Abstract
Integrated pest management (IPM) is widely recommended for managing invasive pests to maximise effectiveness. However, the extent to which IPM occurs is typically unknown. We used the rabbit in Australia as a case study to investigate whether land managers apply IPM. Using 7415 control records voluntarily submitted to RabbitScan by land managers, we found evidence of IPM in only 39%. The extent to which integration occurred depended on the control method applied [warren ripping, poison baiting, release of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), warren fumigation]. Two of four major rabbit control methods were frequently integrated with at least one other method; 73% of warren ripping and 55% of poison baiting records were associated with another different control method. In contrast, only 15% of RHDV releases and 35% of warren fumigations were integrated with another different control method. This confirmed reports that land managers view RHDV release as a ‘silver bullet’ and release it to avoid applying more expensive but more effective control methods. We identified control sequences that were neither biologically appropriate nor cost-efficient. In some situations, where there is a risk to other animals, or land managers lack suitable equipment, it may be difficult to apply IPM in an optimal sequence or at the optimal time. However, a greater level of control and at a proportionally lower cost could result if IPM principals were more rigorously applied, for instance, by focusing on strategic application of control methods in sequences known to be highly effective and cost-efficient.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to the many land managers who voluntarily report their rabbit management activities through RabbitScan. This information enables us to fine-tune and improve the management of pest rabbits in Australia and reduce rabbit impacts for everyone. Thank you to the StackExchange and StackOverflow communities for statistical and coding support. Thank you to Pip Taylor who reviewed our manuscript and provided initial R code to assist in formatting RabbitScan data.
Funding
This work was supported by The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, Federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Meat and Livestock Association, Australian Wool Innovation, Department of Primary Industries NSW, Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Arthur Rylah Institute and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation through the funding of two rabbit biocontrol research projects (PO1-B-001 and PO1-B-002).
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Taggart, P.L., Cooke, B., Peacock, D.E. et al. Do land managers apply best-practice integrated pest management: a case study of the European rabbit. J Pest Sci 97, 1691–1706 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-023-01720-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-023-01720-7