Utilisation of stranded marine fauna washed ashore on K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia, by dingoes
Linda Behrendorff
A B D , Luke K.-P. Leung A and Benjamin L. Allen C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia.
B Present address: Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment and Science, K’gari (Fraser Island), Qld 4581, Australia.
C Institute for Agriculture and the Environment, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: linda.behrendorff@des.qld.gov.au
Australian Journal of Zoology 66(2) 128-138 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO18022
Submitted: 1 April 2018 Accepted: 9 September 2018 Published: 11 October 2018
Abstract
Stranded marine fauna have been identified as a potentially significant food resource for terrestrial carnivores, but how such subsidisation influences terrestrial species ecology is not well understood. We describe the dietary and behavioural responses of dingoes (Canis familiaris) to the occurrence of large-animal marine strandings (e.g. dead cetaceans, marine turtles and pinnipeds) between 2006 and 2016 on K’gari (Fraser Island), Australia, to better understand the trophic links between marine and terrestrial systems. A total of 309 strandings were recorded during this period (~3.1 strandings per month), yielding an annual average of 30.3 tons of available carrion to the 100–200 dingoes present on the island. Carcass monitoring with camera traps showed that dingoes used carcasses almost daily after a short period of decomposition. Whole packs of up to seven dingoes of all age classes at a time were observed visiting carcasses for multiple successive days. These data demonstrate that large-animal marine subsidies can be a common, substantial and important food source for dingoes, and that the estimated daily dietary needs of roughly 5–10% of the island’s dingo population were supported by this food source. Our data suggest that marine subsidisation can influence terrestrial carnivore diet, behaviour and abundance, which may produce cascading indirect effects for terrestrial ecosystems in contexts where subsidised carnivores interact strongly with other species.
Additional keywords: apex predator, Canis lupus dingo, feeding behaviour, intraspecific competition, resource subsidies.
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