Data from: Naiveté is not forever: responses of a vulnerable native rodent to its long term alien predators

Alien predators have wreaked havoc on isolated endemic and island fauna worldwide, a phenomenon generally attributed to prey naiveté, or a failure to display effective antipredator behaviour due to a lack of experience. While the failure to recognise and/or respond to a novel predator has devastating impacts in the short term after predators are introduced, few studies have asked whether medium to long term experience with alien predators enables native species to overcome their naiveté. In Australia, introduced dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and cats (Felis catus) have caused rapid extinctions and declines in small-medium sized native mammals since they were introduced ~150 years ago. However, native wildlife have had ~4000 years experience with another dog – the dingo (Canis lupus dingo). Native bush rats (Rattus fuscipes) remain common despite predation from these predators. We predicted that prior experience with dingoes would mean that bush rats recognise and respond to dogs, but suspect that hundreds of years experience may not be enough for effective responses to cats and foxes. To test these predictions, we combined the giving-up density (GUD) with analysis of remote camera footage to measure bush rat foraging and behavioural responses to body odour from dogs, foxes, cats and native spotted-tail quolls (Dasyurus maculatus). Bush rats responded strongly to dogs with increased GUDs, increased vigilance and decreased foraging. However, mixed responses to foxes and cats suggest that at least some individuals remain naïve towards these predators. Naiveté is not necessarily forever: alien predators devastate many native prey species, but others may learn or adapt to the new threat.

Usage Notes
Data for DryadData used to create Figures 1 and 2.

外来捕食者对全球范围内孤立的特有物种与岛屿动物区系造成了严重破坏，这一现象通常被归因于猎物无捕食经验（prey naiveté）——即因缺乏相关经历而无法展现有效的反捕食行为。尽管在捕食者引入后的短期内，无法识别和/或应对新型捕食者会带来毁灭性影响，但鲜有研究探讨中到长期的外来捕食者接触是否能让本土物种克服这种无经验状态。

在澳大利亚，自约150年前被引入以来，外来犬（家犬Canis lupus familiaris）、狐狸（赤狐Vulpes vulpes）和猫（家猫Felis catus）已造成中小型本土哺乳动物快速灭绝与种群数量下降。然而，本土野生动物与另一种犬类——澳洲野犬（Canis lupus dingo）已有约4000年的共存经历。尽管面临这些捕食者的捕食，本土灌丛大鼠（Rattus fuscipes）依然较为常见。

我们预测，因此前与澳洲野犬的共存经历，灌丛大鼠能够识别并对家犬做出反捕食响应，但我们推测数百年的共存经历可能不足以让它们对狐狸和猫形成有效的应对行为。为验证这些预测，我们结合放弃密度（giving-up density, GUD）与远程相机影像分析，来测量灌丛大鼠对家犬、狐狸、猫以及本土斑尾袋鼬（Dasyurus maculatus）体味的觅食与行为响应。

灌丛大鼠对家犬产生了强烈响应：放弃密度升高、警戒行为增加且觅食活动减少。但对狐狸和猫的响应存在差异，这表明至少部分个体仍对这些捕食者保持无经验状态。

无捕食经验并非永恒：外来捕食者会摧毁诸多本土猎物物种，但其他物种或许能够学会或适应这种新的威胁。

使用说明：用于生成图1与图2的Dryad数据集（DryadData）数据。