Survivors or reinvaders? Using genetic assignment to identify invasive pests following eradication

摘要: When new individuals from a pest species are detected following eradication, identifying whether the survivors eradication attempt, or reinvaders another population, is important for management practices. Pearl Island (512 ha) in New Zealand was first island world on which simultaneous of all three invasive rat attempted. Rats were again 9 months after operation. We use genetic assignment methods to discriminate between survivor and reinvader hypotheses. All rats found likely be an adjacent population much larger Stewart (174,600 ha), suggesting that swimming at rate greater than anticipated, but original successful. Adequate signal obtained opportunistically collected samples, making method feasible conservation managers with limited time resources.