Browsing by Subject "decision-support application"

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    Cost-effectiveness of aquatic invasive species prevention techniques
    (2023-08) Angell, Nichole
    Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are a growing threat to water resources resulting in re-engineered ecosystems and expensive management actions. Boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination are popular prevention strategies for AIS that spread through the recreational boating pathway; however, few studies have quantified the effectiveness of these approaches. In this study we estimated the effectiveness and costs of AIS prevention practices performed by boaters, watercraft inspectors, and hot water decontaminators. To estimate effectiveness, participants (n=144) recruited at public water access sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin and were asked to inspect and remove AIS from a boat that had been realistically staged with macrophytes, zebra mussels, and spiny water flea. The types of organisms and the amounts of AIS removed were used to estimate effectiveness for each prevention method. Additionally, interviews with MN county AIS managers were conducted to gather itemized spending information on the three preventions in question. Our results suggest that watercraft inspection is a cost-effective method of prevention for most boats and hot water decontamination is an important tool for high-risk boats, however decontamination protocols are difficult to effectively execute. Furthermore, boater education helps reduce risk when inspectors cannot be present at public water access sites due to limited funding and staffing. Ultimately, these data will be incorporated into the online decision support tool, AIS Explorer (www.aisexplorer.umn.edu) to guide future management decisions.
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    Data in support of: AIS Explorer: Intervention Impact - An application for planning cost-effective AIS prevention programs
    (2024-01-22) Angell, Nichole R; Bajcz, Alex; Kinsley, Amy; Keller, Reuben; Phelps, Nicholas B. D.; nangell@glc.org; Angell, Nichole R.; Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC)
    The movement of aquatic invasive species (AIS) between waterbodies is often facilitated by overland transport on recreational boats. Once established, AIS can have detrimental ecological effects that are difficult or impossible to manage. Prevention is the most cost-effective AIS intervention strategy, with many management agencies focused on implementing spread prevention techniques such as boater education, watercraft inspection, and hot water decontamination. Given resource constraints, deciding which spread prevention techniques to implement and where to place them is a decision fraught with uncertainty. In this study, we collected data for, developed, and tested a new application entitled “Intervention Impact” for the AIS Explorer, an online AIS program-planning dashboard (www.aisexplorer.umn.edu). The application assists AIS managers by simulating scenarios derived from user-defined lake-level budgets, effort, and effectiveness of interventions, enabling them to make comparisons. The outputs provide estimates for risk reduction and infestations averted for both zebra mussel and starry stonewort in Minnesota lakes. We demonstrate the utility of this application using the conditions of Cass County, Minnesota, USA as a case study. Our simulation outputs highlight the tradeoffs of each prevention strategy applied given budget constraints and demonstrate that value of a data-driven approach to guide the implementation of cost-effective prevention plans.