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This document is a corrigendum for an article titled "Unravelling predator-prey interactions in response to planned fire: a case study from the Tanami Desert" published in Wildlife Research. The corrigendum addresses the omission of the Indigenous translation of the short summary in the published version. The translation, provided by Annette Patrick from the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu in the Tanami Desert, is included in the corrigendum. The article itself investigates the impact of fire on bilby-predator interactions, specifically focusing on the threat posed by cats and foxes. The study found that broad-scale fire is likely to have negative consequences for bilby populations due to an increase in fox predation pressure. [Extracted from the article]

Context: Introduced predators pose a significant threat to biodiversity. Understanding how predators interact with other threats such as fire is crucial to developing effective conservation strategies. Aims: We investigated interactions between the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) and two introduced predators, the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus), in response to fire management in a remote part of the Tanami Desert, Australia. Methods: We used motion-sensor cameras and non-invasive genetic sampling to monitor bilbies and predators. We compared activity profiles to determine the level of temporal overlap among species, and used generalised linear modelling to assess the correlation between activity and average normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI; as a proxy for fire-associated environmental change). Finally, we used spatially explicit capture–recapture modelling to estimate cat and bilby densities before and after fire. Key results: Cat and bilby activity declined following fire, whereas fox activity increased (despite only a small proportion of the study area being burnt). Bilbies and foxes showed the greatest overlap in temporal activity (76%), followed by bilbies and cats (71%) and cats and foxes (68%). Bilbies and cats were more likely to be captured in areas with a lower NDVI, whereas foxes were more likely to be captured in areas with a higher NDVI. Bilby density declined significantly following fire, whereas cat density remained constant through time. Conclusions: Declines in bilby activity and density following fire may be attributed to emigration from the study area and/or increases in fox activity. Post-burn emigration could be due to wide scale destruction of important food resources. However, given much of the study area where bilbies were detected remained unburnt, it is more likely that observed declines are related to increases in fox activity and associated increases in predation pressure. Improved understanding may be gained by experimentally manipulating both fire and predator densities. Implications: Increases in fox activity following fire are likely to have devastating consequences for the local bilby population. It is thus vital that appropriate management activities are put in place to protect bilbies from foxes. This may be achieved through a combination of lethal control and indirect methods. Cats and foxes are a significant threat to bilbies, with their impacts likely to be worsened by fire. We used camera-traps and genetic sampling to investigate whether bilby–predator interactions changed in response to planned fire. We found a high level of overlap in activity among the three species, and a general decline in bilby and cat activity, and an increase in fox activity following fire. Our study indicated that broad-scale fire is likely to have negative consequences for bilby populations, most likely owing to an increase in fox predation pressure. Warlpiri : Minija manu pujumalu kalu-jana ngarni walpajirri kuja ka warlu-jangkalku karrimi (ngunjalparla/winingka). Ngulajangka yartiwajirli ka palka-mani kuna-wartirlki panu. Ngulajangka kanarlu-jana nyanyi kuyu-patu marnkurrpa minija, pujuma manu walpajirri yartiwajirla, wita-karri-karrirlki kalu nyinami walpajirri-watiji manu minija-watiji manu nganayiji pujumaju kalu panu nyinami nyampurla walyangkaju (ngurungkaju). Wiri-jarlu warluju ngulaju maju walpajirri-kiji. Pujumaju panu, punku walpajirri-kiji. The translation of this short summary from English to Warlpiri language was provided by Annette Patrick from the community of Lajamanu in the northern Tanami Desert. Warlpiri language is spoken by ~3000 of the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert, north-west of Alice Springs in central Australia. Photograph supplied by H.M. Geyle. This article belongs to the collection Indigenous and cross-cultural wildlife research in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Native mammals continue to suffer widespread and severe declines across northern Australia's tropical savannas. There is an increasing body of evidence that the primary driver of these declines is predation by feral cats (Felis catus) and that this is exacerbated by high-severity disturbance regimes (frequent high-intensity fires, and grazing and