scholarly journals Evidence-based economic analysis demonstrates that ecosystem service benefits of water hyacinth management greatly exceed research and control costs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A Wainger ◽  
Nathan E Harms ◽  
Cedric Magen ◽  
Dong Liang ◽  
Genevieve M Nesslage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Water Hyacinth ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Invasive Species Control ◽  
Temporal Models ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Invasive species management can be a victim of its own success when decades of effective control cause memories of past harm to fade and raise questions of whether programs should continue. Economic analysis can be used to assess the efficiency of investing in invasive species control by comparing ecosystem service benefits to program costs, but only if appropriate data exist. We used a case study of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms), a nuisance floating aquatic plant, in Louisiana to demonstrate how comprehensive record-keeping supports economic analysis. Using long-term data sets, we developed empirical and spatio-temporal simulation models of intermediate complexity to project invasive species growth for control and no-control scenarios. For Louisiana, we estimated that peak plant cover would have been 76% higher without the growth rate suppression that appeared due primarily to biological control agents. Our economic analysis revealed that combined biological and herbicide control programs, monitored over an unusually long time period (1975-2013), generated a benefit-cost ratio of about 34:1 based on benefits to anglers, waterfowl hunters, boating-dependent businesses, and water treatment facilities. This work adds to the literature by 1) providing evidence of the effectiveness of water hyacinth biological control; 2) demonstrating use of parsimonious spatio-temporal models to estimate benefits of invasive control; and 3) incorporating substitutability into economic benefit transfer to avoid overstating benefits. Our study suggests that robust and cost-effective economic analysis is enabled by good record keeping and generalizable models that can demonstrate management effectiveness and promote social efficiency of invasive species control.

scholarly journals Evidence-based economic analysis demonstrates that ecosystem service benefits of water hyacinth management greatly exceed research and control costs

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Wainger ◽  
Nathan E. Harms ◽  
Cedric Magen ◽  
Dong Liang ◽  
Genevieve M. Nesslage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Water Hyacinth ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Invasive Species Control ◽  
Temporal Models ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Invasive species management can be a victim of its own success when decades of effective control cause memories of past harm to fade and raise questions of whether programs should continue. Economic analysis can be used to assess the efficiency of investing in invasive species control by comparing ecosystem service benefits to program costs, but only if appropriate data exist. We used a case study of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes(Mart.) Solms), a nuisance floating aquatic plant, in Louisiana to demonstrate how comprehensive record-keeping supports economic analysis. Using long-term data sets, we developed empirical and spatio-temporal simulation models of intermediate complexity to project invasive species growth for control and no-control scenarios. For Louisiana, we estimated that peak plant cover would be 76% higher without the substantial growth rate suppression (84% reduction) that appeared due primarily to biological control agents. Our economic analysis revealed that combined biological and herbicide control programs, monitored over an unusually long time period (1975–2013), generated a benefit-cost ratio of about 34:1 derived from the relatively modest costs of $124 million ($2013) compared to the $4.2 billion ($2013) in benefits to anglers, waterfowl hunters, boating-dependent businesses, and water treatment facilities over the 38-year analysis period. This work adds to the literature by: (1) providing evidence of the effectiveness of water hyacinth biological control; (2) demonstrating use of parsimonious spatio-temporal models to estimate benefits of invasive species control; and (3) incorporating activity substitution into economic benefit transfer to avoid overstating benefits. Our study suggests that robust and cost-effective economic analysis is enabled by good record keeping and generalizable models that can demonstrate management effectiveness and promote social efficiency of invasive species control.

scholarly journals Evidence-based economic analysis demonstrates that ecosystem service benefits of water hyacinth management greatly exceed research and control costs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A Wainger ◽  
Nathan E Harms ◽  
Cedric Magen ◽  
Dong Liang ◽  
Genevieve M Nesslage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Invasive Species ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Water Hyacinth ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Invasive Species Control ◽  
Temporal Models ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Invasive species management can be a victim of its own success when decades of effective control cause memories of past harm to fade and raise questions of whether programs should continue. Economic analysis can be used to assess the efficiency of investing in invasive species control by comparing ecosystem service benefits to program costs, but only if appropriate data exist. We used a case study of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms), a nuisance floating aquatic plant, in Louisiana to demonstrate how comprehensive record-keeping supports economic analysis. Using long-term data sets, we developed empirical and spatio-temporal simulation models of intermediate complexity to project invasive species growth for control and no-control scenarios. For Louisiana, we estimated that peak plant cover would have been 76% higher without the growth rate suppression that appeared due primarily to biological control agents. Our economic analysis revealed that combined biological and herbicide control programs, monitored over an unusually long time period (1975-2013), generated a benefit-cost ratio of about 34:1 based on benefits to anglers, waterfowl hunters, boating-dependent businesses, and water treatment facilities. This work adds to the literature by 1) providing evidence of the effectiveness of water hyacinth biological control; 2) demonstrating use of parsimonious spatio-temporal models to estimate benefits of invasive control; and 3) incorporating substitutability into economic benefit transfer to avoid overstating benefits. Our study suggests that robust and cost-effective economic analysis is enabled by good record keeping and generalizable models that can demonstrate management effectiveness and promote social efficiency of invasive species control.

