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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Degrees of population-level susceptibility of Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal species to predation by the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus)

James Q. Radford https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6014-0019 A U * , John C. Z. Woinarski https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1712-9500 B , Sarah Legge C D , Marcus Baseler E , Joss Bentley F , Andrew A. Burbidge G , Michael Bode H , Peter Copley I , Nicholas Dexter J , Chris R. Dickman K , Graeme Gillespie L , Brydie Hill L , Chris N. Johnson M , John Kanowski N , Peter Latch O , Mike Letnic P , Adrian Manning D , Peter Menkhorst Q , Nicola Mitchell R , Keith Morris S , Katherine Moseby T , Manda Page S and Jeremy Ringma R
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Bush Heritage Australia, PO Box 329, Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Vic. 8009, Australia.

B Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT 0909, Australia.

C Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.

D Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

E Environmental Resources Information Network, Department of the Environment and Energy, GPO Box 787, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

F Ecosystems and Threatened Species, Office of Environment and Heritage, 11 Farrer Place, Queanbeyan, NSW 2620, Australia.

G Independent Researcher, WA 6014, Australia.

H School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Gardens Point, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

I Conservation and Land Management Branch, Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

J Booderee National Park, Parks Australia, Village Road, Jervis Bay, NSW 2540, Australia.

K Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

L Flora and Fauna Division, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 564 Vanderlin Drive, NT 0828, Australia.

M School of Biological Sciences & Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas. 7005, Australia.

N Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Subiaco East, WA 6008, Australia.

O Terrestrial Species Conservation, Department of the Environment and Energy, GPO Box 787, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

P Centre for Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

Q Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, PO Box 137, Heidelberg, Vic. 3084, Australia.

R School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

S Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA 6983, Australia.

T Arid Recovery, PO Box 147, Roxby Downs 5725; and University of NSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

U Corresponding author. Email: J.Radford@latrobe.edu.au

Wildlife Research 45(7) 645-657 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR18008
Submitted: 18 January 2018  Accepted: 20 September 2018   Published: 21 November 2018

Abstract

Context: Over the last 230 years, the Australian terrestrial mammal fauna has suffered a very high rate of decline and extinction relative to other continents. Predation by the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus) is implicated in many of these extinctions, and in the ongoing decline of many extant species.

Aims: To assess the degree to which Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal species are susceptible at the population level to predation by the red fox and feral cat, and to allocate each species to a category of predator susceptibility.

Methods: We collated the available evidence and complemented this with expert opinion to categorise each Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal species (extinct and extant) into one of four classes of population-level susceptibility to introduced predators (i.e. ‘extreme’, ‘high’, ‘low’ or ‘not susceptible’). We then compared predator susceptibility with conservation status, body size and extent of arboreality; and assessed changes in the occurrence of species in different predator-susceptibility categories between 1788 and 2017.

Key results: Of 246 Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal species (including extinct species), we conclude that 37 species are (or were) extremely predator-susceptible; 52 species are highly predator-susceptible; 112 species are of low susceptibility; and 42 species are not susceptible to predators. Confidence in assigning species to predator-susceptibility categories was strongest for extant threatened mammal species and for extremely predator-susceptible species. Extinct and threatened mammal species are more likely to be predator-susceptible than Least Concern species; arboreal species are less predator-susceptible than ground-dwelling species; and medium-sized species (35 g–3.5 kg) are more predator-susceptible than smaller or larger species.

Conclusions: The effective control of foxes and cats over large areas is likely to assist the population-level recovery of ~63 species – the number of extant species with extreme or high predator susceptibility – which represents ~29% of the extant Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal fauna.

Implications: Categorisation of predator susceptibility is an important tool for conservation management, because the persistence of species with extreme susceptibility will require intensive management (e.g. predator-proof exclosures or predator-free islands), whereas species of lower predator susceptibility can be managed through effective landscape-level suppression of introduced predators.

Additional keywords: invasive species, conservation management, introduced predator-proof exclosures, introduced predator-free islands, wildlife management.


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