trampling by exotic megaherbivores) that simplify habitat, thereby increasing hunting efficiency. The large islands off the northern Australian coast – where some threats are either reduced or absent – provide a means of testing the conceptual model's predictions. Aims: To compare the trajectory and distribution of native mammal populations on two large, adjacent islands with markedly different disturbance regimes. Methods: In 2020 and 2021, we resurveyed 111 historical sites across the two largest of the Tiwi Islands, Bathurst Island (42 sites) and Melville Island (69 sites) that were previously surveyed between 2000 and 2002. The Melville Island sites had also been resurveyed in 2015. We used the same live trapping method used in 2000–2002, supplemented with camera trapping. Key results: On Bathurst Island, feral cats are rare, and we found no significant decrease in native mammal trap success or species richness, and the threatened brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus melibius) appears stable. Conversely, cats occurred at relatively high abundance on Melville Island, and there was a 52% decline in trap success, a 47% reduction in species richness, and a 93% decline in trap success for the brush-tailed rabbit-rat over the 20-year period. The highest decreases in native mammal abundance and richness were in areas that were frequently burnt and had higher activity of feral cats. In contrast, in the absence of cats on Bathurst Island, native mammal abundance increased in frequently burnt areas. Conclusions: While Bathurst Island remains one of Australia's most important refuges for native mammals, neighbouring Melville Island is experiencing severe and ongoing mammal decline. We contend that this pattern primarily reflects the high abundance of cats on Melville Island compared to Bathurst Island. Implications: Native mammal decline in northern Australian savannas is associated with abundant feral cats, but the relative contribution of disturbances in driving cat abundance remains less clear. An improved understanding of the constraints to feral cat populations in tropical savannas could enhance conservation management. Two of northern Australia's largest islands, Melville and Bathurst, were used to explore the drivers of native mammal decline in this region's tropical savannas. By comparing both islands' mammal population trajectories over two decades, Bathurst Island's national significance as a refuge is highlighted, and insights are provided into the link between disturbance regimes, feral cats, and their contributions to mammal declines. This study also provides one of the first examples of a stable native mammal assemblage, a unique and important finding. Photograph by Georgina Neave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pyrodiversity–biodiversity (P–B) hypothesis posits that spatiotemporally variable fire regimes increase wildlife habitat diversity, and that the fine-grained mosaics resulting from small patchy fires enhance biodiversity. This logic underpins the patch mosaic burning (PMB) paradigm and reinforces the benefits of Indigenous fire management, which tends to promote pyrodiversity. However, tests of the P–B hypothesis and PMB paradigm are few. One of the most comprehensive field evaluations—a snapshot study of pre-existing fire mosaics in south-east Australian semi-arid mallee eucalypt woodlands—found little support. To explore the longer-term effects of fire mosaic grain size on habitat availability and biodiversity, we combined published data from the mallee study with a simple fire simulation. We simulated 500 years of landscape burning under different fire sizes. In the resulting mosaics, we assessed the proportional mixture and patch configuration of successional habitat states, then summarised habitat availability through time using a composite index based on the published fire history responses of 22 vertebrate taxa from the mallee study. Small fires formed fine-grained mosaics with a stable habitat mixture and with habitat diversity occurring at fine scales. Large fires formed coarse-grained mosaics with the opposite properties. The fine-grained mosaics maintained optimal habitat availability for vertebrate diversity over 500 years, while the fluctuating habitat mixture in the coarse-grained mosaics was unlikely to maintain maximum vertebrate diversity. Broadly, our results support the P–B hypothesis and justify further field-testing and evaluation of PMB programs to manage both pyrodiversity and biodiversity in the mallee and other flammable landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively little is known about how commitment manifests in couples' everyday lives in a way that orients couples toward their future together. Building on the Investment Model of Commitment, we propose that, in everyday life, individuals with high levels of commitment are more likely to (a) assure their partners about the future of the relationship and (b) behaviorally invest in that future by spending more time in the partner's presence. Results from a sample of individuals (N = 100) suggest that relationship commitment is associated with