Annotated Bibliography Template
Name: Jessica McCourt Student No: c3269411
TOPIC
What are the impacts of feral cats, Felis catus, on Australian biodiversity?
INTRODUCTION
Write in full, using proper sentences and include in-text references.
Approximately 200 words, excluding references.
Felis catus the domestic cat, an introduced species as a direct result of the human population is responsible for 26% of the extinction of the total population of Birds, mammals, and reptiles worldwide. This has severe implications and a threat to Australian Biodiversity. The major impact suffered as a result of the Felis catus on Australian Biodiversity is the decline and in some cases extinction of mammals. Predation being responsible for the impact on
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Australian native species but can also occur through competition and disease transmission. A thorough understanding of the feral cat’s ecology and the impacts that occur on Australian Biodiversity is a must in developing strategies that could be put in place. One of the policies that have an increased development is predation by feral cats being listed as a key process under Australian legislation and management. This is co-ordinated through a threat Abatement plan developed by the Department of the Environment. This is a critical measure required to be actioned and enforced to help in the conversation of a vast majority of native species that are dependent on successfully managing the impacts of the feral cat on Australian Biodiversity. (Doherty et al., 2016) References Doherty, T., Dickman, C., Johnson, C., Legge, S., Ritchie, E. and Woinarski, J. (2016). Impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. Mammal Review, 47(2), pp.83-97. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Complete the four (4) annotated bibliography entries in the spaces provided below. Remember to arrange the entries in alphabetical order based on the author’s surname. Citation Dickman, C. R. Overview Of The Impacts Of Feral Cats On Australian Native Fauna. Canberra, ACT: Australian Nature Conservation Agency, 1996. Print. Content Summary This book addresses and thoroughly describes the impacts of both the domestic and stray cats and also the impacts caused by the feral cat. It categorises the impacts into two main categorises; competitive impacts and predatory impacts. It provides solid qualitative and quantitative scientific data measuring the density and geographic location in Australia of feral cats and putting forward a list numbered 1-8 areas needing most conservation due to the impacts of feral cats. Their research provides a summary of the current issues providing suggesting that could be implicated to address those implications. Topic Relevance The relevance of this source to be used in my research. It provides the reader with a clear and concise understanding of feral cats particularly tailored to the geographic impacts in Australia. It fully addresses the topic question and provides a fundamental understanding of the impacts caused on Australian biodiversity. It also provides both qualitative and quantitative scientific data as evidence to back up their research. Source Limitations The book being prepared for the Australian nature conservation agency may be more heavily focused on emphasising the need for conservation.
Source Type: Academic book
Citation Doherty, T., Dickman, C., Johnson, C., Legge, S., Ritchie, E. and Woinarski, J. (2016). Impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. Mammal Review, 47(2), pp.83-97.
Content Summary This article reviews the impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. It provides information on the impacts of biodiversity and the main factors responsible including; predation, competition and disease transmission. It also discusses the impacts on agriculture, history and distribution and how the feral cat was introduced, the areas of land surface the feral cat is now established in.
