When are eradication campaigns successful? A test of common assumptions

Abstract

Eradication aims at eliminating populations of alien organisms from an area. Since not all eradications are successful, several factors have been proposed in the literature (mainly by referring to case studies) to be crucial for eradication success, such as infestation size or reaction time. To our knowledge, however, no study has statistically evaluated which factors affect eradication success and attempted to determine their relative importance. We established a unique global dataset on 136 eradication campaigns against 75 species (invasive alien invertebrates, plants and plant pathogens) and statistically tested whether the following factors, proposed by others were significantly related to eradication success: (1) the reaction time between the arrival/detection of the organism and the start of the eradication campaign; (2) the spatial extent of the infestation; (3) the level of biological knowledge of the organism; and (4) insularity. Of these, only the spatial extent of the infestation was significantly related to the eradication outcome: local campaigns were more successful than regional or national campaigns. Reaction time, the level of knowledge and insularity were all unrelated to eradication success. Hence, some factors suggested as being crucial may be less important than previously thought, at least for the organisms tested here. We found no differences in success rates among taxonomic groups or geographic regions. We recommend that eradication measures should generally concentrate on the very early phase of invasions when infestations are still relatively small.

What determines the impact of alien birds and mammals in Europe?

“…They would also be of use in assessing which currently established species may have the largest actual impacts in the future. It would be a great step forward in the management of invasive pests if biological traits could help us to identify species with large impacts on the environment and economy before they have spread enough for their impacts to be felt, when control will be substantially easier (Pluess et al 2012).…”

Hyparrhenia variabilis and Hyparrhenia cymbaria (Poaceae): New for the Americas, Successful in Mexico

“…Considering the experience with the eradication of invasive plants in other regions (e.g., Pluess et al 2012;Rejmanek and Pitcairn 2002), we do not think these species can be eradicated easily from their present area. However, they can be prevented from reaching other regions.…”

Forest pests and their management in the Anthropocene

“…The cost of intervention can be greater than the losses in production from pitch canker. Furthermore, F. circinatum is now widely distributed in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula so local eradication efforts are not sensible (Pluess et al 2012). Legally prescribed responses to pinewood nematode in Spain are even more severe (Xunta de Galicia 2017): cut all pine trees within 1.5 km and remove all susceptible host material for its local vector, Monochamus galloprovinciales, within 20 km.…”