Predator-baiting experiments for the conservation of rock-wallabies in Western Australia: a 25-year review with recent advances

Abstract

Abstract. Predation is widely believed to be the main threatening process for many native vertebrates in Australia. For 25 years, predator-baiting experiments have been used in the Western Australian Central Wheatbelt to control red fox predation on rock-wallabies and other endangered marsupial prey elsewhere. We review here the history of a series of baiting experiments designed to protect rock-wallaby colonies by controlling red foxes with 1080 poison baits. We continue to support the conclusion that red foxes can reduce or exterminate rock-wallaby populations in Western Australia. Research trials from 1990 to 2008 have uniformly shown a dramatic recovery of rock-wallaby populations once red foxes are baited. Baiting experiments are often black boxes and their success should not blind us to their weaknesses. Ideally, what we would like to measure are the functional responses of predators to prey abundance directly. As a contribution towards this goal, we describe new technology that enables one to determine which predator killed which prey, at exactly what time, with improved research and management outcomes.

Sympatric prey responses to lethal top-predator control: predator manipulation experiments

“…Moreover, by undertaking applied-science experiments which circumvent investigations of the internal processes at play and instead focus on the actual in situ prey responses to top-predator control (R6 in Figure 1) -what Kinnear et al [74] label the 'black box' approach -our results confirm that prey populations are typically unaffected by contemporary dingo control practices independent of how predators and prey might interact with each other (R2 in Figure 1). …”

Top-Predators as Biodiversity Regulators: Contemporary Issues Affecting Knowledge and Management of Dingoes in Australia

“…There remains, however, limited reliable data on the longer term and indirect effects of dingo control faunal biodiversity [41,85]. Investigating R6 is a 'black box' approach to applied research [86], meaning the observed outcomes of control interventions can enable management progress in the absence of a complete understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the outcomes. For example, [86] summarised the results of 25 years of experimental research on the conservation of threatened black-footed rock-wallabies Petrogale lateralis, stating that researchers had found time and again that fox control resulted in more rock-wallabies, but they did not have a good grasp on the mechanisms responsible for it.…”

“…Investigating R6 is a 'black box' approach to applied research [86], meaning the observed outcomes of control interventions can enable management progress in the absence of a complete understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the outcomes. For example, [86] summarised the results of 25 years of experimental research on the conservation of threatened black-footed rock-wallabies Petrogale lateralis, stating that researchers had found time and again that fox control resulted in more rock-wallabies, but they did not have a good grasp on the mechanisms responsible for it. Thus, if investigations of R6 show that threatened prey populations fluctuate independently of dingo control, lethal control of dingoes might continue to occur without concern from conservationists that such practices inhibit the recovery of threatened fauna through trophic effects.…”

The compensatory potential of increased immigration following intensive American mink population control is diluted by male-biased dispersal

“…Boundaries may be defined by capitalising on semi-permeable habitat barriers (e.g. Zalewski et al 2009;Fraser et al 2013), but buffer areas with a degree of invasive species control have also been used effectively (Thomson et al 2000;Kinnear et al 2010). Because non-ecological factors such as availability of financial resources and the protection designation of land masses often define management areas (e.g.…”