title: The short-term effects of a routine poisoning campaign on the movements and detectability of a social top-predator.
abstract: Top-predators can be important components of resilient ecosystems, but they are still controlled in many places to mitigate a variety of economic, environmental and/or social impacts. Lethal control is often achieved through the broad-scale application of poisoned baits. Understanding the direct and indirect effects of such lethal control on subsequent movements and behaviour of survivors is an important pre-requisite for interpreting the efficacy and ecological outcomes of top-predator control. In this study, we use GPS tracking collars to investigate the fine-scale and short-term movements of dingoes (Canis lupus dingo and other wild dogs) in response to a routine poison-baiting program as an example of how a common, social top-predator can respond (behaviourally) to moderate levels of population reduction. We found no consistent control-induced differences in home range size or location, daily distance travelled, speed of travel, temporal activity patterns or road/trail usage for the seven surviving dingoes we monitored immediately before and after a typical lethal control event. These data suggest that the spatial behaviour of surviving dingoes was not altered in ways likely to affect their detectability, and if control-induced changes in dingoes' ecological function did occur, these may not be related to altered spatial behaviour or movement patterns.
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, 4343, Australia. benjamin.allen@daff.qld.gov.au.|Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre, Building 22, University of Canberra, Bruce, Australian Capital Territory, 2617, Australia. benjamin.allen@daff.qld.gov.au.|Robert Wicks Pest Animal Research Centre, Biosecurity Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia. benjamin.allen@daff.qld.gov.au.
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Research Centre, US Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO, 8051-2154, USA.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Engeman
authors.affiliation: School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, 4343, Australia.
authors.forename: Luke K-P
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D010571:Pest Control / Q000379:methods*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011235:Predatory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D019596:Wolves / Q000502:physiology*
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