Scent Packing: 

Peter Banks, Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Sydney, looks at how manipulating animal behaviour can reduce the impacts of invasive species on native fauna. Many predators use olfaction (smell) to find their prey. They hunt using that smell and when that hunting becomes unprofitable (e.g. by artificial flooding of an area with the odour usually associated with their prey) they rapidly learn to not pursue that cue any more. Another part of the research is aimed at manipulating specific behavioural interactions to stop reinvasion of an introduced pest. After a successful pest control program, a population vacuum is created and since there will be lots of habitat without competitors, the pests move back in quite rapidly. However the presence of local competitors can block invasion and so should also block reinvasion. The research has found that reintroduction of a native competitor (the native bush rat) has made black rats scarce on North Head. Black rats in low numbers do make positive environmental contributions, including to pollination. Behavioural interactions are at the heart of the interactions between invaders and natives, and behavioural solutions offer novel ways to change these interactions. Biotic resistance like chemical camouflage and reintroductions makes it much harder for invaders to get a hold on an intact community. Hopefully this new approach in conservation biology will have invasive species scent packing.