greater time investment in the relationship (i.e., time spent with the partner in daily life); results from a second sample of couple members (N = 269) replicate this effect and suggest that relationship commitment is associated with the use of daily assurances, which mediate the relationship between commitment and time spent co-present with the partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The introduction of the cat (Felis catus) to Australia has been a key driver of the decline and extinction of the continent’s endemic mammals. Currently, there is no clear long-term solution to controlling feral populations of cats at a landscape scale. As such, understanding how environmental conditions and habitat attributes can mediate the coexistence between introduced predators and native mammals can improve management outcomes for threatened species. Aim. We sought to compare the differences in habitat use by feral cats and a remnant population of the endangered northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) to understand what environmental variables allow these two mesopredators to coexist in tropical savanna of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Methods. We deployed grids of motion-activated cameras three times per year over a 3-year period, across Eucalyptus tetrodonta-dominated plateaux known to be inhabited by feral cats and northern quolls. We modelled the spatial variation in the frequencies of detection of feral cats and northern quolls (referred to as ‘habitat use’), as a function of biotic and abiotic environmental variables by using a generalised linear model for consistent variables and a generalised linear mixed-effect model for fluctuating variables. Key results. Habitat use by feral cats was most frequent in areas with high fire frequencies and low tree basal area, whereas habitat use by northern quolls was most frequent in areas of high basal area of E. tetrodonta (a commonly used den tree species), topographic ruggedness, and long-unburnt savanna. Conclusions. Frequent fires in tropical savanna promote habitat use by feral cats and can result in a reduction of critical habitat for northern quolls. Implications. We postulate that remnant populations of northern quolls on Cape York Peninsula occur in less frequently burnt refugia, primarily on top of plateaux that support high-biomass tropical savanna dominated by E. tetrodonta. Our findings highlighted that threatened mammals can persist alongside introduced predators in tropical savanna but are dependent on the maintenance of structurally complex habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is driving changes in fire frequency and intensity, making it more urgent for conservation managers to understand how species and ecosystems respond. In tropical monsoonal savannas—Earth's most fire‐prone landscapes—ecological fire management aims to prevent intense wildfires late in the dry season through prescribed low‐intensity burns early in the dry season. Riparian habitats embedded within tropical savannas represent critical refuges for biodiversity, yet are particularly fire‐sensitive. Better understanding of the impact of fire—including prescribed burns—on riparian habitats is therefore key but requires long‐term detailed post‐fire monitoring of species' demographic rates, as effects may persist and/or be delayed.We analyse impacts of (prescribed) low‐intensity and (prescribed but escaped) high‐intensity fire in northern Australian riparian and adjacent savanna habitat. We quantify multi‐year impacts on density, survival, reproduction and dispersal of an endangered riparian bird, the western purple‐crowned fairy‐wren (Malurus coronatus coronatus), in a well‐studied individually marked population.Following low‐intensity fire, bird density was reduced by >20% in burnt compared to adjacent unburnt riparian habitat for ≥2.5 years. This was a result of reduced breeding success and recruitment for 2 years immediately following fire, rather than mortality or dispersal of adults.In contrast, high‐intensity fire (in a dry year) resulted in a sharp decline in population density by 50% 2–8 months after fire, with no signs of recovery after 2.5 years. The decline in density was due to post‐fire adult mortality, rather than dispersal. Breeding success of the (few) remaining individuals was low but not detectably lower than in unburnt areas, likely because breeding success was poor overall due to prevailing dry conditions.Synthesis and applications. Even if there is no or very low mortality during fire, and no movement of birds away from burnt areas, both low‐ and high‐intensity fire in the riparian zone reduce population density. However, the mechanism by which this occurs, and recovery time, differs with fire intensity. To minimise impacts of fire on riparian zones in tropical savannas, we suggest employing low‐intensity prescribed burns under optimal conditions shortly after the breeding season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The bourgeoning carbon economy is creating novel ways to incentivise conservation management activities that have the co-benefits