WWETAC Projects

Project Title: Applying population ecology to strategies for eradicating invasive forest insects

Status: Ongoing

Principal Investigators: Andrew M. Liebhold, USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station; Deborah G. McCullough, Depts. of Entomology and Forestry, Michigan State University

Collaborators and Affiliations: Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC); National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)

E-mail Contacts: aliebhol[at]fs.fed.us; mccullo6[at]msu.edu

Key Issues/Problems Addressed:Given trends of increasing world trade and travel, North American forests are likely to continue to experience an onslaught of invasions by non-indigenous species (Levine and D'Antonio, 2003).  While most of these species remain sparse and have little impact, a small proportion become significant pests, resulting in catastrophic ecological and economic effects in a wide range of ecosystems (Vitousek et al., 1996; Parker et al., 1999). The three stages composing all non-indigenous pest invasions include arrival, establishment, and spread (Lockwood et al., 2007; Williamson, 1996).  Management activities can be associated with each of these stages. Eradication, however, has often been the subject of considerable controversy.  Some scientists have argued that eradication is a fundamentally flawed concept for biological reasons (e.g., Dahlsten et al., 1989).  Others have argued that the extreme measures taken in eradication efforts are often not justified by the economic benefits of eradication (e.g., Myers et al., 1998). Still others have argued that eradication is conceptually too militaristic and advocate more benign management programs (e.g., Larson, 2005).

Study Goal and Objectives:The principal investigators will assemble a working group that will develop strategies for eradication based on fundamental population biology theory.  To accomplish this, we will need to integrate applied and theoretical ecology.  We have identified a potential suite of participants that represent a wide spectrum of backgrounds.  We anticipate an inter-disciplinary synergy developing that will enable us to address practical issues with conceptual problem-solving to arrive at ecologically and economically efficient solutions.

General Description: This working group will primarily address the eradication of invasive forest insect pests.  While other invasive pests (i.e. pathogens, plants, mammals) are certainly important in forests, we believe that results from our project, specifically the development of a sound theoretical framework for eradication, will ultimately be applicable to other taxa, including non-indigenous forest pathogens. 

Some of the specific topics that we anticipate will be addressed include:

  • What is the optimal balance of economic and ecological resources between detection and eradication?  Can eradication be a reasonable option when pests are difficult to detect or survey?
  • Is there an optimal spatial strategy for eradication of plant pests?  If populations of pests or their habitats are fragmented, does emigration enhance Allee effects?
  • Is it possible to achieve eradication by intensifying Allee effects caused by mate-location failure, predator satiation, sterilization techniques, mating disruption, release of natural enemies, and so forth?
  • What do records of historical eradication programs suggest are the characteristics of successful eradication initiatives?

Status: Timetable of Activities:

Group meeting 1

Fall 2008

Identify objectives, formulate approach and methods

Group meeting 2

Spring 2009

Present progress, refine methods, continue work, outline deliverables

Group meeting 3

Fall 2009

Review progress, continue work, outline reports and manuscripts

This project is being managed out of the Eastern Threat Center.  Funding for the project was interrupted in FY 2008 by the fire funding transfer.  The schedule of activities will be modified based on when funding is restored.

Expected Products: The basic ‘product’ that we anticipate developing from this working group is a general population theory that would form the basis for eradication of plant pests.  We anticipate exploring the application of this theory to several systems.  We plan to publish at least three articles from our work in respected, peer-reviewed journals.  The relevance of our project and the results from our work will also be presented to forest health specialists, resource managers, property owners and related audiences at local, regional and national meetings and through publications in forestry-related magazines (e.g. Forest Landowner).  In addition, we plan to organize a symposium at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America.  We will also plan a special session at the annual USDA Interagency Research Forum on Invasive Species, where the group’s work will be presented to a broad assortment of plant pest management personnel.  Ultimately, we anticipate development of new eradication strategies that will be adopted by a wide spectrum of invasive pest management specialists.

Background Citations:

Clout, M. N. and Veitch, C. R. (2002) Turning the tide of biological invasion: the potential for eradicating invasive species In Turning the tide: The Eradication of Invasive Species, IUCN Species Survival Comission Occasional Paper No. 27 (Eds, Veitch, C. R. and Clout, M. N.) IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Courchamp, F., Clutton-Brock, T. and Grenfell, B. (1999) Inverse density dependence and the Allee effect Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 14, 405-410.

Dahlsten, D. L., Garcia, R. and Lorraine, H. (1989) Eradication as a pest management tool: concepts and contexts In Eradication of Exotic Pests(Eds, Dahlsten, D. L. and Garcia, R.) Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 3-15.

Drake, J. M. (2004) Allee effects and the risk of biological invasion Risk Analysis, 24, 795-802.

Kean, J. M. and Suckling, D. M. (2005) Estimating the probability of eradication of painted apple moth from Auckland New Zealand Plant Protection, 58, 7-11.

Knipling, E. F. (1966) Some basic principles of insect population suppression and management. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America, 12, 7-15.

Krajick, K. (2005) Winning the war against island invaders Science, 310, 1410-1413.

Lande, R. (1987) Extinction thresholds in demographic models of territorial populations American Naturalist, 130, 624-635.

Larson, B. M. H. (2005) Demilitarizing invasion biology Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 3, 495-500.

Levine, J. M. and D'Antonio, C. M. (2003) Forecasting Biological Invasions with Increasing International Trade Conservation Biology, 17, 322–326.

Liebhold, A. and Bascompte, J. (2003) The Allee effect, stochastic dynamics and the eradication of alien species Ecology Letters, 6, 133-140.

Lockwood, J., Hoopes, M. and Marchetti, M. (2007) Invasion Ecology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Malden, Massachusetts.

Lorvelec, O. and Pascal, M. (2005) French attempts to eradicate non-indigenous mammals and their consequences for native biota Biological Invasions, 7, 135-140.

Morrison, S. A., Macdonald, N., Walker, K., Lozier, L. and Shaw, M. R. (2007) Facing the dilemma at eradication's end: uncertainty of absence and the Lazarus effect Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5, 271-276.

Myers, J. H., Savoie, A. and Van Randen, E. (1998) Eradication and pest management Annual Review of Entomology, 43, 471-91.

Myers, J. H., Simberloff, D., Kuris, A. M. and Carey, J. R. (2000) Eradication revisited: dealing with exotic species. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 15, 316-320.

National Research Council (2002) Predicting Invasions of Non-indigenous Plants and Plant Pests National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 194.

Parker, I. M., Simberloff, D. S., Lonsdale, W. M., Goodell, M., Wonham, P. M., Kareiva, P. M., Williamson, M. H., VonHolle, B., Moyle, P. B., Byers, J. E. and Goldwasser, L. (1999) Impact: Toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biological Invasions, 1, 3-19.

Sharov, A. A. and Liebhold, A. M. (1998) Bioeconomics of managing the spread of exotic pest species with barrier zones Ecological Applications, 8, 833-845.

Simberloff, D. (2001) Eradication of island invasives: practical actions and results achieved Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 16, 273-274.

Simberloff, D. (2003) Eradication - preventing invasions at the outset Weed Science, 51, 247-253.

Taylor, C. M. and Hastings, A. (2005) Allee effects in biological invasions Ecology Letters, 8, 895-908.

Vitousek, P. M., D'Antonio, C. M., Loope, L. L. and Westbrooks, R. (1996) Biological invasions as global environmental change. American Scientist, 84, 468-478.
Williamson, M. H. (1996) Biological Invasions., Chapman & Hall, London, UK.

Project ID: FY08JB46