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McGregor J, Field J, McLean C, Beranek C, Gould J. Observations of interference competition between the introduced black rat and native marsupial gliders in Australia. AUSTRAL ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jess McGregor
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle University Drive Callaghan New South Wales 2308 Australia
| | - Jed Field
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle University Drive Callaghan New South Wales 2308 Australia
| | - Chris McLean
- Specialist Research Services Gosford New South Wales Australia
| | - Chad Beranek
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle University Drive Callaghan New South Wales 2308 Australia
| | - John Gould
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle University Drive Callaghan New South Wales 2308 Australia
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2
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Bytheway JP, Johnstone KC, Price CJ, Banks PB. A mechanistic understanding of prebaiting to improve interaction with wildlife management devices. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2021; 77:3107-3115. [PMID: 33638268 DOI: 10.1002/ps.6343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prebaiting is a technique involving early deployment of 'unarmed' devices (e.g. baits and traps) to increase efficacy of wildlife management. Although commonly used, the mechanisms by which prebaiting works are poorly understood. We propose three mechanisms by which prebaiting may increase device interaction probabilities; (1) overcoming neophobia towards novel devices, (2) a 'trickle in' effect increasing time for animals to encounter devices; and (3) social information transfer about rewards associated with devices. We conducted a survey of 100 articles to understand how prebaiting has been used. We then tested our proposed prebaiting mechanisms using a global pest (black rats, Rattus rattus) examining how uniquely marked free-living rats responded to a common yet novel monitoring technique (tracking tunnels). RESULTS No studies in our dataset tested how prebaiting functioned. Most studies (61%) did not propose a mechanism for prebaiting, but overcoming neophobia was most commonly mentioned. We only found partial support for the overcoming neophobia hypothesis in our field test. We found the dominant mechanism operating in our system to be the 'trickle in' effect with the proportion of individuals visiting the device increasing over time. We found no support for social information transfer as a mechanism of prebaiting. CONCLUSION Applying a mechanistic understanding of how prebaiting functions will improve the efficacy of management devices. Our results suggest that prebaiting allows time for more rats to encounter a device, hence surveys in our system would benefit from long prebaiting periods. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenna P Bytheway
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Kyla C Johnstone
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Catherine J Price
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Peter B Banks
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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3
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Lazzeri L, Senini C, Mori E. Interspecific Aggressions between Crested Porcupines and Roe Deer. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:E623. [PMID: 32260427 PMCID: PMC7222735 DOI: 10.3390/ani10040623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 04/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite being common amongst carnivore mammals, behavioral interference between wild herbivore species is poorly documented. Particularly, in temperate areas, where the ungulate guild is composed of a few species, and large-sized rodents are scarce, most cases of interspecific interactions involve at least one alien species. In this work, we report the first data on behavioral interactions between roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, and crested porcupine, Hystrix cristata. Aggressions by crested porcupines toward roe deer were observed in 34 out of 202 observations of both species feeding at the same site. In the other 168 observations, roe deer and porcupines shared the same feeding area, without any interaction. In 58% cases of interaction, porcupines chased and pushed roe deer away from feeding areas, and in several other cases, roe deer were bitten, or injured with quills. Aggressions by porcupines occurred mostly during warm months, when roe deer are mostly solitary and when competition for food between these species is suggested to be the highest, and against single female individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Lazzeri
- Research Unit in Behavioural Ecology and Wildlife Management, Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy;
| | - Caterina Senini
- Department of Veterinary Medicine Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra, 43, 40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia (Bologna), Italy;
| | - Emiliano Mori
- Research Unit in Behavioural Ecology and Wildlife Management, Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy;
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4
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Rohrer KN, Ferkin MH. Meadow voles,
Microtus pennsylvanicus
, can discriminate between scents of individual house cats,
Felis catus. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karl N. Rohrer
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Memphis Memphis Tennessee
| | - Michael H. Ferkin
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Memphis Memphis Tennessee
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5
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Carthey AJR, Banks PB. Naïve, bold, or just hungry? An invasive exotic prey species recognises but does not respond to its predators. Biol Invasions 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-018-1782-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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Cuypers LN, Cuypers WL, Gildemyn-Blomme A, Abraham L, Aertbeliën S, Massawe AW, Borremans B, Gryseels S, Leirs H. No evidence for avoidance of black rat scent by the presumably less competitive Natal multimammate mouse in a choice experiment. AFRICAN ZOOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/15627020.2017.1307139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laura N Cuypers
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Wim L Cuypers
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | | | - Laura Abraham
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Senne Aertbeliën
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Apia W Massawe
- Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
| | - Benny Borremans
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sophie Gryseels
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Herwig Leirs
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk, Belgium
