Modeling total predation to avoid perverse outcomes from cat control in a data-poor island ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Data hungry, complex ecosystem models are often used to predict the consequences of threatened species management, including perverse outcomes. Unfortunately, this approach is impractical in many systems, which have insufficient data to parameterize ecosystem interactions or reliably calibrate or validate such models. Here we demonstrate a different approach, using a minimum realistic model to guide decisions in data- and resource-scarce systems. We illustrate our approach with a case-study in an invaded ecosystem from Christmas Island, Australia, where there are concerns that cat eradication to protect native species, including the red-tailed tropicbird, could release meso-predation by invasive rats. We use biophysical constraints (metabolic demand) and observable parameters (e.g. prey pr

SUBMITTER: Plein M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9804458 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature