Removing invasive conifers - considerations, complexity and costs

Invasive conifers are a significant problem in countries such as New Zealand, requiting a substantial investment to bring them under control. One of the critical elements of controlling invasive conifers is operational planning—determining where to control them, which trees to control, what methods to use, and the estimated cost. However, it is challenging to determine accurate costs due to the complexity of multiple site- and tree-related factors. In New Zealand, control costs are highly variable because understanding of costs per method are outdated and the complexities involved are not well elucidated. This paper explores why and how control costs vary to better predict costs in the future. To explore the factors that influence cost, we ran an online workshop that generally followed a nominal group process with several experienced project managers and contractors involved in invasive conifer control. To effectively estimate the cost of control, contractors and project managers must first understand how various site and tree-related factors influence the choice of control method. Contractors and project managers then determine how the factors influence cost. These results come at an important time in the management of invasive conifers in New Zealand and elsewhere. Control operations are increasing and expanding, requiring accurate estimates of costs to plan future operations. The findings will also be useful for training new staff and updating guidelines on invasive conifer control.

• Publication year

  2021

• Venue

  Environmental Research Communications

• Publication date

  Unknown publication date

• Fields of study

  Physics, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1088/2515-7620/ac13c7
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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