The management and control measures both lethal and non-lethal that have been put in place and priorities for future management and research. Their research focuses on a wide variety of factors that contribute to providing a well-informed understanding and providing an overall picture of the impacts that are caused by the feral cat on Australian
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biodiversity. Topic Relevance This article is an effective source to be used in my research as it directly addresses the question asked and provides an in-depth response along with numerous statistics and quantitative scientific data to back up the information produced. Source Limitations limitations of this source would be the lack of information provided on the impacts of the feral cat on the bird, reptile and frog species, the impacts are less known in comparison to mammals. Source Type: Academic journal article Citation "Feral Cats | Department Of The Environment And Energy". Environment.gov.au N.p., 2017. Web. 3 May 2017. Content Summary This internet web page source adequately describes the impacts of the feral cat Felis catus and the impacts it has on Australian biodiversity. It discusses. the effects of predations and loss of species because of this as well noting the species threatened and at risk of extinction. It describes in depth of the measures to control and reduce the impacts of the feral cat such as using a poison bait as the most humane option. And a less humane option of trapping and shooting. It also provides numerous pdf documents that can be downloaded to provide the reader with further information on gaining an understanding of the impacts suffered on Australian biodiversity because of the feral cat. Topic Relevance This source is relevant to the topic question as it provides information about the main factors responsible for the impacts suffered on Australian biodiversity due to the feral cat. Source Limitations The limitations of this source would be that it is not as extensively described in detail and gives the reader a brief summary as opposed to an academic journal or book that gives the reader a more thorough in-depth understanding. Source Type: Internet web page Citation Fisher, Penny et al. "How Does Cat Behaviour Influence The Development And Implementation Of Monitoring Techniques And Lethal Control Methods For Feral Cats?". Applied Animal Behaviour Science 173 (2015): 88-96. Web. Content Summary This journal article describes the impacts that the feral cat has on Australian biodiversity such as being responsible for the extinction and threatened status of a numerous amount of Australian endemic mammals and birds on which the cats prey upon.
It discusses the need for control methods to counteract the impacts of the feral cat. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the feral cat to be among one of the worst invasive species. The methods used to control the impacts of the feral cat such as shooting, trapping, baiting are all lethal methods being described as
humane. Topic Relevance This journal article is relevant to be used in my research as it provides an understanding of the impacts of the feral cat answers what the impacts are as a result and addresses methods in which can be implicated to control and reduce the impacts as a result of the introduced species. Source Limitations This source strongly advocates for the need of control methods to be lethal a limitation could be argued that an alternative non-lethal method of control was not discussed. Source Type: Academic journal article
However, due to backlash from animal activist communities, the BLM is inconclusive on using lethal programs. One proposed solution would be to use contraceptives to add to the overproduction of feral horses. The contraceptive would be used in the form of darts that will help keep population down by decreasing the reproductive hormones in male horses. Using contraceptives would allow for a more humane regulating horse population.
A species in particular that I have researched is the red fox or Vulpes vulpes as it is known in the scientific community. The animal is native to North America, Asia and Europe where they thrive in habitats ranging from temperate deserts to boreal forests, but its range spans the entire globe (Tesky 1995). The red fox is omnivorous which means that it feeds on animals and plants equally, which, creates impacts on both types of populations within its habitat. What makes the red fox invasive is its introduction to Australia and Eastern parts of the United States, as a result of migration of Europeans t...
Australia is a land of rather extreme weather conditions and widely diverse climates that force the vegetation living there to adapt in many interesting ways. Australia is the driest continent, and biomes such as grasslands and savannas are prime sources of widespread catastrophic fires. The plants that grow in the vast arid and semi-arid regions of Australia are prone to fires simply because of the desert climates that they grow in. High temperatures combined with low fuel moisture contents, little humidity and drying winds that sweep across the landscape encourage many of the plants living in these areas to burst into flames at fairly frequent intervals. Serotinous cones, protective bark, intricate underground recovery systems, unique seed distributions and even the necessity of fire for reproduction are just some of the amazing ways that the major plant families which grow in these fire-prone areas have learned to adapt to their environments.
Brumbies are known as the feral horses that inhabit Australia- mostly throughout the Northern Territory, Queensland and scattered centrally in Western Australia. Some small mobs live within Victoria and New South Wales, but none as vast or dense in population. These horses influence the natural habitat in many ways- they reduce vegetation growth, cause soil erosion and impact upon other animals living within the ecosystem. They are seen as pests to national parks, and essentially, this is the reason for their culling- they cause more damage than they are worth. The only positive aspect a brumby herd will impose is that they maintain walking and driving tracks throughout state parks.
