Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11
Management of invasive
invertebrates: lessons from the
Peter T. Green and Dennis J. O'Dowd
Declare the past, diagnose the present, foretell the future; practice these acts . . . make a
habit of two things—to help, or at least to do no harm.
Hippocrates
Epidemics,
Book I, Section XI
In the literature on management of invasive species, heuristic models that outline
and integrate management processes across the entire spectrum of invasion, from
pre-border risk assessment and surveillance to operational control and monitor-
ing of established populations, are now commonplace (e.g. Wittenberg and Cock
2001; Wotton and Hewitt 2004; Hulme 2006; Lodge
et al
. 2006). Generic frame-
works for rapid response to a biological invader typically follow a sequence from
detection, to assessment, then action, and monitoring (Fig. 11.1). These models
are triggered by detection and diagnosis of an invasive species, followed closely
by informing stakeholders and initial assessment of the situation. This includes
delimitation of the range and density of the invader, establishment of operational
authority, defi ning and evaluating operational options, seeking initial funding,
and commencing interim management. Following the initial assessment a deci-
sion is taken on the method of operational control; concerted action is taken to
suppress the invader so as to mitigate its impacts. This is typically linked to a mon-
itoring programme to assess the effi cacy of control, and, if needed, planning for
follow-up action. Unfortunately, few published studies put the fl esh on the bones
of these idealized generic frameworks to reveal the complex realities of coordinat-
ing and implementing on-the-ground control for specifi c invasive species (but see
Anderson 2005, Coutts and Forrest 2007) to test the ideal against the real.
Some of the most intractable and serious of biological invaders are invertebrates
(e.g. woolly adelgid and gypsy moth, Lovett
et al
. 2006; social wasps, Beggs 2001;
earthworms, Holdsworth
et al
. 2007; land snails, Cowie 2005; and ants, Holway
et al
. 2002). Although invertebrates comprise most described biodiversity in both
