Northern Research Station

Title: The Allee effect, stochastic dynamics and the eradication of alien species

Author: Liebhold, Andrew; Bascompte, Jordi

Date: 2003

Source: Ecology Letters. 6: 133-140.

Description: Previous treatments of the population biology of eradication have assumed that eradication can only be achieved via 100% removal of the alien population. However, this assumption appears to be incorrect because stochastic dynamics and the Allee effect typically contribute to the extinction of very low-density populations. We explore a model that incorporates Allee dynamics and stochasticity to observe how these two processes contribute to the extinction of isolated populations following eradication treatments of varying strength (percentage mortality). As a case study, we used historical data on the dynamics of isolated gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, populations to fit parameters to this model. The parameterized model was then used in simulations that evaluated the efficacy of various eradication strategies. The results indicated that eradication of isolated gypsy moth populations could be easily achieved following a treatment of >80% mortality as long as populations were relatively low (indicated by <100 males captured in pheromone traps).

Keywords: Biological invasion, establishment, extinction, gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, population dynamics

View and Print this Publication (0.1 KB)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.
• This publication may be available in hard copy. Check the Northern Research Station web site to request a printed copy of this publication.
• Our on-line publications are scanned and captured using Adobe Acrobat. During the capture process some typographical errors may occur. Please contact Sharon Hobrla, shobrla@fs.fed.us if you notice any errors which make this publication unuseable.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Liebhold, Andrew; Bascompte, Jordi  2003.  The Allee effect, stochastic dynamics and the eradication of alien species.   Ecology Letters. 6: 133-140..