Achievement

Trainees Rebecca Epanchin-Neill, Matthew Hufford, Clare Aslan, Jason Sexton, Jeffrey Port, and Timothy Waring studied management of invasive yellow star thistle in Sierra Nevada foothills as an example of controlling invasive species in region with high land use diversity. They found that such management mosaics -- spanning ranchers, BLM land managers, DOT rights-of-way and ranchettes -- may incur frequent invasion because each manager in a divided region assumes a small portion of the damages incurred by the invasion, and thus has little incentive to contribute to its control. Further, managers who opt to not control the invasion provide a constant propagule source and thus increase neighbors' costs. They suggest that incorporation of management mosaics into invasive species research and management is essential for effective control, and provide specific recommendations.

This research is in press at the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.