Evaluating exotic predator control programs using non-invasive genetic tagging

Piggott, Maxine P.; Wilson, Rebecca; Banks, Sam C.; Marks, Clive A.; Gigliotti, Frank; Taylor, Andrea Carolyn

doi:10.1071/wr08040

Cited by 15 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…This leads to the rapid occupation of territories once they have been vacated (Baker et al 2000;Meek and Saunders 2000). Furthermore, Piggott et al (2008) detected foxes moving up to 3.5 km between unbaited and baited transects following a poisoning program, with no indication of movement before the program. Therefore, foxes will rapidly fill in the territories vacated in the baited areas, and consequently, will be poisoned, which in turn draws in foxes from further away.…”

Section: Fox Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of fox control on the relative abundance of forest mammals in East Gippsland, Victoria

Dexter¹,

Murray²

2009

Wildl. Res.

104

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Predation by European red foxes is believed to be the major cause of the extinction and decline of a large number of native medium-sized terrestrial mammals in Australia. We examined the impact of poisoning of foxes on the relative abundance of a group of medium-sized mammals in an experiment conducted in three large forest blocks in south-eastern Australia. The blocks consisted of paired sites, as follows: one site where poison baiting was used to control foxes (treatment site) and one where foxes were not controlled (non-treatment site). At all six sites, the population responses of a range of mammals were measured, and compared between treatment and non-treatment sites. The relative fox abundance, as indexed by bait-take, declined during the course of the study at treatment sites and to a lesser extent at non-treatment sites. The decline in bait-take at non-treatment sites was most likely due to treatment sites acting as ecological traps, so that reduced intra-specific competition attracted foxes from non-treatment to treatment sites, where they were subsequently poisoned. There was a significant treatment effect for the abundances of total mammals, long-nosed potoroos, southern brown bandicoots and common brushtail possums, with higher abundances at treatment sites than at non-treatment sites. Common ringtail possums increased in abundance during the course of the study, with no significant difference between treatment and non-treatment sites. There was no significant effect of time or treatment on the abundance of long-nosed bandicoots. The increase in the abundance of native mammals at treatment sites was most likely due to a lower predation pressure by foxes brought about by fox control, and the smaller increase in abundance in non-treatment blocks was likely due to the ecological-trap effect because of fox baiting at treatment sites. The present study demonstrated that broad-scale fox control can lead to increases in the abundance of native mammals in forested habitats, without recourse to aerial baiting or fences. The study also demonstrated that the influence of fox control on the fox abundance can extend well beyond the perimeter of the area baited.

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Section: Fox Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of fox control on the relative abundance of forest mammals in East Gippsland, Victoria

Dexter¹,

Murray²

2009

Wildl. Res.

104

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“…The laboratory procedures used for the extraction of DNA from scats and genotyping are described by Piggott et al (2008). Genotypes were given a unique number and recorded against the transect where the scat or fox carcass was collected.…”

Section: Scat and Biopsy Genotypingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All but four of the remaining samples were genotyped at a minimum of four loci corresponding to a probability of failing to identify an unrelated fox or full sibling at P = 0.001 and P = 0.05 respectively. The reliability of identity data generated from genotyped scats is discussed in detail by Piggott et al (2008). After the first population manipulation (LC1) using cyanide, 6/11 recovered foxes had been detected from scat genotypes in CP1.…”

Section: Reliability Of Detecting Foxes By Scat Genotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At Werribee, identification of individual foxes that appeared to contribute a far greater proportion of scats suggests that the higher activity of a few individuals was probably mistaken for larger fox abundance. It remains to be established if the capacity for DNA to be successfully recovered from scats may vary between individuals, as this could be an alternative explanation for these observations (Piggott et al 2008).…”

