Management of Landscapes for Established Invasive Species

Abstract

AbstractLong-term management strategies are invoked once an invasive species has become established and spread beyond feasible limits for eradication or containment. Although an invasive species may be well-established in small to large geographical areas, prevention of its spread to non-affected areas (e.g., sites, regions, and cross-continent) through early detection and monitoring is an important management activity. The level for management of established invasive species in the United States has increasingly shifted to larger geographical scales in the past several decades. Management of an invasive fish may occur at the watershed level in the western States, with watershed levels defined by their hydrologic unit codes (HUC) ranging from 2 digits at the coarsest level to 8 digits at the finest level (USGS 2018). Invasive plant management within national forests, grasslands, and rangelands can be implemented at the landscape level (e.g., Chambers et al. 2014), although management can still occur at the stand or base level. Landscapes in this chapter refer to areas of land bounded by large-scale physiographic features integrated with natural or man-made features that govern weather and disturbance patterns and limit frequencies of species movement (Urban et al. 1987). These are often at a large physical scale, such as the Great Basin.