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Interactions Between Feral Cats, Foxes, Native Carnivores, and Rabbits in Australia

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Interactions Between Feral Cats, Foxes, Native Carnivores, and Rabbits in Australia FINAL REPORT FOR THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia. Published September 2004 Prepared by: Robley, A1., Reddiex, B1., Arthur T2., Pech R2., and Forsyth, D1., ¹ Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research Department of Sustainability and Environment PO Box 134 Heidelberg Victoria 3084 ² CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Gungahlin Homestead GPO Box 284 Canberra ACT 2601 © Commonwealth of Australia (2004). Information contained in this publication may be copied or reproduced for study, research, information or educational purposes, subject to inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source. This report should be cited as: Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia. Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commonwealth Government or the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. This project (ID number: 40593) was funded by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage through the national threat abatement component of the Natural Heritage Trust. Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................................................................... 1 1 BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 2 OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 3 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 INFORMATION USED............................................................................................................................................... 7 3.2 BACKGROUND TO PREDATOR AND PREDATOR–PREY INTERACTIONS..................................................................... 7 4 LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................................................... 10 4.1 CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE OF PREDATORS ............................................................................................................. 10 4.1.1 Control of both feral cats and foxes (implications for primary and alternative prey)................................ 10 4.1.2 Control of foxes only (implications for primary and alternative prey)....................................................... 13 4.1.3 Control of feral cats only (implications for primary and alternative prey) ................................................ 15 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 17 4.2 INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FERAL CATS AND FOXES ............................................................................................. 18 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 22 4.3 CHANGE IN ABUNDANCE OF PRIMARY PREY (RABBITS) ...................................................................................... 23 4.3.1 Effects of changes in abundance of primary prey on feral cat abundance and impacts on native prey ..... 23 4.3.2 Effects of changes in abundance of primary prey on feral cat diet and impacts on native prey................. 25 4.3.3 Effects of changes in abundance of primary prey on fox abundance and impacts on native species ......... 26 4.3.4 Effects of changes in abundance of primary prey on fox diet and impacts on native prey ......................... 27 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 28 4.4 INTERACTIONS BETWEEN NATIVE AND INTRODUCED PREDATORS, AND RABBITS ............................................... 32 4.4.1 Canids......................................................................................................................................................... 32 4.4.2 Dasyurids.................................................................................................................................................... 32 4.4.3 Raptors........................................................................................................................................................ 33 4.4.4 Varanids...................................................................................................................................................... 34 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 34 5 INTERACTIVE MODELS OF PEST POPULATION DYNAMICS ............................................................... 35 Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 49 6 IMPLICATIONS FOR INTEGRATED CONTROL ......................................................................................... 52 7 GAPS IN KNOWLEDGE ..................................................................................................................................... 53 7.1 PRIORITIES IN CURRENT GAPS IN OUR UNDERSTANDING ....................................................................................... 53 7.1.1 Further information requirements .............................................................................................................. 54 8 FILLING THE GAPS............................................................................................................................................ 55 9 REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................... 57 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 68 APPENDIX............................................................................................................................................................. 69 Interactions between feral cats, foxes, rabbits and native carnivores Figures and Tables Figure 1. Some key processes that may affect interactions between predators and their prey........................7 Figure 2. Total response curves for (a) type II and (b) type III responses (from Sinclair and Krebs 2003). .....9 Figure 3. Distribution of a) fox, b) feral cat and c) European rabbits in Australia............................................20 Figure 4. Location and extent of a) feral cat (n =96) and b) fox control (n = 777) operations in Australia......21 Figure 5. Interactions in a simplified system. ..................................................................................................36 Figure 6. Prey dependent (dotted line) and ratio dependent (solid lines) functional responses. ....................37 Figure 7. Rabbit vegetation models.................................................................................................................38 Figure 8. Fox and rabbit spotlight counts from the Flinders Ranges...............................................................40 Figure 9. Rate of increase of foxes (r) during (a) the recruitment phase (spring – late summer) and (b) the winter decline (late summer to spring), plotted against rabbit index of abundance...................41 Figure 10. Fox rate of increase from (a) peak to peak and from (b) trough to trough plotted against the rabbit index mid-way between the peaks or troughs........................................................................41 Figure 11. Rabbit, cat and fox indices of abundance at Roxby Downs...........................................................42 Figure 12. Cat (open diamonds) and fox (closed squares) functional responses to rabbits in the Flinders Ranges. ............................................................................................................................................43 Figure 13. Simulated population trajectories without additional density dependence in fox population dynamics (i.e. the original Pech and Hood 1998) model (a & b), with density dependence added (c & d, g = 0.0015).................................................................................................................46 Figure 14. Effects of rabbit control on fox population dynamics......................................................................47 Figure 15. Simulated population dynamics using the Pech and Hood (1998) model with feral cats added. ..............................................................................................................................................48 Figure 16. Simulated population dynamics using the Pech and Hood (1998) model with feral cats added. ..............................................................................................................................................49
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