Targeting Vulnerable Life-Stages of Sericea Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) with Prescribed Burns

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryant M. Wong ◽  
Gregory R. Houseman ◽  
Sarah E. Hinman ◽  
Bryan L. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Seedling Survival ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Lespedeza Cuneata ◽  
Sericea Lespedeza ◽  
Invasive Species Control

AbstractThere is growing interest in whether invasive species may be controlled by utilizing management strategies that target vulnerable life stages. We manipulated the timing of fire and measured its effects on sericea lespedeza germination and seedling survival. Although fire strongly decreased germination in the laboratory, fire increased germination under field conditions. Additionally, fire caused small decreases in seedling survival in the field. Therefore, controlled burns are likely to encourage spread of sericea lespedeza and are unlikely to effectively control this invasive species. Although targeting vulnerable life stages is a promising strategy for invasive species control, our results illustrate that system-specific studies may be needed to unravel potentially complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors before effective control strategies can be devised.

scholarly journals Evidence-based controls for epidemics using spatio-temporal stochastic models in a Bayesian framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (136) ◽  
pp. 20170386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hola K. Adrakey ◽  
George Streftaris ◽  
Nik J. Cunniffe ◽  
Tim R. Gottwald ◽  
Christopher A. Gilligan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Models ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Functional Model ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
Citrus Canker ◽  
Bayesian Framework ◽  
Ecological Modelling ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Temporal Models ◽  
Spatio Temporal

The control of highly infectious diseases of agricultural and plantation crops and livestock represents a key challenge in epidemiological and ecological modelling, with implemented control strategies often being controversial. Mathematical models, including the spatio-temporal stochastic models considered here, are playing an increasing role in the design of control as agencies seek to strengthen the evidence on which selected strategies are based. Here, we investigate a general approach to informing the choice of control strategies using spatio-temporal models within the Bayesian framework. We illustrate the approach for the case of strategies based on pre-emptive removal of individual hosts. For an exemplar model, using simulated data and historic data on an epidemic of Asiatic citrus canker in Florida, we assess a range of measures for prioritizing individuals for removal that take account of observations of an emerging epidemic. These measures are based on the potential infection hazard a host poses to susceptible individuals (hazard), the likelihood of infection of a host (risk) and a measure that combines both the hazard and risk (threat). We find that the threat measure typically leads to the most effective control strategies particularly for clustered epidemics when resources are scarce. The extension of the methods to a range of other settings is discussed. A key feature of the approach is the use of functional-model representations of the epidemic model to couple epidemic trajectories under different control strategies. This induces strong positive correlations between the epidemic outcomes under the respective controls, serving to reduce both the variance of the difference in outcomes and, consequently, the need for extensive simulation.

scholarly journals Pyramidal Framework: Guidance for the Next Generation of GIS Spatial-Temporal Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Cyril Carré ◽  
Younes Hamdani
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Temporal Data ◽  
Temporal Modeling ◽  
Temporal Models ◽  
Gis Data ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Conventional Literature

Over the last decade, innovative computer technologies and the multiplication of geospatial data acquisition solutions have transformed the geographic information systems (GIS) landscape and opened up new opportunities to close the gap between GIS and the dynamics of geographic phenomena. There is a demand to further develop spatio-temporal conceptual models to comprehensively represent the nature of the evolution of geographic objects. The latter involves a set of considerations like those related to managing changes and object identities, modeling possible causal relations, and integrating multiple interpretations. While conventional literature generally presents these concepts separately and rarely approaches them from a holistic perspective, they are in fact interrelated. Therefore, we believe that the semantics of modeling would be improved by considering these concepts jointly. In this work, we propose to represent these interrelationships in the form of a hierarchical pyramidal framework and to further explore this set of concepts. The objective of this framework is to provide a guideline to orient the design of future generations of GIS data models, enabling them to achieve a better representation of available spatio-temporal data. In addition, this framework aims at providing keys for a new interpretation and classification of spatio-temporal conceptual models. This work can be beneficial for researchers, students, and developers interested in advanced spatio-temporal modeling.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document