Tom Newsome

Project: Strategic management of wild dogs: how it affects ecosystems in ne-NSW

Wild dogs (and European red foxes) are managed  to reduce impacts on livestock production and for the conservation of native mammals. The design of the IA CRC demonstration site allows me to: assess the effects of long-term (40 years) annual wild dog control programs on prey community diversity and abundance; assess these effects on the abundance of co-occurring non-target carnivores (feral cats, red foxes and spotted-tailed quolls); assess short term numerical responses of target and non-target carnivore populations to control; determine differences in prey dispersion throughout the landscape that may reflect different predation pressure in controlled and uncontrolled areas; and, assess the habitat variables that affect the dispersion of wild canids through the landscape.

The results will be used to determine whether wild dogs regulate, limit, harvest or have catastrophic effects on the abundance of coexisting predators and prey in eastern environments, and to assess if current wild dog control technology reduces livestock predation in eastern environments.

My PhD is linked with the ‘wild dog demonstration site’ located in the eastern tablelands and adjacent coastal hinterland in ne-NSW and se-Qld. This project is also run in collaboration with local Wild Dog Control Associations, Rural Lands Protection Boards, NSW National Parks and NSW State Forests.

Background:

Master of Applied Science, University of Sydney (Thesis: investigated the effects of sporadic control on the behaviour of the fox in an agricultural setting).
Bachelor of Science (Environmental), University of Sydney

After completing my degree, I pursued an interest in ecology and vertebrate pest management through a Masters (see above).  In 2006 I took up a position as a  a consultant with Low Ecological Services company in Central Australia, which helped me develop skills in environmental management, including the control of pest species on a landscape scale.