Results

Detection summary

We recorded 4,476 mammal detections events, of which 132 (2.95%) were feral cats, 286 (6.39%) were red foxes, and 4,058 (90.66%) were native animals comprising 17 species (Table A1). The most frequently detected native species was the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor ) (3,231 detections, 72.19%), followed by the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus ) (290 detections, 6.48%), and bush rat (Rattus fuscipes ) (93 detections, 2.08%; Table A1).

Predictors of invasive predator activity

There were six well-supported models for the feral cat (Appendix S2). Cat activity was higher on trails compared to off trails (β [95% CI] = 1.86 [1.37, 2.34]; 6/6 models), negatively associated with time since fire (-0.70 [-1.09, -0.30]; 6/6 models), and higher in swampy riparian woodland vegetation type (0.50 [0.01, 1.00], 2/6 models) (Figure 2). There were also two interactions present; cat activity was negatively associated with NDVI before the prescribed fire (-0.86 [-1.41, -0.32]; 6/6 models) and in unburnt areas (-0.71 [-1.39, -0.03]; 2/6 models) (Figure 2). There was no evidence that cat activity was influenced by prey activity.
There were eight well-supported models for the red fox (Appendix S2). Fox activity was higher on trails compared to off trails (1.24 [0.82, 1.67]; 8/8 models), higher after the prescribed fire (-0.50 [-0.90, -0.10]; 8/8 models), higher at treatment compared to control sites (0.57 [0.13, 1.02]; 8/8 models), and negatively associated with distance from farmland (-0.35 [-0.55, -0.15]; 5/8 models) (Figure 3). There was no evidence that fox activity was influenced by prey activity (Appendix S2).