Ecological and economic theory in analyzing risk in biological invasions
PRINCIPAL ORGANIZER:
Organizer: David Lodge, University of Notre Dame
Co-organizers: Mark Lewis, University of Alberta and Jason Shogren, University of Wyoming
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| Thursday, August 9, 2007: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM |
| A2&7, San Jose McEnery Convention Center |
Endorsed by the ESA Theoretical Ecology Section
Description:
The act of invading species is one of the most important drivers of global change in biodiversity and the change in function of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this symposium, we will connect ecological and economic theory to efforts to reduce the impacts of invasive species. Thus, the symposium is entirely consistent with the overall theme of the meeting, “Restoration in a Changing World.” Society’s response to nonindigenous species involves ecological and economic factors. Species invasions are caused by economic activities, and, in turn, affect economic activities. Thus social welfare and risk assessment are both determined jointly by ecological and economic processes. This ecological-economic linkage drives interactions between the assessment of risk and the management of risk that are rarely included in bioeconomic models. The symposium will highlight new developments in ecological, economic, and risk analysis frameworks for nonindigenous species. The central public policy considerations are how much of society’s resources should be expended in response to nonindigenous species? And how should resources be allocated between different approaches to prevention and control? To address these questions, the symposium will employ a diversity of voices and perspectives from invasion biology, theoretical biology, and economics. Key results and future challenges will be outlined regarding bioeconomic and risk analysis frameworks for nonindigenous species, with a focus on integrating risk assessment and risk management, including uncertainty distributions, and optimizing prevention and control strategies in a landscape context. The sequence of talks reflects a logical development of symposium themes. The first two talks introduce the overall topics, compare ecological and economic perspectives, and provide some initial case studies. The next three talks analyze different sorts of uncertainty in applications of ecological and risk assessment theory, emphasizing both the current capacity and limitations of risk assessment. The final three talks apply a combination of ecological and economic theory to specific real-world risk management of invasive species, with both terrestrial and aquatic case studies. Finally, the symposium will conclude with an opportunity for further questions from the audience and further discussion among the speakers.
Confirmed speaker and title list and overall schedule
| 8:00 |
Introduction
David Lodge, University of Notre Dame |
| 8:10 |
Predicting lake vulnerability to species invasion using a heirarchical approach
Hugh J. MacIsaac, University of Windsor, Jim Muirhead, University of Windsor |
| 8:35 |
Eradication and the optimal management of a spreading invader
David Finnoff, University of Wyoming |
| 9:00 |
Invasive species profiling with learning
Christopher Costello, University of California, Santa Barbara, Michael Springborn, University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 9:25 |
Accuracy and uncertainty in environmental niche modeling
John M. Drake, University of Georgia |
| 9:50 |
Break |
| 10:00 |
Uncertainty and risk assessment for nonindigenous species
Keith R. Hayes, CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Jeffrey M. Dambacher, CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research, Geoff Hosack, Oregon State University |
| 10:25 |
Predicting the occurrence and bioeconomic impact of invasive species
Reuben Keller, University of Notre Dame, David Lodge, University of Notre Dame, David Finnoff, University of Wyoming, Kristen Frang, University of Notre Dame |
| 10:50 |
Stemming the spread: The bioeconomics of invasion prevention in lake systems
Mark A. Lewis, University of Alberta, Alex Potapov, University of Alberta, David Finnoff, University of Wyoming |
| 11:15 |
Questions from audience and Panel Discussion
Jason Shogren, University of Wyoming |
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