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A Century Later: the ecology of the European red fox, Vulpes vulpes, in a hybrid ecosystem on Queensland's Sunshine Coast
Dissertation   Open access

A Century Later: the ecology of the European red fox, Vulpes vulpes, in a hybrid ecosystem on Queensland's Sunshine Coast

Julie M O'Connor
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast
2018
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00529
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Abstract

Vulpes red fox hybrid ecosystem novel ecosystem ecology Caretta caretta asparagus fern
Human activity, particularly the moving of species around the planet, has profoundly changed many of the world's ecosystems. In the Australian study area of the southern Sunshine Coast, as in much of southeast Queensland, native and introduced species occur in complex hybrid configurations as old and new adapt to the changing environment around them. The European red fox is one such translocated species that arrived in the study area a century ago. While its presence is well known and it is the subject of regional lethal control, its ecology and function in this hybrid assemblage of native and introduced biota, is poorly understood. This study, therefore, examined four major components of the ecology of a population of coastal urban foxes: 1/ spatial organisation and habitat use; 2/ dietary choices; 3/ impact on an endangered species; and 4/ role as a potential weed vector.

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