Pests controlling pests: does predator control lead to greater European rabbit abundance in Australasia?

Abstract
1. In New Zealand and Australia, rural landowners believe that local predator control to protect indigenous biota exacerbates European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus problems on their land. We assess the validity of their concerns by reviewing the published literature on effects of predators on rabbit abundance.
2. In New Zealand, where rabbits and their predators are introduced, predators appear to have relatively little effect on rabbit numbers compared with other factors leading to mortality, such as disease, flooding of burrows and burrow collapse. Similarly, in Australia, rabbit numbers are driven primarily by climate and its effects on food abundance and quality, and by disease. However, where rabbit numbers are low following drought or major epizootics, predation can limit population recovery. In the Iberian Peninsula, where rabbits and their predators are indigenous, the effects of predators are unknown, as they are often confounded by other factors. Rabbit numbers are influenced mostly by habitat, food, disease and rainfall. Elsewhere in Europe, predators have their strongest effect when rabbit numbers have been reduced by other factors, but have little effect on high‐density rabbit populations.
3. In Australasia, abundance of predators (especially rabbit specialists) can usually be predicted from rabbit abundance, not vice versa. Although predation effects can be limiting under certain conditions, they are minor compared to the roles of climate, food,...

Source: Mammal Review - January 1, 2015 Category: Zoology Authors: Grant Norbury, Chris Jones Tags: Review Source Type: research