Fire and dingoes stop foxes
FIRE and dingoes could be the dynamic duo that hold the key to helping stop destructive foxes in northwest Victoria’s Big Desert region, according to new research from Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology (CIE).
The researchers investigated how fire management could help control feral pests, such as foxes, in a semi-arid environment.
CIE ecologist Associate Professor Euan Ritchie said foxes were found less in areas where dingoes were more common, possibly due to an increased predation risk, and this new research showed dingoes preferred recently burned areas.
“We believe this is because the open terrain of recently burned landscapes provides better conditions for dingoes to pursue and hunt kangaroos, which are attracted to these areas as they can graze on the nutritious vegetation that regrows following fire,” Prof Ritchie said.
“So while foxes themselves are not directly affected by fire history, a negative association between dingoes and foxes means that fire has an indirect impact on foxes.”
Prof Ritchie and Deakin Honours student Billy Geary worked with colleagues at Deakin University and Charles Sturt University to set up camera traps monitoring animal populations in 21 different parts of the Big Desert region.
As well as observing foxes and dingoes, the researchers also focused on the Mitchell’s hopping mouse and silky mouse, both threatened by foxes.
Prof Ritchie said the work showed fire and predator management practices should be integrated and enacted together to improve conservation and invasive species management goals.
“This shows that disturbance regimes — for example fires that occur via frequent management— have the capacity to shape interactions between native and invasive predators.
“Carefully managed fires could help increase dingo activity in landscapes, and in turn aid the suppression of foxes.”
Previous Deakin research looking at the effects of dingo distribution and abundance on fox populations found that fox numbers were reduced in areas with high numbers of dingoes.
Dingoes can control fox numbers through direct predation — chasing and killing them — as well as through fear, which can alter foxes’ activity and feeding patterns.
Prof Ritchie said his research team now planned to investigate if manipulating fire regimes through fire management could help protect native prey — like small mammals, reptiles and birds — from the negative impact of foxes, as well as from other predators like feral cats, and herbivores such as kangaroos and feral goats.