SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL MODELS FOR RED FOX POPULATIONS SUBJECTS TO FERTILITY CONTROL IN AUTRALIA
Annales Zoologici FenniciPublished 1 January 1995
A. E. Newsome
Citations18
SJR quartileQ3
SJR score0.23
SNIP0.85
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TL;DR
It is suggested that the concept of 'fugitive species' should be examined for an understanding of flexibility in the socio-ecological system of the red fox.
Abstract
Immuno-contraception is being developed in Australia to control populations of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes). One possible adverse response is compensatory reproduction which is being studied in captive and wild populations. In the Northern Hemisphere, red fox populations subject to marked changes in food supply, as experi enced also in Australia, respond numerically and functionally. Ovulation rates and cub production follow suit, but the evidence on mean litter size is equivocal. At high food supplies, groups form with more cubs born to them than to mated pairs. There may be little agonistic behaviour as well, and the role of 'helpers' in groups needs elucidation. The circumstances under which home ranges are defended in whole or in part is uncertain also. No general hypothesis on territoriality in the red fox seems achievable at present, but some ideas from recent specific and general hypotheses are testable. It is suggested that the concept of 'fugitive species' should be examined for an understanding of flexibility in the socio-ecological system of the red fox.
Keywords
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyEnvironmental Science
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