doherty-distinctivedietsof-2022.pdf (1.93 MB)
Distinctive diets of eutherian predators in Australia
journal contribution
posted on 2022-11-11, 03:16 authored by Patricia A Fleming, Alyson M Stobo-Wilson, Heather M Crawford, Stuart J Dawson, Chris R Dickman, Tim DohertyTim Doherty, Peter JS Fleming, Thomas M Newsome, Russell Palmer, Jim A Thompson, John CZ WoinarskiIntroduction of the domestic cat and red fox has devastated Australian native fauna. We synthesized Australian diet analyses to identify traits of prey species in cat, fox and dingo diets, which prey were more frequent or distinctive to the diet of each predator, and quantified dietary overlap. Nearly half (45%) of all Australian terrestrial mammal, bird and reptile species occurred in the diets of one or more predators. Cat and dingo diets overlapped least (0.64 ± 0.27,
n
= 24 location/time points) and cat diet changed little over 55 years of study. Cats were more likely to have eaten birds, reptiles and small mammals than foxes or dingoes. Dingo diet remained constant over 53 years and constituted the largest mammal, bird and reptile prey species, including more macropods/potoroids, wombats, monotremes and bandicoots/bilbies than cats or foxes. Fox diet had greater overlap with both cats (0.79 ± 0.20,
n
= 37) and dingoes (0.73 ± 0.21,
n
= 42), fewer distinctive items (plant material, possums/gliders) and significant spatial and temporal heterogeneity over 69 years, suggesting the opportunity for prey switching (especially of mammal prey) to mitigate competition. Our study reinforced concerns about mesopredator impacts upon scarce/threatened species and the need to control foxes and cats for fauna conservation. However, extensive dietary overlap and opportunism, as well as low incidence of mesopredators in dingo diets, precluded resolution of the debate about possible dingo suppression of foxes and cats.
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Journal
Royal Society Open ScienceVolume
9Pagination
1-34Location
London, Eng.Publisher DOI
Open access
- Yes
ISSN
2054-5703eISSN
2054-5703Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalIssue
10Publisher
The Royal SocietyUsage metrics
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