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Smith HM, Dickman CR, Banks PB. Using effect size benchmarks to assess when alien impacts are actually alien. Sci Rep 2017; 7:38627. [PMID: 28128305 PMCID: PMC5269578 DOI: 10.1038/srep38627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 11/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Alien predators have on average twice the impact on native prey populations than do native predators, and are a severe threat to wildlife globally. Manipulation experiments can be used to quantify the impact of an alien predator on its prey population/s, but unless the results are compared to benchmarks, it is unclear whether this impact is indeed greater than that of a native predator. Here we use the Australian garden skink Lampropholis delicata and alien black rat Rattus rattus to test if black rats are an additive source of predation for the skink, and to judge whether the effect size of rat-impact on the skink represents that of an alien or native predator. We used replicated experiments to exclude black rats at local and landscape scales to test how rats affect skink activity and trapping frequency. Both manipulations had positive effects on skinks, however, the population-level effect size was lower than that described for alien predators but similar to that expected for native predators. We suggest that Australian skinks may respond appropriately to predatory alien rats because they coevolved with endemic Rattus species. This adds novel insights into the varying levels of impact that alien predators have on native prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M Smith
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The Cottage (A10), Room 321, Heydon Laurence Building (A08), Science Road, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Chris R Dickman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The Cottage (A10), Room 321, Heydon Laurence Building (A08), Science Road, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Peter B Banks
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The Cottage (A10), Room 321, Heydon Laurence Building (A08), Science Road, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Nest Predation by Commensal Rodents in Urban Bushland Remnants. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156180. [PMID: 27295091 PMCID: PMC4905641 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/10/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Exotic predators are a major threat to native wildlife in many parts of the world. Developing and implementing effective strategies to mitigate their effects requires robust quantitative data so that management can be evidence-based, yet in many ecosystems this is missing. Birds in particular have been severely impacted by exotic mammalian predators, and a plethora of studies on islands record predation of bird eggs, fledglings and adults by exotic species such as rodents, stoats and cats. By comparison, few studies have examined nest predation around mainland urban centres which often act as dispersal hubs, especially for commensal species such as rodents. Here, we experimentally examine nest predation rates in habitat patches with varying black rat (Rattus rattus) densities in Sydney, Australia and test whether these exotic rats have the effects expected of exotic predators using effect size benchmarks. In the case where black rats have replaced native Rattus spp., we expected that black rats, being more arboreal than native Rattus spp., would be a significant source of predation on birds because they can readily access the arboreal niche where many birds nest. We tested this idea using above-ground artificial nests to represent those of typical small bird species such as the New Holland honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). We found that fewer eggs were depredated by rodents on sites where we removed black rats compared to unmanipulated sites, and that the effect size calculated from the total number of eggs surviving beyond the typical incubation period was similar to that expected for an exotic predator. Our results suggest that, although Australian birds have co-evolved with native Rattus species, in the case where black rats have replaced native Rattus species, exotic black rats appear to pose an additive source of predation on birds in remnant habitats, most likely due to their ability to climb more efficiently than their native counterparts. Management of these commensal rodents may be necessary to retain urban birdlife.
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Banks PB, Smith HM. The ecological impacts of commensal species: black rats, Rattus rattus, at the urban–bushland interface. WILDLIFE RESEARCH 2015. [DOI: 10.1071/wr15048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Exotic species have had devastating impacts worldwide and are a major threat to native wildlife. Human commensal species (hereafter commensals) are a special class of exotic species that live largely off the resources associated with human activity. The encroachment of commensals from an urban area into surrounding bushland has been frequently overlooked as an important component of urban impacts, even though human-commensals are common to many urban regions globally. In this review, we present theoretical and empirical evidence for the processes and outcomes occurring when exotic commensal species encroach into native bushland. Specifically we ask when, how and why exotic commensal species encroach into bushland, what determines whether they establish, and what are the ecological consequences. We focus on the black rat, Rattus rattus, arguably the archetypal commensal species with a cosmopolitan distribution and the greatest potential for ecological damage of all the commensal rodents. We expect that the processes that we outline apply to other commensal species more broadly. We argue that commensals are in fact natives of the urban milieu and only become alien when they encroach into peri-urban bushland. We propose that the mechanisms of this encroachment will be different from those of other, non-commensal exotic species because urban areas act as dispersal hubs to overcome many of the barriers of invasion that other exotic species face. We suggest that resource supplementation by urban areas creates a great potential for promoting encroachment, invasion as well as impact. However, biotic and abiotic barriers to invasion are still relevant for commensals, highlighting the need to maintain the integrity of ecosystems and wildlife populations in urban edges so as to prevent commensal incursion. We examine how commensal black rats affect wildlife via three fundamental mechanisms, namely, predation, disease transfer and competition for resources, and also consider their possible positive impacts acting as functional replacements for lost natives. We conclude the review with an outline of research priorities and future directions that are essential for progressing our understanding of the ecology of commensal species.
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Carthey AJR, Banks PB. Naïveté in novel ecological interactions: lessons from theory and experimental evidence. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 89:932-49. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2013] [Revised: 01/13/2014] [Accepted: 01/16/2014] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Peter B. Banks
- School of Biological Sciences; University of Sydney; Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia
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11
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Competitive naïveté between a highly successful invader and a functionally similar native species. Oecologia 2014; 175:73-84. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2874-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2013] [Accepted: 12/20/2013] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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