Economic Analysis of Bioinvasion in the Pacific Region

Abstract

This dissertation addresses key policy questions surrounding the management of invasive species on islands of Asia and the Pacific. Species examined include the fire ant in Taiwan and a number of bird species on a large share of Pacific island nations.

These analyses, buttressed by the published literature, suggest that there is not likely to be a universal best control strategy that can be used for any particular species in all locations or for all existing or potential invasive species in a single location. Variations across space (and over time) in the ecological and societal factors that influence the rates of invasive species introductions, spread processes, values at risk, and the efficacies of the potentially large suite of alternative control measures mean that few rules of thumb about the management of invasives can be gleaned from the research or indeed from this dissertation.