Abstract
Simple SummaryThe management of invasive species is a major challenge for the conservation of biodiversity globally. One technique that has been widely used to control feral cats (Felis catus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Western Australia is the aerial broadcast of toxic baits, but assessing its efficacy can be difficult. Here, we report on a method of evaluating the effectiveness of this method for the abatement of feral cats using genetic analysis techniques. However, our results were unable to provide robust evidence that, over a five-year program, baiting had a detrimental impact on both genetics and demography in this population, and the results were not significant. Monitoring the impact of control programs in this way may provide valuable information to managers on the effectiveness of their management strategy, but further refinement of the methodology is recommended.The feral cat has been implicated in the decline and extinction of many species worldwide and a range of strategies have been devised for its control. A five-year control program using the aerial broadcast of toxic Eradicat® baits was undertaken at Fortescue Marsh in the Pilbara region of north-western Australia, for the protection of biodiversity in this important wetland area. This program has been shown to have had a significant detrimental effect on cats in this landscape, but the long-term impact is difficult to ascertain. We assessed population genetics across three cohorts of feral cats sampled as part of the control program. We also compared cat populations in natural habitats and around human infrastructure. A key challenge in any study of wild animal populations is small sample sizes and feral cats are particularly difficult to capture and sample. The results of this study superficially appear to suggest promising trends but were limited by sample size and many were not statistically significant. We find that the use of genetic techniques to monitor the impact of invasive species control programs is potentially useful, but ensuring adequate sample sizes over a long enough time-frame will be critical to the success of such studies.
Highlights
Invasive species are listed as one of the key threatening processes for biodiversity globally [1] and have been implicated in the decline and extinction of a number of native species [2,3]
Allele rarefaction curves were constructed for both populations (Figure 2) and indicated that, Allele rarefaction curves were constructed for both populations (Figure 2) and indicated that, whilewhile the curve for for thethe population an asymptote asymptote(and, the curve for the population was far from has had most of its genetic variation sampled), the curve for the ‘camps’ population was far from asymptotic andand thethe sample beinsufficient insufficient capture majority of available asymptotic samplesize sizeof of14
Populations, indicating proportion of the available diversity that has been sampled for the given set of markers
Summary
Invasive species are listed as one of the key threatening processes for biodiversity globally [1] and have been implicated in the decline and extinction of a number of native species [2,3]. Animals 2019, 9, 1050 cats is the use of toxic baits, which can be applied at a landscape-level by aerial broadcast from an aircraft. This method has been implemented by the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and has been shown to have had a significant impact on red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in reserves managed by the department across the state [7]. A five-year control program at Fortescue Marsh in the Pilbara region of Western Australia used (b) and (c) to show that a landscape-scale Eradicat® baiting program had a significant detrimental impact on cats on an annual basis [9]. Methods that require the assumption of a closed system (such as occupancy modelling) are not appropriate when the dataset extends beyond the baiting period in a given season
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