A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey

Rowena Hamer; Riana Gardiner; Kirstin Proft; Christopher N. Johnson; Menna E Jones

doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1194

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A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey

Journal article

Peer reviewed

A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey

Rowena Hamer, Riana Gardiner, Kirstin Proft, Christopher N. Johnson and Menna E Jones

Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, Vol.288(1942), pp.1-7

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1194

PMID: 33402069

Abstract

feral cat

spotted-tailed quoll

relative predation impact

predator-prey interaction

alien carnivore

prey naivete

Alien mammalian carnivores have contributed disproportionately to global loss of biodiversity. In Australia, predation by the feral cat and red fox is one of the most significant causes of the decline of native vertebrates. To discover why cats have greater impacts on prey than native predators, we compared the ecology of the feral cat to a marsupial counterpart, the spotted-tailed quoll. Individual prey are 20-200 times more likely to encounter feral cats, because of the combined effects of cats' higher population densities, greater intensity of home-range use and broader habitat preferences. These characteristics also mean that the costs to the prey of adopting anti-predator behaviours against feral cats are likely to be much higher than adopting such behaviours in response to spotted-tailed quolls, due to the reliability and ubiquity of feral cat cues. These results help explain the devastating impacts of cats on wildlife in Australia and other parts of the world.

Details

Title: A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey
Authors: Rowena Hamer - University of Tasmania
Riana Gardiner - University of Tasmania
Kirstin Proft - University of Tasmania
Christopher N. Johnson - University of Tasmania
Menna E Jones - University of Tasmania
Publication details: Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences, Vol.288(1942), pp.1-7
Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing
Date published: 2021
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1194
ISSN: 1471-2954
PMID: 33402069
Data Availability: Telemetry data are archived on the Movebank database (www.movebank.org, Movebank IDs 1121208171 and 1121239120).
Grants: Restoring resilience in wildlife populations, LP130100949, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991043198702621
Output Type: Journal article