Norbury (2001): Conserving dryland lizards by reducing predator-mediated apparent competition and direct competition with introduced rabbits.

Norbury, G. 2001. Conserving dryland lizards by reducing predator-mediated apparent competition and direct competition with introduced rabbits. Journal of Applied Ecology 38: 1350-1361.

This paper examines the potential for introduced rabbits to cause extinction of native secondary prey species (common skinks) in dry grasslands. Because rabbits are the preferred prey of introduced predators (ferret and cats), rabbit abundance dictates predator abundance and predators’ consumption of native skinks. More rabbits mean more predators, and sudden declines in rabbit abundance create acute peaks in consumption of skinks because predators switch their diet. Rabbits have further impacts because they consume the habitat of native skinks. When skink numbers reach critically low levels, predation can drive them locally extinct.