Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Coding Spreadsheets For Intervention Decisions In Wildlife Damage Management, Ray T. Sterner, H. Nicole Lorimer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference Proceedings

Sterner (In press) described the use of a priori, theoretical analyses of crop/resource savings and benefit:cost ratios as a way of making intervention decisions in wildlife damage management. Iterative (1-variable-changed-at-a-time) calculations of these economic indices were computed for the use of zinc phosphide baits to control vole {Microtus spp.) populations in alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Results showed that indices displayed transitive effects — greater net savings and benefit:cost ratios were related to larger field-size, crop-damage and bait-effectiveness variables, but smaller bait-application fees. Ratios varied between 0.40 and 6.45, with -5-10% vole-caused damage required to produce returns on investments equal to the …

Managing Sprawl In The Land Of Unintended Consequences, Robert S. Bucci

New England Journal of Public Policy

Americans witnessing the bulldozing of their country’s pastures, farmlands, and sensitive habitats to erect suburban housing tracts and commercial centers have come to realize that the remaining open land may be too precious to waste. Residential and commercial development is no longer quickly embraced to stimulate economic progress and prosperity. Municipalities are learning that development often extracts a price — sometimes the loss of community character and local charm, sometimes tax revenues that fall short of increased expenditures, and sometimes just plain ugliness. Responding to the new reality, many community officials have initiated unilateral ordinances regulating the development of open …

Spreadsheets, Response Surfaces, And Intervention Decisions In Wildlife Damage Management, Ray T. Sterner

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

An a priori approach to examining the economics of performing management activities to reduce agricultural and resource damage by wildlife is described. Computer spreadsheet procedures are used to derive response surfaces of potential net savings and benefit:cost indices for selected crop- or resource-protection activities. Tabular and graphical displays of these indices afford decision-making aids for wildlife-damage interventions. An example based on the use of an acute rodenticide, zinc phosphide (Zn₃P₂), for vole (Microtus spp.) control in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is described. Iterative calculations were derived for 1,260 possible combinations of 3 field-size, 6 …

Impacts Of House Mice On Crops In Australia - Costs And Damage, Peter R. Brown, Grant R. Singleton

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

Rodents cause serious losses to crops in many different parts of the world. The house mouse (Mus domesticus, Schwarz and Schwarz 1943) is a serious pest to agriculture in Australia. The impacts of house mouse damage to crops in Australia were examined. Plagues of mice (>1,000 mice/ha) cause enormous economic and social stress to rural communities in Australia. The mouse plague in 1993/94 caused about US$60 million in damage to crops, intensive livestock industries, and rural communities. The impact of mouse plagues is generally well understood, but there is a dearth of knowledge about the relationship between …

Development Of A Model To Assess Rodent Control In Swine Facilities, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Robert M. Timm, Robert M. Corrigan, John Beller, Larry L. Bitney, Michael C. Brumm, Daniel Meyer, Dallas R. Virchow, Robert W. Wills

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

At the request, and with the support, of the National Pork Producers Council we are conducting a comprehensive economic analysis of rodent control in swine production facilities. The authors represent an interdisciplinary working group that has been assembled to identify all necessary input variables and values associated with rodent damage and control. The working group consists of specialists in swine production, facilities management, agricultural economics, swine health, rodent control, the pest management industry, systems modeling, and distance education. We incorporated data from the scientific literature and personal experience into an interactive STELLA systems model. The model generates benefit-cost analyses and …

Economic Analysis Of A Large Scale Oral Vaccination Program To Control Raccoon Rabies, Philip Kemere, Michael K. Liddel, Phylo Evangelou, Dennis Slate, Steven Osmek

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

Since the late 1980s, results of oral vaccination trials in several states have provided growing evidence that this vaccination method may be effective for controlling the spread of rabies in raccoons (Procyon lotor). This study examines the economic feasibility of using oral vaccination on a larger scale than previous trials. We analyze the benefits and costs associated with a hypothetical barrier that would stretch from Lake Erie to the Gulf of Mexico, combining natural geographic features provided by the Appalachian Mountains with oral vaccination zones. The goal of this barrier would be to prevent the raccoon rabies variant …

The Costs Of Bird Strikes And Bird Strike Prevention, John R. Allan

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

Collisions between birds (and other wildlife) and aircraft are known to cause substantial losses to the aviation industry in terms of damage and delays every year. Techniques exist to control bird numbers on airfields and hence to reduce the number of wildlife strikes, but they are applied at widely different levels from airport to airport. Some of this variation may be due to differing levels of strike-risk at the different sites, but much of it is due to the unwillingness or inability of the airports concerned to invest in bird strike prevention. Part of the reason for this reluctance to …

Wildlife Impacts On Forest Resources, Dale L. Nolte, Mike Dykzeul

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

The negative impacts of wildlife on forest resources can be extensive. This paper provides some insight into the economic and environmental consequences of wildlife damage to forest resources and a brief overview of the damage inflicted by select wildlife species. Probably the most thorough measure of wildlife damage to forests in the Pacific Northwest was initiated in 1963 and 1964 by the Committee on Animal Damage Survey of the Western Forestry and Conservation Association. This study estimated that 30% of the tree seedlings planted would be damaged if no preventive practices were implemented; stocking rates on unprotected sites were 75% …

The Economic Impact Of Invasive Species To Wildlife Services’ Cooperators, David L. Bergman, Monte D. Chandler, Adrienne Locklear

Human Conflicts with Wildlife: 2002 Symposium

On February 3, 1999, the president of the United States signed an Executive Order 13112 on invasive species. Each federal agency was directed to detect and respond rapidly to control populations of invasive species, monitor invasive species populations, provide for restoration of native species and habitat conditions, conduct research on invasive species and develop technologies to prevent their introduction, and promote public education on invasive species and the means to address them. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services Program fulfills a federal responsibility for helping solve problems which occur when human activity and wildlife, including invasive species, are …

The Massachusetts Environmental Industry: Facing The Challenges Of Maturity, Betty J. Diener, David Terkla, Erick Cooke

Management and Marketing Faculty Publication Series

For most of the past 20 years, the environmental industry has been a very significant one, both in Massachusetts and across the country. Some have placed it alongside the electronics, computer hardware, software, biotechnology, fiber optics, and composite materials industries as part of the high-technology sector that has diversified and strengthened the state’s economy. Nationally, environmental industry employment exceeded that of several major manufacturing industries, including chemicals, paper, and aerospace.

In the late 1990s, however, the momentum of the environmental movement began to wane. A decline in both employment and sales suggests that many of the most pressing environmental concerns …