Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia
Top predators in terrestrial ecosystems may limit populations of smaller predators that could otherwise become over abundant and cause declines and extinctions of some prey. It is therefore possible that top predators indirectly protect many species of prey from excessive predation. This effect has...
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ftanucanberra:oai:digitalcollections.anu.edu.au:1885/17890 2023-05-15T15:50:56+02:00 Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia Johnson, Christopher Isaac, Joanne Fisher, Diana 2015-12-07T22:15:22Z http://hdl.handle.net/1885/17890 unknown Royal Society of London 0962-8452 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/17890 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences Keywords: biodiversity canid local extinction marsupial niche overlap population decline predator prey capture survival terrestrial ecosystem article Australia biodiversity dingo ecosystem food chain food web nonhuman predation risk pr Canis lupus dingo Extinction Mesopredator release Predation Trophic cascade Journal article 2015 ftanucanberra 2015-12-21T23:18:08Z Top predators in terrestrial ecosystems may limit populations of smaller predators that could otherwise become over abundant and cause declines and extinctions of some prey. It is therefore possible that top predators indirectly protect many species of prey from excessive predation. This effect has been demonstrated in some small-scale studies, but it is not known how general or important it is in maintaining prey biodiversity. During the last 150 years, Australia has suffered the world's highest rate of mammal decline and extinction, and most evidence points to introduced mid-sized predators (the red fox and the feral cat) as the cause. Here, we test the idea that the decline of Australia's largest native predator, the dingo, played a role in these extinctions. Dingoes were persecuted from the beginning of European settlement in Australia and have been eliminated or made rare over large parts of the continent. We show a strong positive relationship between the survival of marsupials and the geographical overlap with high-density dingo populations. Our results suggest that the rarity of dingoes was a critical factor which allowed smaller predators to overwhelm marsupial prey, triggering extinction over much of the continent. This is evidence of a crucial role of top predators in maintaining prey biodiversity at large scales in terrestrial ecosystems and suggests that many remaining Australian mammals would benefit from the positive management of dingoes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections |
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Open Polar |
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Australian National University: ANU Digital Collections |
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ftanucanberra |
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Keywords: biodiversity canid local extinction marsupial niche overlap population decline predator prey capture survival terrestrial ecosystem article Australia biodiversity dingo ecosystem food chain food web nonhuman predation risk pr Canis lupus dingo Extinction Mesopredator release Predation Trophic cascade |
spellingShingle |
Keywords: biodiversity canid local extinction marsupial niche overlap population decline predator prey capture survival terrestrial ecosystem article Australia biodiversity dingo ecosystem food chain food web nonhuman predation risk pr Canis lupus dingo Extinction Mesopredator release Predation Trophic cascade Johnson, Christopher Isaac, Joanne Fisher, Diana Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
topic_facet |
Keywords: biodiversity canid local extinction marsupial niche overlap population decline predator prey capture survival terrestrial ecosystem article Australia biodiversity dingo ecosystem food chain food web nonhuman predation risk pr Canis lupus dingo Extinction Mesopredator release Predation Trophic cascade |
description |
Top predators in terrestrial ecosystems may limit populations of smaller predators that could otherwise become over abundant and cause declines and extinctions of some prey. It is therefore possible that top predators indirectly protect many species of prey from excessive predation. This effect has been demonstrated in some small-scale studies, but it is not known how general or important it is in maintaining prey biodiversity. During the last 150 years, Australia has suffered the world's highest rate of mammal decline and extinction, and most evidence points to introduced mid-sized predators (the red fox and the feral cat) as the cause. Here, we test the idea that the decline of Australia's largest native predator, the dingo, played a role in these extinctions. Dingoes were persecuted from the beginning of European settlement in Australia and have been eliminated or made rare over large parts of the continent. We show a strong positive relationship between the survival of marsupials and the geographical overlap with high-density dingo populations. Our results suggest that the rarity of dingoes was a critical factor which allowed smaller predators to overwhelm marsupial prey, triggering extinction over much of the continent. This is evidence of a crucial role of top predators in maintaining prey biodiversity at large scales in terrestrial ecosystems and suggests that many remaining Australian mammals would benefit from the positive management of dingoes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Johnson, Christopher Isaac, Joanne Fisher, Diana |
author_facet |
Johnson, Christopher Isaac, Joanne Fisher, Diana |
author_sort |
Johnson, Christopher |
title |
Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
title_short |
Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
title_full |
Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
title_fullStr |
Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in Australia |
title_sort |
rarity of a top predator triggers continent-wide collapse of mammal prey: dingoes and marsupials in australia |
publisher |
Royal Society of London |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1885/17890 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences |
op_relation |
0962-8452 http://hdl.handle.net/1885/17890 |
_version_ |
1766385959575748608 |