Economic lessons from control efforts for an invasive species: Miconia calvescens in Hawaii

Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an unwanted species solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining populatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of forest economics Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 151 - 167
Main Authors Burnett, Kimberly, Kaiser, Brooks, Roumasset, James
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Umea Elsevier GmbH 01.01.2007
Elsevier
Now Publishers Inc
SeriesJournal of Forest Economics
Subjects
Biodiversity
Ecosystems
Environmental policy
Forest management
Hawaii
Invasive species
Invasive species Miconia calvescens Hawaii Watershed quality Biodiversity
Miconia calvescens
Nonnative species
Studies
Trees
Watershed quality
Hawaii
United States > US
Q57
Invasive species
Q23
Miconia calvescens
Hawaii
Q51
Watershed quality
Biodiversity
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Summary:Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an unwanted species solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining population. The shrubby tree, Miconia calvescens, is used to illustrate dynamic policy options for a forest invader. Potential damages to Hawaii's forest ecosystems are related to decreased aquifer recharge, biodiversity, and other ecosystem values. We find that population reduction is the optimal management policy for the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii. On the island of Kauai, where tree density is lower and search costs higher, optimal policy calls for deferring removal expenditures until the steady state population is reached.
ISSN:1104-6899
1618-1530
DOI:10.1016/j.jfe.2007.02.007