Journal article
Modelling tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata) dynamics and detection to inform an eradication project
CM Baker, JC Hodgson, E Tartaglia, RH Clarke
Biological Invasions | SPRINGER | Published : 2017
Abstract
Invasive species threaten endangered species worldwide and substantial effort is focused on their control. Eradication projects require critical resource allocation decisions, as they affect both the likelihood of success and the overall cost. However, these complex decisions must often be made within data-poor environments. Here we develop a mathematical framework to assist in resource allocation for invasive species control projects and we apply it to the proposed eradication of the tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata) from the islands of Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea. Our framework contains two models: a population model and a detection model. Our stochastic population model is used to..
View full abstractGrants
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank Kirsti Abbott, Shane Baylis, Michael Bode, Jake Ferguson, Ben Hoffmann, Michael McCarthy and Jose Lahoz-Monfort for insight and discussion. This research was jointly funded by the Department of the Environment and Energy (formerly DSEWPaC) and Monash University. Christopher Baker was funded by The University of Melbourne, the National Environmental Research Project Environmental Decisions Hub and is the recipient of a John Stocker Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund. This research was conducted at Ashmore Reef Commonwealth Marine Reserve under Permit No. 006-ARRR-110421-01. The authors wish to thank the relevant staff at the Department of the Environment, especially Anna Farnham, Rod Atkins and Miranda Carver. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.