed that feral cats on islands feed on a wide range of prey, including medium-sized and small vertebrates (birds, reptiles, marsupials, rodents, bats, frogs, fish, and both medium-sized and large exotic mammals) and invertebrates (Bonnaud et al, 2015;Hilmer et al, 2010;Turner and Bateson, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feral cats threaten the outstanding endemic fauna of the New Caledonia biodiversity hotspot

Palmas

Jourdan

Rigault

et al. 2017

Biological Conservation

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A B S T R A C TFeral cats (Felis catus) are one of the most successful and harmful invasive predator species, leading to dramatic loss of biodiversity across the globe. Our study assessed feral cat predation in a major biodiversity hotspot: the New Caledonian archipelago. We focused on the consequences of this predation for the outstanding endemic fauna found throughout the rich range of New Caledonian natural habitats. We analyzed > 5300 cat scats sampled from 14 selected sites representing the 4 main natural habitats, with 4 to 6 sampling sessions per year over > 4 years per habitat. Our study reveals previously unreported patterns of cat predation on both alien and endemic species. Throughout the archipelago, cats prey strongly upon squamates, flying foxes and petrels. Feral cat prey included at least 44 native vertebrate species, 20 of which are IUCN Red-listed threatened species. This study adds some 44.4% to the number of IUCN threatened species vulnerable to and preyed upon by feral cats on the world's islands. New Caledonia, while it represents only 0.12% of the total area of islands worldwide (Australia included), hosts 30.8% of IUCN threatened species known to be predated by feral cats. This study recommends prioritizing management and conservation strategies by focusing actions on maquis mosaic and humid forest habitats, where feral cats pose the greatest threat. To limit the impact of feral cats, we recommend conducting targeted management actions on sites key to threatened species conservation, and preventing arrival or promoting eradication on islets.

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“…Yet the Australian public remains largely oblivious to the mammal extinction record (Flannery, 2012), perhaps because almost all extinct species (with the exception of the thylacine, Thylacinus cynocephalus) are cryptic, small rodents and marsupials (Woinarski et al, 2015). While the extinction and decline of the Australian mammal fauna are likely a result of the combined impacts of threatening processes, introduced predators have been implicated in the extinction of at least 16 species (Doherty et al, 2015, Johnson, 2006.…”

Section: Australian Mammal Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Australia, wild, feral populations of the species are now ubiquitous in all biomes across the continent (Denny and Dickman, 2010). Feral cats are opportunistic, efficient generalist carnivores, and are now considered to have a principal role in not only the extinction but also the recent decline of many native Australian mammal species (Doherty et al, 2015). Indeed, they are listed as a Key Threatening Process under the…”

Section: The Predominant Threat To Australian Mammals -Introduced Faunamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecology and Conservation of a New Carnivorous Marsupial Species: the Silver-Headed Antechinus (Antechinus argentus)

Mason¹

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The genus Antechinus comprises 15 species of small carnivorous marsupials endemic to Australia. Five of these have been described since 2012 on the basis of combined genetic, morphological and ecological data. One new species, the threatened silver-headed antechinus (Antechinus argentus) was described in 2013. When the present study commenced the species had only been found at one location: the south-eastern plateau of Kroombit Tops National Park, south-west of Gladstone in mid-east Queensland, Australia -an area encompassing less than 10 km 2 . However, the study that described the species was based on data obtained from only 15 individuals used for taxonomic description; thus, little was known about the biology of A.argentus. Therefore, the major component of the present study investigated three broad areas of the species' ecology for which knowledge was sparse or non-existent, with the aim of providing foundational ecological knowledge to prioritise conservation management: 1. dietary strategy and composition; 2.life-history traits; 3. post-fire habitat use. Additional work was carried out to examine the potential influence of rainfall patterns on population dynamics of A. argentus, and widespread trapping surveys were undertaken with the aim of establishing a cogent distributional range of the species, which resulted in the discovery of a second population ~200 km distant from the type locality.During 2014, faecal pellets were collected each month (March-September) from a population at the type locality to gather baseline data on diet composition. A total of 38 faecal pellets were collected from 12 individuals (eight females, four males) and microscopic analysis of pellets identified seven invertebrate orders, with 70% combined mean composition of beetles (Coleoptera: 38%) and cockroaches (Blattodea: 32%). Other orders that featured as prey were ants, crickets/grasshoppers, butterflies/moths, spiders, and true bugs. Given that faecal pellets could only be collected from a single habitat type (Eucalyptus montivaga high-altitude open forest) and location, this was best described as a generalist insectivorous diet that is characteristic of other previously studied congeners.iv Antechinuses are well-known for their spectacular annual male die-off at the close of a one-to three-week mating period. The genus also displays sexual dimorphism for size-males are up to three times heavier than females. The A.argentus population studied at Kroombit Tops National Park over two years followed the trends of the genus, with strong evidence of both a synchronised male die-off (in June/July) and significantly larger males than females. Two proximate sites where A. argentus was previously known to occur were surveyed. Unexpectedly, there was a marked difference in A. argentus numbers between years and sites. It was hypothesised that the disparate capture rates between sites may be at least in part linked to the effects of fire on vegetation.Management of critical habitat for threatened species with small ranges requ...

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A continental‐scale analysis of feral cat diet in Australia

Cited by 188 publications

References 52 publications

Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Feral cats threaten the outstanding endemic fauna of the New Caledonia biodiversity hotspot

Ecology and Conservation of a New Carnivorous Marsupial Species: the Silver-Headed Antechinus (Antechinus argentus)

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