Turning Pests into Profits: Introduced Buffalo Provide Multiple Benefits to Indigenous People of Northern Australia

Collier, Neil; Austin, Beau J.; Bradshaw, Corey J. A.; McMahon, Clive R.

doi:10.1007/s10745-010-9365-8

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…However, resolving socio-economic trade-offs ultimately demands high-quality population projections (Bradshaw and Brook 2007). For example, Bradshaw and Brook (2007) were able to explore the economic trade-offs associated with managing the feral banteng population, and Collier et al (2011) determined that buffalo harvests provided lucrative employment benefits to indigenous Australians. Our work highlights the potential vulnerabilities in the demographics of the feral buffalo that might be exploited in crafting sustainable management options for this invasive species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics

et al. 2011

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Context Some large herbivores introduced to Australia have achieved population densities so high as to cause considerable ecological damage. Intriguingly, others have been relatively less successful and have correspondingly perturbed their new environments less. An excellent example is two similar-sized bovine species that established feral populations in the Northern Territory of Australia in the mid-19th century. Asian swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) rapidly colonised the tropical savannas, causing ecological degradation, especially on freshwater swamps. In contrast, banteng (Bos javanicus) are restricted to their point of introduction and have caused relatively negligible ecological damage. Understanding the reasons of this differential success is of theoretical and applied interest and contributes to managing large herbivore populations for ex situ conservation and feral-animal control. Aims To compare the population structure of buffalo and banteng on the basis of shot samples, so as to construct life tables for four contemporary (low-density) buffalo populations, and collated data from previous work from three historical (high-density) buffalo populations and one banteng population (the only extant ex situ population in existence). Further, to provide a validation of age estimation with and without informed priors in a Bayesian model comparing horn length and ages estimated from tooth cementum annuli. Finally, to interpret our results in the context of relative invasion potential of the two bovid species. Key Results For both species, survival of juveniles was the most important demographic component influencing deterministic population growth. However, buffalo have the demographic capacity to recover swiftly after control because of high survival and fertility rates across a range of population densities. Fertility of buffalo was historically greater than that of banteng, and buffalo fertility increased as their populations were reduced. Conclusions These findings highlight how subtle differences in demographic rates and feeding ecology can influence the success (high population growth and range expansion) of large herbivores, knowledge which is increasingly important for managing invasive species effectively. Implications We show that that individual life-history traits and demographic performance, especially fertility, play an important role in determining the spread of invasive bovids in a novel environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics

et al. 2011

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“…We set an arbitrary K at 15 000 individuals for the model, representing a ‘true’ K of 300 000 individuals (Freeland & Boulton 1990). Mortality rates were set according to average values calculated from life tables derived from culled individuals in the Northern Territory (Collier et al. 2011; McMahon et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel coupling of individual‐based epidemiological and demographic models predicts realistic dynamics of tuberculosis in alien buffalo

Bradshaw¹,

McMahon²,

Miller³

et al. 2011

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Increasing sophistication of population viability analysis has broadened our capacity to model population change while accounting for system complexity and uncertainty. However, many emergent properties of population dynamics, such as the coupling of demographic processes with transmission and spread of disease, are still poorly understood. 2. We combined an individual-based demographic (Vortex) and epidemiological (Outbreak) model using a novel command-centre module (MetaModel Manager) to predict the progression of bovine tuberculosis in introduced swamp buffalo Bubalus bubalis in northern Australia and validated the model with data from a large-scale disease-monitoring and culling programme. We also assessed the capacity to detect disease based on incrementing sentinel (randomly sampled individuals) culling rates. 3. We showed that even high monitoring effort (1000 culled sentinels) has a low (<10%) probability of detecting the disease, and current sampling is inadequate. 4. Testing proportional and stepped culling rates revealed that up to 50% of animals must be killed each year to reduce disease prevalence to near-eradication levels. 5. Sensitivity analysis indicated that prevalence depended mainly on population demography (e.g. female age at primiparity) and the additional mortality induced by disease, with only minor contributions from epidemiological characteristics such as probability of transmission and encounter rate. This is a useful finding because the disease parameters are the least well known. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our models suggest that details of population demography should be incorporated into epidemiological models to avoid extensive bias in predictions of disease spread and effectiveness of control. Importantly, we demonstrate that low detection probabilities challenge the effectiveness of existing disease-monitoring protocols in northern Australia. The command-centre module we describe linking demographic and epidemiological models provides managers with the tools necessary to make informed decisions regarding disease management.

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“…Human consumption of invasive species is commonly advised for controlling them (e.g., Collier et al 2011). Thus, non-native invasive species control can become a profitable activity (Collier et al 2011), increasing their social value and even triggering their protection (Carruthers et al 2011;Speziale et al 2012). So harvesting non-native species can lead to a problem: whether to eradicate or maintain populations of this economic resource (Lambertucci & Speziale 2011).…”

Section: Historical Use and Value Of Introduced Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovering Native Culture in a World of Non‐native Species

Speziale

Lambertucci

Souto

et al. 2014

Conservation Biology

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Turning Pests into Profits: Introduced Buffalo Provide Multiple Benefits to Indigenous People of Northern Australia

Cited by 18 publications

References 44 publications

Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics

Fertility partially drives the relative success of two introduced bovines (Bubalus bubalis and Bos javanicus) in the Australian tropics

Novel coupling of individual‐based epidemiological and demographic models predicts realistic dynamics of tuberculosis in alien buffalo

Recovering Native Culture in a World of Non‐native Species

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