Abstract Context. Feral domestic cats (Felis catus) have contributed to substantial loss of Australian wildlife, particularly small- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals. However, mitigating cat impacts remains challenging. Understanding the factors that facilitate coexistence between native prey and their alien predators could aid better pest management and conservation actions. Aims. We estimated feral cat density, examined the impact of habitat cover on long-nosed potoroos (Potorous tridactylus tridactylus), and assessed the spatial and temporal interactions between cats and potoroos in the ‘Bluegums’ area of French Island, south-eastern Australia. Materials and methods. We operated 31 camera stations across Bluegums for 99 consecutive nights in each of winter 2018 and summer 2018/19. We used a spatially explicit capture–recapture model to estimate cat density, and two-species single-season occupancy models to assess spatial co-occurrence of cats and potoroos. We assessed the influence of vegetation cover and cat activity on potoroo activity by using a dynamic occupancy model. We also used image timestamps to describe and compare the temporal activities of the two species. Key results. Bluegums had a density of 0.77 cats per km2 across both seasons, although this is a conservative estimate because of the presence of unidentified cats. Cats and long-nosed potoroos were detected at 94% and 77% of camera stations, respectively. Long-nosed potoroo detectability was higher in denser vegetation and this pattern was stronger at sites with high cat activity. Cats and potoroos overlapped in their temporal activity, but their peak activity times differed. Conclusions. Feral cat density at Bluegums, French Island, is higher than has been reported for mainland Australian sites, but generally lower than in other islands. Long-nosed potoroos were positively associated with cats, potentially indicating cats tracking potoroos as prey or other prey species that co-occur with potoroos. Temporal activity of each species differed, and potoroos sought more complex habitat, highlighting possible mechanisms potoroos may use to reduce their predation risk when co-occurring with cats. Implications. Our study highlighted how predator and prey spatial and temporal interactions, and habitat cover and complexity (ecological refuges), may influence the ability for native prey to coexist with invasive predators. We encourage more consideration and investigation of these factors, with the aim of facilitating more native species to persist with invasive predators or be reintroduced outside of predator-free sanctuaries, exclosures and island safe havens.

中文翻译：

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与敌人共存：在无狐岛上与野猫共存的受威胁猎物

摘要上下文。野生家猫 (Felis catus) 导致澳大利亚野生动物的大量损失，尤其是中小型陆生哺乳动物。然而，减轻猫的影响仍然具有挑战性。了解促进本地猎物与其外来捕食者共存的因素可以帮助更好地进行害虫管理和保护行动。目标。我们估计了野猫的密度，研究了栖息地覆盖对长鼻猫（Potorous tridactylus tridactylus）的影响，并评估了澳大利亚东南部法国岛“Bluegums”地区的猫和猫之间的空间和时间相互作用。材料和方法。我们在 2018 年冬季和 2018/19 年夏季的每个晚上连续 99 个晚上在 Bluegums 上运行了 31 个摄像站。我们使用空间明确的捕获-重新捕获模型来估计猫的密度，并使用两个物种的单季占用模型来评估猫和猫的空间共现。我们使用动态占用模型评估了植被覆盖和猫活动对potoroo活动的影响。我们还使用图像时间戳来描述和比较两个物种的时间活动。关键结果。在两个季节中，蓝桉的密度为每平方公里 0.77 只猫，尽管由于存在身份不明的猫，这是一个保守的估计。分别有 94% 和 77% 的摄像站检测到了猫和长鼻猫。在茂密的植被中，长鼻猫的可探测性更高，这种模式在猫活动高的地方更强。猫和波托鲁犬的时间活动重叠，但他们的活动高峰时间不同。结论。法国岛 Bluegums 的野猫密度高于澳大利亚大陆地区报告的野猫密度，但总体上低于其他岛屿。长鼻猫与猫呈正相关，这可能表明猫将猫追踪为猎物或与猫一起出现的其他猎物物种。每个物种的时间活动不同，potoroos 寻求更复杂的栖息地，突出了potoroos 在与猫共同发生时可能用来降低其捕食风险的可能机制。影响。我们的研究强调了捕食者和猎物的空间和时间相互作用、栖息地覆盖和复杂性（生态避难所）如何影响本地猎物与入侵捕食者共存的能力。我们鼓励更多地考虑和调查这些因素，