Assessing predation risk to threatened fauna from their prevalence in predator scats: dingoes and rodents in arid Australia

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Allen, Benjamin L., Leung, Luke K. -P.
• Other Authors: Hayward, Matt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2012
• Subjects: General Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; General Medicine; 1100 Agricultural and Biological Sciences; 1300 Biochemistry; 2700 Medicine; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:301386

The prevalence of threatened species in predator scats has often been used to gauge the risks that predators pose to threatened species, with the infrequent occurrence of a given species often considered indicative of negligible predation risks. In this study, data from 4087 dingo (Canis lupus dingo and hybrids) scats were assessed alongside additional information on predator and prey distribution, dingo control effort and predation rates to evaluate whether or not the observed frequency of threatened species in dingo scats warrants more detailed investigation of dingo predation risks to them. Three small rodents (dusky hopping-mice Notomys fuscus; fawn hopping-mice Notomys cervinus; plains mice Pseudomys australis) were the only threatened species detected in