Despite being a model species for ecological research,the sensitivity of the Australian native bush rat Rattus fuscipes to the urban edge is poorly understood.We examined bush rat habitat quality at the urban edge using a multi-scaled and mechanistic approach.The response of bush rat populations to the weed lantana Lantana camara (which frequently characterises Australian urban edges) was teased apart from other edge effects.Trapping and spool and line techniques indicated that bush rats avoided the urban matrix at a fine scale and that habitat quality was poorer at urban edges compared to core or weedy core habitats.Lantana density was positively correlated with bush rat abundance indices at edges,suggesting that it may act as a buffer against other deleterious edge effects.This conclusion was supported by the fact that the rats travelled within weed thickets more than in native vegetation due to plant density and architecture.We then used a giving up density experiment to demonstrate that lantana cover reduces bush rat perceived predation risk to the same extent as native vegetation: plant structure was more important than species.Our results demonstrate that invasive species do not always have a negative impact on fauna at urban edges in Australia,and in fact may enhance habitat quality at certain ecological scales.Overall,studying the response of bush rat populations in this context provided insight into what factors might be important in causing negative small mammal population responses at the urban edge.