The big conservation challenges of the Anthropocene impact entire regions. Invasive species and emerging infectious diseases do not respect reserve boundaries, nature needs production as well as intact landscapes, and climate change is ubiquitous. Much mammalian conservation in Australia is focussed on islands and fenced reserves, where threats can be eliminated and major gains made in global census count of threatened species. To move beyond this paradigm, solutions are needed that are effective at large scale. Actions imbedded in ecological processes and evolutionary dynamics are more likely to deliver outcomes. Transformations in biodiversity conservation demand transdisciplinary knowledge and collective action that includes diverse community.
Using mammalian food webs, I demonstrate ecological and evolutionary levers to shift species abundance in food webs from invasive-dominated towards more native species. Landscape alteration for agricultural and forestry production reduces and fragments habitat, favouring invasive and disrupting native species. An animal-centric approach provides understanding of how elements of landscape influence ecological interactions between native and invasive species. Ecological levers such as restoring predators and controlling rabbits operate on this environmental template. Evolutionary levers involve facilitating beneficial rapid adaptive response to novel challenges (predators, disease) and avoiding detrimental responses.