Introduced mammalian predators are drivers of species decline and extinction globally. The successful management and control of introduced mammalian predators is dependent on some knowledge of space use and movements in order to target a population and monitor outcomes. In Australia, these tasks are made complex as there is more than one significant introduced mammalian predator, namely the European red fox Vulpes vulpes and feral cat Felis catus, the landscapes are vast, and individual-level interactions between predators are little studied. The impact of these two introduced predators is large and a significant factor in the extinction of many of the country’s small- to medium-sized mammals, either regionally or globally. In a three-year study, we used high-frequency location data, the deployment of the latest GPS tracking technologies, and recent advances in statistical modeling to examine how these two species distributed themselves in space, the degree to which individual distributions overlapped, intra- and interspecific interactions, and temporal patterns of activity in an arid landscape. In the absence of an apex predator, the two introduced mesopredators showed large differences in how they distribute themselves across the landscape and interact with conspecifics. The red fox mostly occupies defined territories, while most feral cats roam apparently independent of each other with occasional periods of frequent interaction with conspecifics of either sex. Intraspecific attraction was strongest in cats, while interspecific avoidance was observed in both directions. The home ranges of feral cats that were range-resident were 3–3.5 times larger than foxes in the same landscape. Notably, we observed long-distance movements in feral cats and some were displaced up to 164 km from their point of release. A greater portion of the feral cat population were non-sedentary and therefore likely less amenable to local control efforts than foxes. Given the different patterns of distribution in time and space, the reliable monitoring of population trends or estimates of abundance will necessarily differ in extent, intensity, or duration for the same level of precision and/or require a different method for monitoring each population.

中文翻译：

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两种引入的食肉动物欧洲赤狐和野猫在干旱景观中的空间使用和相互作用

引入的哺乳动物捕食者是全球物种减少和灭绝的驱动因素。对引入的哺乳动物捕食者的成功管理和控制取决于对空间使用和运动的一些了解，以便瞄准种群并监测结果。在澳大利亚，这些任务变得复杂，因为引入了不止一种重要的哺乳动物捕食者，即欧洲红狐Vulpes vulpes和野猫Felis catus，景观广阔，捕食者之间的个体层面相互作用研究很少。这两种引入的食肉动物的影响很大，并且是该国许多区域或全球中小型哺乳动物灭绝的重要因素。在为期三年的研究中，我们使用高频位置数据、最新 GPS 跟踪技术的部署以及统计建模的最新进展来检查这两个物种如何在空间中分布，个体分布重叠的程度，内部- 和种间相互作用，以及干旱地区活动的时间模式。在没有顶级捕食者的情况下，这两种引入的中食性动物在它们在整个景观中分布自己以及与同类相互作用的方式上表现出巨大的差异。红狐大多占据确定的领土，而大多数野猫显然彼此独立，偶尔会与任何一种性别的同种猫频繁互动。猫的种内吸引力最强，而在两个方向上都观察到种间回避。栖息地的野猫的栖息地比同一景观中的狐狸大 3-3.5 倍。值得注意的是，我们观察到野猫的长距离移动，其中一些从它们的释放点位移了 164 公里。大部分野猫种群是非久坐不动的，因此可能比狐狸更不适合当地的控制工作。鉴于时间和空间分布的不同模式，对人口趋势的可靠监测或对丰度的估计在程度上必然会有所不同，