hohnen et al PLoS one.PDF (2.13 MB)
Occupancy of the invasive feral cat varies with habitat complexity
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 23:26 authored by Hohnen, R, Tuft, K, McGregor, HW, Legge, S, Radford, IJ, Christopher JohnsonChristopher JohnsonThe domestic cat (Felis catus) is an invasive exotic in many locations around the world and is thought to be a key factor driving recent mammal declines across northern Australia. Many mammal species native to this region now persist only in areas with high topographic complexity, provided by features such as gorges or escarpments. Do mammals persist in these habitats because cats occupy them less, or despite high cat occupancy? We show that occupancy of feral cats was lower in mammal-rich habitats of high topographic complexity. These results support the idea that predation pressure by feral cats is a factor contributing to the collapse of mammal communities across northern Australia. Managing impacts of feral cats is a global conservation challenge. Conservation actions such as choosing sites for small mammal reintroductions may be more successful if variation in cat occupancy with landscape features is taken into account.
Funding
Australian Research Council
Australian Wildlife Conservancy
History
Publication title
PLoS OneVolume
11Issue
9Article number
e0152520Number
e0152520Pagination
1-8ISSN
1932-6203Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
Public Library of SciencePlace of publication
United StatesRights statement
Copyright 2016 The Authors Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Repository Status
- Open