Forest investigation:
Dynamics of forest animals in the hinterland of Seal Rocks, NSW, Australia
Changes over time in the number of
Mountain brushtail possums & Red-necked pademelons
in relation to the abundance of Dingoes:
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Note the vertical yellow bars are the summer months (blue boxes = winter months).
Key findings (Dec'16):
Mountain brushtail
possum:
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Possum numbers usually peak in late spring to summer and this is associated with the arrival of young.
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These peaks vary greatly from year to year, with the largest in 2013-14 immediately after the first pulse of dingoes in the 2013 Winter.
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When dingoes were particularly abundant within and about the 2014-15 summer, the peak (2014-15) was less than in the previous year, but then numbers unusually increased through the following autumn-to-spring period, with the subsequent 2015-16 peak being the second highest recorded.
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Accordingly, there is little evidence that pulses in the abundance of dingoes negatively affect possum numbers. It appears possible that large pulses of dingoes across summer may induce unusually high activity of possums in the following autumn-to-spring period.
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Red-necked
pademelon:
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Pademelon numbers usually peak in the summer-autumn period and this is associated with the arrival of young.
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These peaks vary greatly from year to year, with the largest in 2014 immediately after the first pulse of dingoes in the 2013 Winter.
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When dingoes were particularly abundant within and about the 2014-15 summer, the 2015 peak was the second highest recorded.
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Accordingly, there is no evidence that pulses in the abundance of dingoes negatively affect pademelon numbers.
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