The diet of the feral cat (Felis catus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and dog (Canis familiaris) over a three-year period at Witchelina Reserve, in arid South Australia

被引:22
|
作者
Woinarski, John C. Z. [1 ]
South, Sally L. [2 ,3 ]
Drummond, Paul [2 ]
Johnston, Gregory R. [2 ,3 ,4 ]
Nankivell, Alex [2 ]
机构
[1] Charles Darwin Univ, Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Natl Environm Sci Program, Darwin, NT 0909, Australia
[2] Nat Fdn South Australia, POB 448, Hindmarsh, SA 5007, Australia
[3] South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
[4] Flinders Univ South Australia, Sch Biol Sci, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
来源
AUSTRALIAN MAMMALOGY | 2018年 / 40卷 / 02期
关键词
conservation management; dietary overlap; predation; POPULATION-DYNAMICS; WESTERN-AUSTRALIA; PREDATORS; FAUNA; PATTERNS; DINGOES; DECLINE; MAMMALS; DESERT;
D O I
10.1071/AM17033
中图分类号
Q95 [动物学];
学科分类号
071002 ;
摘要
Introduced predators have had, and continue to have, severe impacts on Australian biodiversity. At a recently established conservation reserve, Witchelina, in arid South Australia, we assessed the diet of feral cats (Felis catus) (404 samples), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) (51 samples) and dog (Canis familiaris) (11 samples) over a 3-year period. There was marked overlap (98.5%) in dietary composition between cats and foxes. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) comprised a major dietary item for all three predators. Invertebrates contributed the largest number of prey items for foxes and cats, but mammals comprised the bulk, by weight, for all three predators. Birds and reptiles had a higher frequency of occurrence in the diet of cats than of foxes or dogs. The size of mammal prey taken was least for cats and greatest for dogs. The diets of cats and foxes showed significant seasonal variation, with reptiles and invertebrates being least common in the diet in winter. The threatened thick-billed grasswren (Amytornis modestus) was found for the first time in the diet of feral cats. Bearded dragons (Pogona vitticeps) occurred in about one-third of cat and fox samples. This study contributes further to the evidence of biodiversity impacts of introduced predators, and the need for their strategic management.
引用
收藏
页码:204 / 213
页数:10
相关论文
共 2 条
  • [1] The good, the bad, and the ugly: space use and intraguild interactions among three opportunistic predators-cat (Felis catus), dog (Canis lupus familiaris), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes)-under human pressure
    Krauze-Gryz, D.
    Gryz, J. B.
    Goszczynski, J.
    Chylarecki, P.
    Zmihorski, M.
    CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY-REVUE CANADIENNE DE ZOOLOGIE, 2012, 90 (12): : 1402 - 1413
  • [2] Degrees of population-level susceptibility of Australian terrestrial non-volant mammal species to predation by the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and feral cat (Felis catus)
    Radford, James Q.
    Woinarski, John C. Z.
    Legge, Sarah
    Baseler, Marcus
    Bentley, Joss
    Burbidge, Andrew A.
    Bode, Michael
    Copley, Peter
    Dexter, Nicholas
    Dickman, Chris R.
    Gillespie, Graeme
    Hill, Brydie
    Johnson, Chris N.
    Kanowski, John
    Latch, Peter
    Letnic, Mike
    Manning, Adrian
    Menkhorst, Peter
    Mitchell, Nicola
    Morris, Keith
    Moseby, Katherine
    Page, Manda
    Ringma, Jeremy
    WILDLIFE RESEARCH, 2018, 45 (07) : 645 - 657