Weeks, P., & Packard, J. (2009). Feral hogs: Invasive species or nature. Human Organization, 68(3), 280-292. Retrieved from http://wk4ky4tk9h.scholar.serialssolutions.com.library.esc.edu/?sid=google&auinit=P&aulast=Weeks&atitle=Feral Hogs: Invasive Species or Nature's Bounty?&title=Human organization&volume=68&issue=3&date=2009&spage=280&issn=0018-7259
Slowly, the disruption of these delicate balances are taking their toll on the native habitats and transforming small temporary changes into permanent problems. The area of environmental modification that will be emphasized in this paper is the introduction of non-native species to new habitats and the resulting effects on that habitat; specifically, the introduction of the European Rabbit to Australia.
Any method of control must be weighed for its effectiveness, feasibility and secondary impact making management of feral deer an ongoing and complex
Zipkin, Elise F., Kraft, Clifford E., Cooch, Evan G., and Sullivan, Patrick J., “When Can Efforts to Control Nuisance and Invasive Species Backfire?,” Ecological Applications, Vol. 19, No. 6 (2009): 1585-1595, accessed October 11, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40346271.
"How Zoos Are Saving Our Animals." – Features – ABC Environment (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015.
Many people don’t spay or neuter their pets, especially cats. There are a lot of benefits and yet according to The Humane Society of the United States, six to eight million cats enter the shelters each year and while three to four million are adopted out, another three to four million are killed. “An unsprayed female cats, her mate and all of their offspring producing just 2 litters per year (the average is 3-4), with just 2.8 surviving kittens per litter can total to 66,088 cats in just 6 years” (Goldstein & O’Keefe 4).
Mason, Robert A. B. "Wild Mammals In Captivity: Principles And Techniques For Zoo Management, 2Nd Edition." Austral Ecology38.8 (2013): e26. Environment Index. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Invasive species, (also known as invasive alien species or simply alien species) are defined as any organism (plant, animal, pathogen, or other living thing) that is alien (non-native) to an ecosystem, which can cause adverse economical, ecological, or health effects to native species and/or humans. The roots of these problems all stem from the massive negative ecological impact these organisms are having on the environment (CBD, 2009). For all animal extinctions where the cause is known since the 1600’s, invasive alien species have been a contributing factor 40% of the time (CBD, 2006); the second most contributing factor to extinctions after loss of habitat (GC, 2013). By eliminating native species through competition for resources, predation, and transmittal of disease, invasive species continue to reduce biodiversity in almost all ecosystems around the world (CBD, 2009). In the future, this problem may worsen, and if no action is taken, could lead to a cascading ecological problem so large that whole communities or even ecosystems could collapse.
In Tai Wan, TNR was carried out in some districts. The Life Conservationist Association reports that the number of stray animals decrease from 13,281 to 9,515 (nearly 25%) during 2009and 2010. This shows the efficiency of TNR in controlling the population of stray cats. Therefore, by considering the environment, society, political and the welfare of the animals, TNR is the most effective and humane way to solve the problem of overcrowded population of stray cats.
One of the big causes of extinction or the endangerment of species is foreign species entering a habitat. This species that are not native to the land can disrupt the food web in that community. These species take control of the food web and endanger some of the other species. The native species become endangered and over the course of many years they either adapt to their new way or life, the foreign predator leaves or is killed off due to the different environment, or the species is killed off and becomes extinct. Organizations like the “World Wild Li...
Humans and other vertebrates have been in a dynamic relationship thousands of years. Animals have been used in many aspects of human lives various ways, directly for instance as, farm animals, companion animals, animals in entertainment industries. Animals have also been associated with humans indirectly such as in medical research. In Canada, human and non-human animals interactions do fall under these categories, Farm animals comprise of largest group, there are between 100 million to 1 billion animals in this category. Followed by companion animals, this group comprises between 10 million to 100 million animals. Third category is consists of animals that are used in science has a range of 1 million to 10 million. Last and smallest category is of captive wild animals for entertainment which has less than 1 million animals. In following paragraphs will provide more details about the each category’s animal use in Canada in past recent years.