Bioeconomics of Invasive Species in Aquatic Ecosystems

When a biological invader is identified in an aquatic ecosystem, rapid response is critical, particularly if the invasive organism has the ability to spread rapidly. The first response should be to attempt to contain the invasion while further information is gathered to evaluate whether eradication is feasible. The eradication versus containment decision is studied by developing and using a stochastic dynamic programming model based on a simple biological spread function. Information requirements to calibrate the decision model for a specific invader are discussed and numerical analysis is undertaken to illustrate how the model can be used when only rough estimates of benefits and costs are available.