USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Impacts of invasive cane toads on an Endangered marsupial predator and its prey
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
ISSN
1863-5407, 1613-4796
Abstract
Recent research has revealed that impacts of some invasive species are chronic. Invasive cane toads Rhinella marina have apparently caused rapid and severe population-level declines of the Endangered northern quoll Dasyurus hallucatus across tropical Australia; however, more targeted, quantitative impact data are needed to disentangle this from other threats such as fire regimes, disease, feral cats and dingos. Moreover, repeatable counts before, during, after and long after toad invasion are needed in order to determine if short-term impacts are chronic vs. transitory. We used game cameras to monitor 2 quoll populations and their prey over a 5 yr period spanning the invasion of the toxic cane toads in 2 gorges in northwestern Australia. We predicted severe declines in quolls with the toad invasion, and predatory release of 2 prey species of quolls, a rodent and a smaller marsupial. Quolls declined quickly upon arrival of toads, becoming undetectable in one gorge and barely detectable in the other. Identification of individuals via unique spot patterns confirmed that the declines in detection rates were due to changes in relative abundance rather than decreases in activity. Despite quoll declines we found no evidence of mesopredator release; small mammals generally declined as toads arrived. Our research confirmed rapid population-level declines of quolls, and possibly smaller mammals, associated with arrival of invasive cane toads. Importantly, our surveys provide a baseline for future surveys to determine whether these short-term impacts are chronic or transitory, and whether recovery requires assistance from managers.
Language
en_US
Publisher
Inter-Research
Recommended Citation
Doody J.S., McHenry C., Rhind D., Gray C., Clulow S. (2021) Impacts of invasive cane toads on an Endangered marsupial predator and its prey. Endangered Species Research, 46, 269-277.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
