Reprint of: The case for a dingo reintroduction in Australia remains strong: A reply to Morgan et al., 2016☆
Section snippets
The circumstances that make trophic cascades important to consider in Australia
Morgan et al. (2016) correctly point out that the interplay between top-down and bottom-up processes is central to trophic cascade theory, but they also posit that “unstable climates are likely to have weak or absent top-down forcing” and that “bottom-up forces likely predominate due to irregular pulses of suitable growing conditions in response to unpredictable rainfall which in south-eastern Australia are exacerbated by nutrient-poor soils”. However, these statements and subsequent trophic
Why dingo reintroduction has been proposed
Throughout their paper, Morgan et al. (2016) refer frequently to a paper that outlines how dingo reintroduction could be carried out in arid or semi-arid regions of Australia. They state that the proposal by Newsome et al. (2015) is based “on the notion of a canid-driven trophic cascade as per the Yellowstone model” and that the plan assumes “a similar ability of Northern and Southern Hemisphere top-order predators to influence ecosystem structure...”. However, a key premise of the proposal by
The different pathways by which dingoes could influence ecosystems via trophic cascades
Morgan et al. (2016) focused primarily on the dingo-herbivore prey-plant trophic cascade pathway, but only briefly mentioned the dingo-mesopredator-small prey pathway. This was a missed opportunity because both pathways need to be fully considered before evaluating the merits of dingo reintroduction in Australia. We acknowledge that more work is needed to fully disentangle the dingo-herbivore prey-plant pathway, but research on interactions between dingoes, mesopredators and prey is more
Literature and theory relevant to understanding the interplay of bottom-up and top-down processes
The idea that bottom-up processes affect trophic cascades in Australia is not new, and Morgan et al. (2016) omitted relevant studies in this regard. Greenville et al. (2014) examined spatial and temporal interactions between dingoes, red foxes and feral cats. Their study assessed whether bottom-up interactions can regulate sympatric predator populations in environments that experience resource pulses. Consistent with theory and predictions, the authors found that dingoes suppress the abundances
Moving the debate forward
The reintroduction of grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park provides many lessons. This management action is a high profile case study that has generated extensive research, but also debate about the ecological role of grey wolves as an apex predator. Because of this, the Yellowstone research is frequently cited. However, proposals to reintroduce dingoes into Australia have never been based on Yellowstone research alone. They have been based on accumulating evidence that apex predators
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A publishers’ error resulted in this article appearing in the wrong issue. The article is reprinted here for the reader’s convenience. For citation purposes, please use the original publication details; Food Webs 10, pp. 39-41.