A game of cat-and-mouse: do habitat structure and fire history influence native rodent foraging behaviour
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Royal Society of Western Australia Inc.
School
School of Natural Sciences / Centre for Ecosystem Management
RAS ID
17687
Abstract
Invasive predators have caused significant species declines and extinctions worldwide, especially in insular systems like Australia. Foxes and feral cats are responsible for the extinction of at least 22 Australian mammal species in the past 200 years. To avoid being killed by predators, prey species modify their spatial or temporal use of habitat, or the time when they undertake different activities. Giving-up-density (GUD) experiments are commonly used to test the influence of predation risk on prey species. In a controlled setting, a decrease in the GUD corresponds to a decrease in predation risk, and vice versa. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the foraging strategies of two native rodents in respect to microhabitat structure and vegetation fire history. We predicted that rodents would spend more time foraging in bush microhabitats and in unburnt habitat, and that the positive effect of bush microhabitats would be less in unburnt areas.
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Doherty, T.S., Davis, R.A., Van Etten, E.J. (2013). A game of cat-and-mouse: do habitat structure and fire history influence native rodent foraging behaviour. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 96(2), p. 85. Original publication available here
Extended abstract of a paper presented at the Royal Society of Western Australia Postgraduate Symposium 2013 held at Murdoch University on 12 October 2013.