Table 1.

A prediction table of three alternative scenarios of interspecific competition and the predicted responses of varanid lizard populations to an effective experimental manipulation of either foxes or cats.

observations	varanids released from exploitation competition	varanids released from interference competition	varanids not released from competition
varanid density	increase	increase	no change
varanid size structure	no difference in size classes between experimental treatments and controls	initial rise in smaller size class individuals	no change
varanid home range	shrink but do not shift	shift to include areas previously occupied by dominant predator	no change
varanid diet	varanids in treatment areas consume more prey normally favoured by dominant predator	no change, or varanids consume more carrion previously monopolized by dominant predator	varanid diet does not differ between experimental treatments and controls
varanid habitat use	no change	varanids avoid direct encounters with dominant predators	no change
varanid temporal activity	reduced activity across the day in experimental treatments	varanids emerging earlier and retreating later in the day when dominant predators were more active	no difference in activity times between experimental treatments and controls