Australian ecologists have developed a set of simple rules that will not only help protect endangered native species and eradicate introduced pests in Australia and overseas, but also manage biosecurity and disease outbreaks.
The rules will help overcome the practical difficulties in deciding which populations to manage first in a network of pest or endangered species populations.
The rules also overcome the problems of detecting pests or endangered species when conducting surveys and were developed by a research team from The University of Queensland (UQ), CSIRO and the University of Melbourne.
Co-author of the research, which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, Dr Yvonne Buckley from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences, says developing management plans to help protect endangered species required accurate surveys of regions where those species existed.
“It is difficult to accurately survey areas for endangered species because they occur in low numbers,” Dr Buckley said.
“If plants or animals are hard to detect it is possible that some areas which need management are ignored and some areas are being unnecessarily managed while the invasive pests, diseases, or threatened species have already disappeared.
“We have developed a decision tool that will help wildlife conservation managers to prioritise their management strategies and focus on the most efficient conservation or control strategy.”
As part of the study, new rules have been developed that show that the best places to manage and survey for endangered species and pests are the same.
“We have also provided guidance on how long we should manage or survey for hard-to-detect species,” Dr Buckley said.
Lead author Dr Iadine Chades from CSIRO said: “Our rules take into account management success, dispersal, economic cost, and imperfect detection and offer managers a practical basis for managing networks relevant to many significant environmental, biosecurity, and human health issues.
Dr Buckley said wildlife managers could now conduct surveys using tools that for the first time took into account multiple populations of the specified animals, non-uniform spatial dispersal of species across the area and the chance of new individuals entering the region.
“The decision tool also helps with management of pests and disease outbreaks and help inform what areas need to be targeted first to prevent further spread of pests or diseases.”
The journal article detailing the research is available online at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/26/1016846108.abstract">http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/04/26/1016846108.abstract
For further information, please contact Dr Yvonne Buckley on 0403 330 228.