of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and social inequality. Aim. To estimate the monetary value of carbon credits that landowners could generate by reducing ecologically destructive feral populations of the Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in northern Australia. Methods. First, we estimated buffalo enteric emissions based on the population structure of feral buffalo in northern Australia, and discounted the reduction of fire emissions due to the consumption of grassy fuel by feral buffalo. We then predicted the change in buffalo population size across the South Alligator River region of Kakadu National Park under four buffalo management scenarios: (1) no buffalo control; (2) low-intensity buffalo control; (3) moderate-intensity buffalo control; and (4) high-intensity buffalo control. We quantified the reduction of GHG emissions under the three buffalo control scenarios, relative to the scenario of no buffalo control, while discounting the GHG emissions that directly result from buffalo control actions (e.g. helicopter emissions). Key results. All three buffalo control scenarios substantially reduced the estimated GHG emissions that would otherwise have been produced. The low-intensity buffalo control scenario was predicted to abate 790 513 t CO2-e over the 20-year simulation, worth USD15 076 085 (or USD753 804 year-1). Our high-intensity buffalo control scenario had the greatest reduction in GHG emissions, with a total net abatement of 913 231 t CO2-e, worth USD17 176 437 (or USD858 822 year-1). Conclusions. The potential value of carbon credits generated by controlling feral buffalo populations in northern Australian savannas far exceeds the management costs. Implications. The management of feral ruminants could be incentivised by the generation of carbon credits. Such management could simultaneously avoid GHG emissions, generate income for landowners and offer significant ecological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is a dominant ecological force shaping many faunal communities globally. Fire affects fauna either directly, such as by killing individuals, or indirectly, such as by modifying vegetation structure. Vegetation structure itself also modulates fire frequency and intensity. As such, faunal responses to fire need to be seen through the lens of variable fire activity and vegetation structure. Here, we incorporate information on fire activity and vegetation structure to enhance an understanding of the response of ants to long‐term (17‐year) experimental fire treatments in an extremely fire‐prone tropical savanna in northern Australia. Previous analysis revealed limited divergence in ant communities after 5 years of experimental fire treatment. Hence, we first investigated the extent to which ant communities diverged over a subsequent 12 years of treatment. We then assessed the relative contribution of fire treatment, cumulative fire intensity (fire activity), and woody cover to responses of ant species frequency of occurrence, richness, and composition. We found that, even after 17 years, fire treatments explained little variation in any ant response variable. In contrast, woody cover was a strong predictor for all of them, while fire activity was a moderate predictor for abundance and richness. Ant species occurrence and richness increased in open habitats receiving higher levels of fire activity, compared with plots with higher vegetation cover experiencing low (or no) fire activity. Moreover, species composition differed between plots with high and low vegetation cover. Our findings provide experimental support to the principle that the effects of fire on fauna are primarily indirect, via its effect on vegetation structure. Furthermore, our results show that a "uniform" fire regime does not have uniform impacts on the ant fauna, because of variability imposed by interactions between vegetation structure and fire activity. This helps to explain why there is often a weak relationship between pyrodiversity and biodiversity, and it lessens the need for active management of pyrodiversity to maintain biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging research program on population and geographic range dynamics of Australia's mammals illustrates an approach to better understand and respond to geographic range collapses of threatened wildlife in general. In 1788, Europeans colonized an Australia with a diverse and largely endemic mammal fauna, where many species that are now extinct or threatened were common and widespread. Subsequent population declines, range collapses and extinctions were caused by introduced predators and herbivores, altered land use, modified fire regimes and the synergies between these threats. Declines in population and range size continue for many Australian mammals despite legislative protection and conservation interventions. Here, we propose an approach that integrates museum data and other historical records into process‐explicit macroecological models to better resolve mammal distributions and abundances as they were at European arrival. We then illustrate how this integrative approach can identify the likely synergistic