Valuing the Impacts of An Invasive Biological Control Agent: A Choice Experiment on the Asian Ladybird in France

Abstract

Initially used as a biological control against aphids, the Asian ladybird has become highly invasive in many regions, including Europe. While biological control is usually considered as an environmentally‐friendly alternative to chemical pesticides in controlling pests in crops, there is growing concern that these environmental benefits could be outweighed by the negative consequences of the invasion. These include (i) biodiversity losses as populations of native ladybirds suffer from intraguild predation and competition for resources; (ii) human nuisance in houses, including risks of allergy and (iii) potential losses to wine‐growers. We provide an economic valuation of environmental and private characteristics affected by the Asian ladybird's invasion. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among a representative sample of the French population. Our results show that the consequences of the Asian ladybird's introduction do affect significantly the population's welfare. Among these, the impact on biodiversity through the threat on native species appears to be a significant concern.

Public Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Forest Disease Control in the UK

“…For example, Chakir et al . () estimate the willingness to pay to avoid the negative impacts of an introduced pest‐control species, the Asian ladybird in France, finding that respondents have a significant willingness to pay to avoid the adverse impacts of introduced species on native ladybirds. McIntosh et al .…”

“…Several authors have used stated preference methods to investigate the social costs of invasive species. For example, Chakir et al (2016) estimate the willingness to pay to avoid the negative impacts of an introduced pest-control species, the Asian ladybird in France, finding that respondents have a significant willingness to pay to avoid the adverse impacts of introduced species on native ladybirds. McIntosh et al (2010) use contingent valuation to estimate the willingness to pay to postpone the environmental costs associated with an 'inevitable' process of invasion by aquatic species (fish, molluscs, crustaceans and water plants) within their region of the US.…”

Differences in the Phenology ofHarmonia axyridis(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Native Coccinellids in Central Europe

“…This species can outcompete other aphidophagous species (Howe et al 2016) and is an intraguild predator, principally consuming the immature stages of other aphidophagous species (Lucas 2005, Ware et al 2008a, Ingels et al 2013. H. axyridis is considered not only a threat to biodiversity but also a pest to viticulture and a nuisance to humans because it forms large overwintering aggregations in buildings and occasionally bites humans, which can lead to allergic reactions (Nakazawa et al 2007, Chakir et al 2016. The general outline of its life cycle is well known (Honek et al 2018).…”

To Bait or Not to Bait: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Public Preferences for Native Wildlife and Conservation Management in Western Australia

“…There are some studies that estimate households' willingness to pay (WTP) for the management of other invasive species in other parts of the world. For example, Florida residents' WTP to control invasive plants in state Parks (Adams et al, 2011); French households' WTP to reduce nuisance from invasive Asian ladybirds (Chakir et al, 2016); and UK households' WTP for tree disease control programs in UK forests (Sheremet et al, 2017).…”