Table 2. Niche overlap (Pianka’s index; O jk) and breadth (Levins’ standardised measure; B A) of wild dog and fox diet in nine Victorian regions and all regions pooled, based on analysis of scats collected during 1983–2014.
Taxa | Niche parameter | All regions | Mallee | Wimmera | Northern Country | North East | East Gippsland | West/South Gippsland | Central | North Central | South West |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wild dog/Fox | Overlap: O jk | 0.73 | 0.87 | 0.93 | 0.97 | 0.71 | 0.74 | 0.94 | 0.90 | 0.40 | 0.84 |
Wild dog | Breadth: B A | 0.35 | 0.60 | 0.52 | 0.38 | 0.27 | 0.25 | 0.28 | 0.30 | 0.31 | 0.25 |
Fox | Breadth: B A | 0.63 | 0.53 | 0.46 | 0.50 | 0.36 | 0.31 | 0.40 | 0.36 | 0.09 | 0.58 |
Niche overlap and breadth used data on frequency occurrence of eight diet categories: large mammal, medium mammal, small mammal, bird, reptile/amphibian, insect, other invertebrate and plant material). Sample sizes are provided in Table 1.