Applying population ecology to strategies for eradicating invasive forest insects

Eradication refers to management activities that result in the extirpation of a species from a given area. Despite the vast amounts of money and effort expended on eradication programs and their importance to mitigation of undesirable effects of non-indigenous species, a scientific basis for eradication founded on basic principles of population ecology is lacking. We plan to assemble a team comprised of applied ecologists familiar with invasive forest insects and eradication efforts, theoretical ecologists with expertise in the dynamics of low-density populations, and economists with backgrounds in optimization and decision theory. This diverse group will assemble historical data and develop population models that capitalize on our knowledge of Allee effects, stochastic dynamics, and spatial ecology to formulate and optimize new strategies for eradicating alien species and for identifying conditions under which eradication is practical.