Adaptive management of alien invasive species: putting the theory into practice

ZALBA, SERGIO M.; ZILLER, SÍLVIA R.

Natureza e Conservaçao

Fundação o Boticário de Proteçao á Natureza

Lugar: Curitiba; Año: 2007 vol. 5 p. 86 - 92

1679-0073

Many actions in the conservation of biodiversity need to be carried out as matters of urgency, and are often based on scarce information. In the case of biological invasions, this is a common situation, as the real possibilities for controlling an invasive alien species are significantly reduced as it establishes and spreads over natural ecosystems. Adaptive management, that is, management practices organized on a solid experimental basis, allows managers to tackle urgent problems at the same time they generate essential data to test the effectiveness of control practices and the precision of assessments of the invasive species impacts over natural ecosystems or of the need to carry out complementary restoration practices. The basic principles of adaptive management are presented in this paper with examples of its application in the control of woody invasive alien species in the pampas of Argentina.