Research Project
Researchers: Dr Euan Martin Ritchie (Principal investigator, Investigation, Principal or Chief Investigator) , Prof Euan Martin Ritchie (Principal investigator, Investigation, Principal or Chief Investigator) , Rachel Mason (Principal investigator, Investigation, Principal or Chief Investigator)
Full description Camera trap data package from the Wildlife Observatory of Australia's Wildlife Camera Database. Dataset ID: SA-VIC_BDWN_predator_monitoring_Mason_2021_2023_WildObsID_0027. We used whole-of-ecosystem Bayesian structural equation modelling and scenario analysis to examine and quantify how top-down, bottom-up and disturbance drivers interact with and influence predator-prey interactions. We used camera trap data to map spatial abundance and occurrence of dingoes, foxes, cats and seven prey functional groups, and combined this with eleven landscape-scale spatial layers of environmental drivers related to management, resource availability, vegetation characteristics and fire regimes. Exposure to lethal baiting was a strong negative driver of dingo occurrence, and to a lesser extent fox abundance, whereas bottom-up floristic productivity and vegetation richness were positively associated with the abundance of many prey groups. We found that dingoes displayed stronger interactions, both negat