Section: Implications Of Activity Changes After Lethal Control For Immentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microsatellite profiling of non-invasive samples can identify individuals in a population and this information can be used to investigate population parameters such as abundance and recruitment (Piggott and Taylor 2003). Mammalian carnivores for which such methods have been used include mountain lions (Puma concolor) (Ernest et al 2000), coyotes (Canis latrans) (Adams et al 2003), wolverines (Gulo gulo) (Flagstad et al 2004), wolves (Canis lupus) (Lucchini et al 2002) and red foxes (Piggott et al 2008). The genetic data obtained from individual identification can then be used to investigate abundance, population structure, dispersal and relatedness (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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DNA genotypes reveal red fox (Vulpes vulpes) abundance, response to lethal control and limitations of contemporary survey techniques

et al. 2009

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Context. Scat genotyping has not been routinely used to measure fox (Vulpes vulpes) abundance and our study sought to provide a benchmark for further technique development and assessment of field methods.Aims. This study sought to provide a comparative assessment of some common methods used to determine fox density and contrast their success with scat DNA genotyping.Methods. DNA recovered from fox scats was used to genotype individual red foxes and determine their abundance at four transects. Population indices were also developed from bait take, scat counts and sand plot tracks using index-manipulationindex (IMI) procedures on the same transects. Known samples of foxes were taken from two treatment transects using cyanide delivered in the M-44 ejector to manipulate the population and to recover foxes at the end of the trial.Key results. Replicated counts on a 41-km-spotlight transect at the field site before and after the population manipulation had low variance and good correlation (r 2 = 0.79, P < 0.01). Scat genotypes revealed 54 foxes in eight days and, when combined with biopsy DNA from recovered foxes, a minimum known to be alive (KTBA) density of between 1.6 and 5 foxes km -1 was calculated for the transects. Overall, 15/30 (50%) of all recovered foxes had not been detected by scat genotyping, 23/53 (49%) of KTBA genotypes were detected only once and 5/54 (9.5%) of foxes were found to have moved between two transects.Conclusions. At transects where population manipulation occurred, surviving individuals contributed significantly more scats than at the control transects and some individuals were detected at bait stations at a much greater frequency. This strongly suggested that they had contributed disproportionately to some IMI density estimates that were probably influenced by a change in the activity of some individuals rather than changes in population density alone. At one transect, eight foxes were confirmed to be present by spotlight surveys and were detected by scat and KTBA genotypes, yet were undetected by scat, bait station and sand plot indices.Implications. Scat and other DNA-based survey techniques provide a great deal of information about the identification and movement of individuals and if DNA sampling methods can be made more efficient they have the potential to provide accurate abundance estimates that are independent of the control technique.

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A method for noninvasive individual genotyping of black‐footed cat (Felis nigripes)

Siziba,

Schroeder,

Wilson

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The black‐footed cat (Felis nigripes) is endemic to the arid regions of southern Africa. One of the world's smallest wild felids, the species occurs at low densities and is secretive and elusive, which makes ecological studies difficult. Genetic data could provide key information such as estimates on population size, sex ratios, and genetic diversity. In this study, we test if microsatellite loci can be successfully amplified from scat samples that could be noninvasively collected from the field. Using 21 blood and scat samples collected from the same individuals, we statistically tested whether nine microsatellites previously designed for use in domestic cats can be used to identify individual black‐footed cats. Genotypes recovered from blood and scat samples were compared to assess loss of heterozygosity, allele dropout, and false alleles resulting from DNA degradation or PCR inhibitors present in scat samples. The microsatellite markers were also used to identify individuals from scats collected in the field that were not linked to any blood samples. All nine microsatellites used in this study were amplified successfully and were polymorphic. Microsatellite loci were found to have sufficient discriminatory power to distinguish individuals and identify clones. In conclusion, these molecular markers can be used to monitor populations of wild black‐footed cats noninvasively. The genetic data will be able to contribute important information that may be used to guide future conservation initiatives.

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Evaluating exotic predator control programs using non-invasive genetic tagging

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

The impact of fox control on the relative abundance of forest mammals in East Gippsland, Victoria

The impact of fox control on the relative abundance of forest mammals in East Gippsland, Victoria

DNA genotypes reveal red fox (Vulpes vulpes) abundance, response to lethal control and limitations of contemporary survey techniques

A method for noninvasive individual genotyping of black‐footed cat (Felis nigripes)

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