Feral pigs represent a unique management challenge within the ecosystems of Hawaii and considerable effort has gone into finding a multi-party solution to dealing with their presence within Hawaii’s Natural Areas. As trained ecologists, you have been called upon to justify one potential solution: an aggressive feral pig removal program. In particular, the Hawaiian legislature is looking to you to provide an expert argument for feral pig removal from an ecological perspective. Using the Zavaleta et al. 2001 (#13),Van Driesche and Van Driesche 2000 (#14), and Ewel & Putz 2004 (#15) readings, your in-class discussions (role play and conceptual model), and any other relevant course or outside materials, please address the following points in your case to the legislature for their removal.
As busy policy makers, the folks making up the Hawaiian legislature do not have the time or expertise to read every detail about how feral pigs and other stressors are affecting Hawaii’s Natural Areas.
- To facilitate their understanding of the problems facing these ecosystems, develop a driver-stressor-effect-attribute model depicting the points of stress within these Natural Areas. Remember, the unit for this case deals with multiple stressors, so make sure to include at least one additional stress-or in your conceptual model beyond feral pigs.
- Develop a short narrative (i.e., 2 paragraph max) that describes your model.
- One of the key arguments being made for removing feral pigs is that they have created an alternative stable state that will require substantial investments in management and restoration efforts to reverse.
- Describe the alternative stable state created by the introduction of feral pigs, making sure into include the feedback mechanisms maintaining this state.
- An argument being made against removing feral pigs is that it will be impossible to restore the Natural Areas back to their native composition and function. In addition, local ecologists are concerned that the removal of the pigs will result in unexpected changes in other important ecosystem components (i.e., secondary effects, Zavaleta et al. 2001 (#13); see also the Ewel & Putz 2004 [#15, both in Moodle]).
- One of the keys to dealing with secondary effects is to identify potential unwanted ecological effects prior to implementing an invasive removal strategy. Based on your driver-stressor-effect-attribute model, as well the Van Driesche and Van Driesche (2000) reading (#14), describe some of the potential secondary effects that might occur following the removal of pigs from these systems.
- Describe potential measures (i.e., management actions) that might be taken to ensure the system is resilient to other stressors, such as invasive plants and animals, following the removal of feral pigs.
- Although the removal of pigs from the Natural Areas might serve to remedy many of the ecological issues facing these areas; other interest groups (e.g.; pig hunters) may not agree with the wholesale removal of feral pigs from the landscape.
- Describe an alternative management strategy to the wholesale removal of feral pigs that accounts for multiple stakeholders, including conservation biologists and pig hunters. Make sure to include details on how you might accommodate conflicting interests within a given landscape, as well as how you might prevent the presence of pigs in one portion of the landscape from detrimentally affecting the ecosystems in other areas.
Sample Solution
