Experimental Evidence of Changing Habitat Use and Activity of Native Prey During Invasive Mesopredator Population Control

ABSTRACT Predators can alter the habitat use and temporal activity patterns of prey, impacting their vital rates. Such dynamics between species are critical to understand in relation to invasive predators, which are among the greatest threats to biodiversity. In response to invasive predator impacts, predator‐free “safe havens” are increasingly being used to prevent the loss of threatened wildlife species. Few studies have experimentally tested how prey behavior may change in relation to invasive predator population control programs and habitat variation. We investigated changes in the foraging behavior and activity of two ground‐dwelling, threatened marsupial species during a feral cat eradication program and in relation to more open versus more closed vegetation. We used giving‐up density stations and motion‐triggered cameras to record foraging behavior and the perceived risk of prey before and during a feral cat eradication program, and across a gradient of low to high vegetation density on French Island, south‐eastern Australia. After feral cat population reduction, each species used both open and closed vegetation more frequently, with foraging behavior (lower giving‐up densities) and activity increasing over time. Our results suggest bandicoots and potoroos recognize feral cats as a threat, and that they modify their spatial and temporal activity accordingly. More broadly, this suggests that substantial benefits of cat eradication programs—including native prey being able to occupy and use more habitat—can be realized relatively quickly and before the ultimate, longer‐term goal of cat eradication is achieved.