Figure 1.

Flowchart illustrating the hypothetical process through which Martu hunting and burning affects sand monitor population density. Over the long term, human burning reduces mean fire size and increases diversity of regrowth patches across the landscape, increasing habitat edge density and providing positive feedbacks to V. gouldii populations. At the same time, human predation removes V. gouldii from recently burned areas (providing a negative feedback effect), but also removes V. gouldii predators (providing an indirectly positive effect).