Project management is essential for alien species control programs. Feasible objective setting (eradication, density control to conserve native species, containment, etc.) is required, and achievement of operations should be checked. The objective will be reconsidered based on the evaluation. I am trying to establish such PDCA cycle by using examples presented in this symposium.

Feasibility of eradication program can be evaluated by two approaches. One is epidemiological method assuming success and not-yet-success as objective variable, and properties of the program (initial abundance of alien species, technical method, economical resource, etc.) as explanatory variables. Another approach is stochastic population dynamical models.

For density control programs to conserve native species, two mathematical tools are commonly recommended for Japanese projects. One is the habitat modeling of native species before alien species invasion. This model is necessary to evaluate recovery of native species. Another one is a local diffusion model of alien species population. Usually alien species density in the conservation zone is kept lower than the surrounding areas by intense trapping and fencing. We need to estimate diffusion resistance of alien species population to evaluate feasibility of density control.