| When a weed invasion is discovered a decision has to be made as to whether to attempt to eradicate it, contain it or do nothing. Ideally, these decisions should be based on a complete benefit-cost analysis, but this is often not possible. A partial analysis, combining knowledge of the rate of spread, seedbank longevity and economic-analysis techniques, can assist in making the best decision. This paper presents a model to decide when immediate eradication of a weed should be attempted, or whether weed control should be attempted at all. The technique is based on identifying two 'switching points': the invasion size at which it is no longer optimal to attempt eradication, and the invasion size at which it becomes optimal not to apply any form of control. It... |
