Economic lessons from control efforts for an invasive species: Miconia calvescens in Hawaii

Abstract

Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an unwanted species solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining population. The shrubby tree, Miconia calvescens, is used to illustrate dynamic policy options for a forest invader. Potential damages to Hawaii's forest ecosystems are related to decreased aquifer recharge, biodiversity, and other ecosystem values. We find that population reduction is the optimal management policy for the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii. On the island of Kauai, where tree density is lower and search costs higher, optimal policy calls for deferring removal expenditures until the steady state population is reached.

Marine invasive species in the Arctic

“…These future expected costs are based on the population that is left remaining after current intervention activities are undertaken and its ability to reproduce and spread, and the damages from those future ecological changes, and the future costs of intervening to manage them. (See, for example, Burnett et al, 2007). In addition, policy expenditures across intervention options should also equate marginal benefits and costs.…”

Optimal Control of Spatial-Dynamic Processes: The Case of Biological Invasions

“…First, a greater amount of invasion edge decreases the range of control costs for which containment is optimal, shifting policies 11 Several other studies have found that delaying control can be optimal, but for different reasons than shape. Burnett et al (2007) and Olson and Roy (2008) find that when control costs are stock dependent (i.e., higher marginal control costs for smaller invasions), delaying control to reduce control costs can be optimal. For example, Burnett et al suggest that delaying control is optimal for Miconia invasions on some of the Hawaiian islands.…”

Placing invasive species management in a spatiotemporal context

“…While there has been substantial research published on invasive species management (Epanchin-Niell and Hastings 2010), important gaps remain, particularly concerning general management strategies. Many recommendations are problem-specific and do not give general insights that could support rapid decision-making for new problems, even when these new problems are similar to those already treated in the existing literature (Higgins et al 2000, Burnett et al 2007, Hyder et al 2008.…”