Exotic megaherbivores as ecosystem engineers in Australian savannas: Do they facilitate predator movement?

An understanding of how terrestrial mammalian predators use their environment is critical for the development of effective management and monitoring. Mammalian predators often use anthropogenic linear features—such as roads, fencelines, and infrastructure corridors—to increase movement efficiency and prey encounter rates. However, there has been little investigation into how predators use more subtle linear features such as game trails (i.e., well‐trodden paths created by megaherbivores). This is despite native and exotic megaherbivores being abundant across many of Earth's most intact landscapes and conservation areas. We investigated how the two largest terrestrial mammalian predators in northern Australian savannas—the dingo (Canis familiaris, introduced ca. 4000 years ago) and cat (Felis catus, introduced ca. 200 years ago)—use game trails created by exotic megaherbivores (Asian water buffalo Bubalus bubalis and horse Equus caballus). We deployed two camera traps at 52 sites, with o..., At each site there were two cameras. One camera was placed on a game trail termed 'on' and the other camera was placed approximately 60m away in undisturbed vegetation termed 'off'.
Data csv includes the the number of independent detections of a species on the 'on-trail' camera and 'off-trail' camera. Detections were considered independent when >30 minutes had elapsed since the previous detections of that species on that same camera. 
'feral_herbivore' category includes detections of two species: Bubalus bubalis and Equus caballus
'sm_mam' category includes detections of Sminthopsis spp., Pseudomys spp. and Rattus spp.
'all_prey_spp' category is the sum of independent detections of all native mammal species less than 2.5kg i.e. all native mammal species excluding agile wallaby, , # Exotic megaherbivores as ecosystem engineers in Australian savannas: Do they facilitate predator movement?

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0zpc86776](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0zpc86776)

## Description of the data and file structure

The experimental method involved the deployment of 104 camera traps at 52 sites on Melville Island to compare faunal (both native and invasive spp.) activity along game trails created by exotic megaherbivores versus in undisturbed vegetation in savanna habitats. At each site, paired cameras were positioned: one facing along a game trail and another in undisturbed vegetation within 60 meters. The cameras were unbaited, set at a height of 50 cm, and programmed to capture five consecutive images per trigger.

Detections were considered independent when >30 minutes had elapsed since the previous detection of that species on the same camera. We investigated each species’ use of game trails using logistic generalised linear models. The modelled response v...,