Carnivorous marsupials as model systems: four decades of ecological insights from Chris Dickman’s dasyurid research

Australia’s dasyurid marsupials comprise an ecologically diverse radiation of predators whose variation in body size, habitat use, diet and life-history strategies has made them powerful model systems for ecological research. Over more than four decades, Chris Dickman used dasyurids to address fundamental questions concerning competition, species coexistence, population dynamics and resource limitation, reproductive strategies, community assembly and environmental variability. His early research on Antechinus transformed Australian mammal ecology beyond descriptive natural history. He used manipulative field experiments to demonstrate asymmetric interspecific competition and identify behavioural interference, food limitation and resource partitioning as mechanisms promoting coexistence. Subsequent studies linked photoperiodic regulation of reproduction, multiple paternity and sexual selection to the evolution of male semelparity, while ecological and genetic studies revealed previously unrecognised biodiversity, culminating in the description of Antechinus agilis. Chris later expanded the spatial and conceptual scale of his research from interactions between closely related species to the organisation of whole communities and predator guilds. Comparative studies of arid-zone dasyurids demonstrated species-specific responses to habitat and climatic gradients, while long-term monitoring in the Simpson Desert revealed contrasting demographic responses to rainfall, temperature and vegetation across successive boom-and-bust cycles. The work using the Simpson Desert system ultimately extended ecological theory beyond mammalian interactions to competition between dasyurids and insectivorous reptiles. Collectively, Chris’ research established dasyurids as internationally important model systems and demonstrated how rigorous field experimentation, comparative ecology and long-term ecological monitoring can link natural history with ecological theory across multiple spatial and temporal scales. His work continues to provide an enduring conceptual framework for understanding ecological processes and conserving Australia’s unique carnivorous marsupials in a rapidly changing environment.