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How do invasive predators and their native prey respond to prescribed fire?

Authors :
Darcy J. Watchorn
Tim S. Doherty
Barbara A. Wilson
Mark J. Garkaklis
Don A. Driscoll
Source :
Ecology and Evolution, Vol 14, Iss 5, Pp n/a-n/a (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
Wiley, 2024.

Abstract

Abstract Fire shapes animal communities by altering resource availability and species interactions, including between predators and prey. In Australia, there is particular concern that two highly damaging invasive predators, the feral cat (Felis catus) and European red fox (Vulpes vulpes), increase their activity in recently burnt areas and exert greater predation pressure on the native prey due to their increased exposure. We tested how prescribed fire occurrence and extent, along with fire history, vegetation, topography, and distance to anthropogenic features (towns and farms), affected the activity (detection frequency) of cats, foxes, and the native mammal community in south‐eastern Australia. We used camera traps to quantify mammal activity before and after a prescribed burn and statistically tested how the fire interacted with these habitat variables to affect mammal activity. We found little evidence that the prescribed fire influenced the activity of cats and foxes and no evidence of an effect on kangaroo or small mammal (

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20457758
Volume :
14
Issue :
5
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.f8111cb33c8547a89b70d48e6e36fff3
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11450