USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Invasive species control: understanding conflicts between researchers and the general community
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
ISSN
1540-9295
Abstract
Understanding the reasons for disagreements about conservation issues can facilitate effective engagement between the people involved. Invasive species are often central to such debates, with researchers and members of the public frequently disagreeing about the nature and magnitude of problems posed by the invaders, and the best ways to deal with them. The spread of non-native cane toads (Rhinella marina) throughout Australia has stimulated research on toad impact and control, and has mobilized local communities to reduce cane toad numbers through direct action. Biologists and community groups have disagreed about many toad-related topics, providing an instructive case history about impediments to consensus. Debates about the ecological impacts of cane toads mostly reflect poor communication of available research results (ie scientists have been largely unsuccessful in transmitting their findings to community groups), whereas disagreements about toad control reflect an information vacuum about the effectiveness of alternative methods, such as trapping, biocontrol, and predator training to induce toad aversion, among others. Many other disagreements have arisen from the differing motivations of scientists and community groups. Although the debates are superficially about evidence, the deeper divergence reflects differing social pressures, the ways that information is transmitted, and how people evaluate the validity of information.
Language
en_US
Publisher
ECOLOGICAL SOC AMER
Recommended Citation
Shine, R. and Doody, J. S. (2011), Invasive species control: understanding conflicts between researchers and the general community. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 9: 400-406. doi:10.1890/100090
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Citation only. Full-text article is available through licensed access provided by the publisher. Members of the USF System may access the full-text of the article through the authenticated link provided.