气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): A native apex predator limits an invasive mesopredator and protects native prey: Tasmanian devils protecting bandicoots from cats

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DOI	10.1111/ele.13473
	A native apex predator limits an invasive mesopredator and protects native prey: Tasmanian devils protecting bandicoots from cats
	Cunningham C.X.; Johnson C.N.; Jones M.E.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	1461023X
英文摘要	Apex predators can limit the abundance and behaviour of mesopredators, thereby reducing predation on smaller species. We know less about whether native apex predators are effective in suppressing invasive mesopredators, a major global driver of vertebrate extinctions. We use the severe disease-induced decline of an apex predator, the Tasmanian devil, as a natural experiment to test whether devils limit abundance of invasive feral cats and in turn protect smaller native prey. Cat abundance was c. 58% higher where devils had declined, which in turn negatively affected a smaller native prey species. Devils had a stronger limiting effect on cats than on a native mesopredator, suggesting apex predators may have stronger suppressive effects on evolutionarily naive species than coevolved species. Our results highlight how disease in one species can affect the broader ecosystem. We show that apex predators not only regulate native species but can also confer resistance to the impacts of invasive populations. Apex predators could therefore be a powerful but underutilised tool to prevent biodiversity loss. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS
英文关键词	Apex predator; disease; evolutionary naivete; feral cat; invasive species; mesopredator release; structural equation modelling; trophic cascade
语种	英语
来源期刊	Ecology Letters
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/120958
作者单位	School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Cunningham C.X.,Johnson C.N.,Jones M.E.. A native apex predator limits an invasive mesopredator and protects native prey: Tasmanian devils protecting bandicoots from cats[J],2020.
APA	Cunningham C.X.,Johnson C.N.,&Jones M.E..(2020).A native apex predator limits an invasive mesopredator and protects native prey: Tasmanian devils protecting bandicoots from cats.Ecology Letters.
MLA	Cunningham C.X.,et al."A native apex predator limits an invasive mesopredator and protects native prey: Tasmanian devils protecting bandicoots from cats".Ecology Letters (2020).