Functional responses of an apex predator and a mesopredator to an invading ungulate: Dingoes, red foxes and sambar deer in south‐east Australia

Conserving large carnivores is controversial because they can threaten wildlife, human safety, and livestock production. Since large carnivores often have large ranges, effective management requires knowledge of how their ecology and functional roles vary biogeographically. We examine continental‐scale patterns in the diet of the dingo – Australia's largest terrestrial mammalian predator. We describe and quantify how dingo dietary composition and diversity vary with environmental productivity and across five bioclimatic zones: arid, semi‐arid, tropical, sub‐tropical, and temperate. Based on 73 published and unpublished data sets from throughout the continent, we used multivariate linear modelling to assess regional trends in the occurrence of nine food groups (arthropods, birds, reptiles, European rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, medium‐sized [25–125 kg] and large [169–825 kg] exotic ungulates [including livestock], and other small [<0.5 kg], medium‐sized [0.5–6.9 kg] and large [≥7 kg] mammals) in dingo diets. We also assessed regional patterns in the dietary occurrence of livestock and the relationship between dietary occurrence of rabbits and small, medium‐sized and large mammals. Dingoes eat at least 229 vertebrate species (66% mammals, 22% birds, 11% reptiles, and 1% other taxa). Dietary composition varied across bioclimatic zones, with dingo diets in the arid and semi‐arid zones (low‐productivity sites) having the highest occurrence of arthropods, reptiles, birds, and rabbits. Medium‐sized mammals occurred most frequently in temperate and sub‐tropical zone diets (high‐productivity sites), large mammals least in the arid and sub‐tropical zones, and livestock most in the arid and tropical zones. The frequency of rabbits in diets was negatively correlated with that of medium‐sized, but not small or large mammals. Dingoes have a flexible and generalist diet that differs among bioclimatic zones and with environmental productivity in Australia. Future research should focus on examining how dingo diets are affected by local prey availability and human‐induced changes to prey communities.

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“…) and temporal (Corbett & Newsome , Paltridge , Forsyth et al. , Stokeld et al. ) variation in prey availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continental patterns in the diet of a top predator: Australia's dingo

et al. 2018

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“…Line thickness indicates the strength of the interaction between the two threats. References: [1] Forsyth, McLeod, Scroggie, and White (), [2] Forsyth et al (), [3] May and Norton (), [4] Colman, Gordon, Crowther, and Letnic (), [5] Lindenmayer et al (), [6] Hradsky et al ()…”

Section: ‘Threat Webs’: Beyond Bivariate Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat webs: Reframing the co‐occurrence and interactions of threats to biodiversity

Geary

Nimmo

Doherty

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Interactions between threatening processes and their effects on biodiversity are a major focus of ecological research and management. Threat interactions arise when threats or their effects co-occur spatially and temporally.2. Whether the associations between threats are coincidental or causally linked is poorly understood, but has fundamental impacts on how, when and where threats should be managed. We propose that examining threat co-occurrence, supplemented by experiments and triangulation of evidence, can help identify when and where threats interact causally, informing pressing biodiversity management goals.3. Using case studies, we demonstrate how co-occurring and interacting threats can be visualized as networks (threat webs) and how this could guide conservation interventions at local, regional and global scales. Synthesis and applications.Recognizing that threats co-occur and interact as networks, and are potentially driven by multiple agents (e.g. other threats, shared environmental drivers), helps us understand their dynamics and impacts on ecosystems. This greater understanding can help facilitate more targeted, efficient and effective environmental management.Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of the article.How to cite this article: Geary WL, Nimmo DG, Doherty TS, Ritchie EG, Tulloch AIT. Threat webs: Reframing the cooccurrence and interactions of threats to biodiversity.

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“…There are important knowledge gaps associated with the ecology of all wild deer species in Victoria, including sambar deer (Davis et al 2016). Analysis of harvest and capture rates per unit of effort have been used as indices of abundance for deer in Victoria (Forsyth et al 2018), however, more accurate estimates of abundance using methods such as mark recapture have not been carried out for any of Victoria's wild deer species. Furthermore, there are very few studies describing home range, habitat use and dispersal patterns for invasive wild deer in Victoria (Davis et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A DNA toolbox for non-invasive genetic studies of sambar deer (Rusa unicolor)

Davies¹,

Wright²,

Wedrowicz³

et al. 2020

Aust. Mammalogy

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Invasive sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) are having significant detrimental impacts on natural environments in south-eastern Australia. Little, however, is known about their ecology, limiting evidence-based management strategies directed at reducing deer impacts. Genetic data, generated from DNA isolated from deer scats, can be used to fill ecological knowledge gaps. This study outlines a non-invasive genetic sampling strategy by which good-quality DNA from a single deer scat can be used to determine (1) species of origin, (2) sex and (3) a unique DNA profile. DNA from deer tissue and sambar deer scat samples were used to develop and optimise molecular methods to collect reliable genetic information. A DNA toolbox is presented that describes how to find, collect and store scat samples, isolate DNA and use molecular markers to generate informative genetic data. Generating genetic data using this approach will support studies aimed at acquiring ecological knowledge about sambar deer. Such knowledge will be critical for developing evidence-based recommendations to improve on-ground management decisions for sambar deer.

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Functional responses of an apex predator and a mesopredator to an invading ungulate: Dingoes, red foxes and sambar deer in south‐east Australia

Cited by 23 publications

References 60 publications

Continental patterns in the diet of a top predator: Australia's dingo

Continental patterns in the diet of a top predator: Australia's dingo

Threat webs: Reframing the co‐occurrence and interactions of threats to biodiversity

A DNA toolbox for non-invasive genetic studies of sambar deer (Rusa unicolor)

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