mechanisms causing mammal population declines across these and other landscapes. This emerging research approach, undertaken with fine temporal and spatial resolution, but at large geographic scales, will provide valuable insights into the different pathways to, and drivers of, extinction. Such insights may, in turn, underpin conservation strategies based on a process‐explicit understanding of population decline and range collapse under alternative scenarios of impending climate and environmental change. Given that similar information is available for other regional biotas, the approach we describe here can be adapted to conserve threatened wildlife in other regions across the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical savannas are characterized by high primary productivity and high fire frequency, such that much of the carbon captured by vegetation is rapidly returned to the atmosphere. Hence, there have been suggestions that management‐driven reductions in savanna fire frequency and/or severity could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon in tree biomass. However, a key knowledge gap is the extent to which savanna tree biomass will respond to modest shifts in fire regimes due to plausible, large‐scale management interventions. Here, we: (1) characterize relationships between the frequency and severity of fires and key demographic rates of savanna trees, based on long‐term observations in vegetation monitoring plots across northern Australia; (2) use these relationships to develop a process‐explicit demographic model describing the effects of fire on savanna tree populations; and (3) use the demographic model to address the question: to what extent is it feasible, through the strategic application of prescribed burning, to increase tree biomass in Australian tropical savannas? Our long‐term tree monitoring dataset included observations of 12,344 tagged trees in 236 plots, monitored for between 3 and 24 years. Analysis of this dataset showed that frequent high‐severity fires significantly reduced savanna tree recruitment, survival, and growth. Our demographic model suggested that: (1) despite the negative effects of frequent high‐severity fires on demographic rates, savanna tree biomass appears to be suppressed by only a relatively small amount by contemporary fire regimes, characterized by a mix of low‐ to high‐severity fires; and (2) plausible, management‐driven reductions in the frequency of high‐severity fires are likely to lead to increases in tree biomass of about 11.0 t DM ha−1 (95% CI: −1.2–20.8) over a century. Accounting for this increase in carbon storage could generate significant carbon credits, worth, on average, three times those generated annually by current greenhouse gas (methane and nitrous oxide) abatement projects, and has the potential to significantly increase the economic viability of fire/carbon projects, thereby promoting ecologically sustainable management of tropical savannas in Australia and elsewhere. This growing industry has the potential to bring much‐needed economic activity to savanna landscapes, without compromising important natural and cultural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predation by feral cats (Felis catus) has caused the extinction of many native species in Australia and globally. There is growing evidence that the impacts of feral cats can be amplified in post‐fire environments, as cats are drawn to hunt in or around recently burnt areas and are also more effective hunters in open habitats. In 2018–2019, we established arrays of camera traps to estimate the abundance of feral cats on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Much of the island (including five of our seven survey sites) was subsequently burnt in a severe wildfire (December 2019–February 2020). We re‐sampled the sites 3–8 months post‐fire (seven sites) and 11–12 months post‐fire (three sites). At two unburnt sites sampled post‐fire, it was possible to produce density estimates of cats using a spatially explicit capture–recapture approach. Where estimating density was not possible (due to low detections or individual cats not being distinguishable), the number of individuals and percentage of trap nights with detections was compared between the sampling periods. Some low‐level cat control occurred within 2 km of three of the seven arrays (all within the burn scar) within 3 months of the fire. Across the five burnt sites, there was a decline in cat detections post‐fire (including those without post‐fire cat control). At 3–8 months post‐fire, there was, on average, a 57% reduction in the number of individual cats, and a 65% reduction in the number of nights with cat detections, relative to pre‐fire levels. Although cat detections declined following the fire, reduced population sizes of prey species and reduced cover as a result of the fire might still mean that cat predation is a threat to some surviving prey species. Management that reduces feral cat predation pressure on wildlife following wildfire should enhance the likelihood of post‐fire wildlife persistence and recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]