Threatened species indicate hot-spots of top-down regulation
Date
2009
Authors
Wallach, Arian Dana
O'Neill, Adam J.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 2009; 32(2):127-133
Statement of Responsibility
A. D. Wallach & A. J. O’Neill
Conference Name
Abstract
The introduction of alien mesopredators and herbivores has been implicated as the main driver of mammalian extinction in Australia. Recent studies suggest that the devastating effects of invasive species are mitigated by top-order predators. The survival of many threatened species may therefore depend on the presence and ecological functioning of large predators. Australia's top predator, the dingo (Canis lupus dingo), has been intensively persecuted across the continent and it is extremely rare to find dingo populations that are not being subjected to lethal control. We predicted that the presence of threatened species point out places where dingo populations are relatively intact, and that their absence may indicate that dingoes are either rare or socially fractured. A comparison of a site which harbors a threatened marsupial, the kowari (Dasyuroides byrnei), and a neighboring site where the kowari is absent, offers support for this suggested pattern.
School/Discipline
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
© 2009 Museu de Ciències Naturals