Publications by authors named "Stuart J Dawson"
Behavioral adjustments to predation risk not only impose costs on prey species themselves but can also have cascading impacts on whole ecosystems. The greater bilby () is an important ecosystem engineer, modifying the physical environment through their digging activity, and supporting a diverse range of sympatric species that use its burrows for refuge and food resources. The bilby has experienced a severe decline over the last 200 years, and the species is now restricted to ~20% of its former distribution.
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- The introduction of domestic cats and red foxes in Australia has severely harmed native wildlife, affecting nearly half of the country's terrestrial mammals, birds, and reptiles.
- Analysis of predator diets showed that cats primarily consume birds, reptiles, and small mammals with little change over time, while dingoes maintain a stable diet of larger prey, demonstrating minimal overlap with cats.
- Foxes exhibit significant dietary overlap with both cats and dingoes, showing evidence of changing prey choices, highlighting the need for conservation efforts to control these invasive species to protect vulnerable native fauna.
Rangelands worldwide have been subject to broadscale modification, such as widespread predator control, introduction of permanent livestock water and altered vegetation to improve grazing. In Australia, these landscape changes have resulted in kangaroos (i.e.
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