An optimization approach to area-based forest pest management over time and space

Abstract

This paper discusses spatial optimization approaches to managing aggressively reproducing and dispersing pests. The relevant land planning area is divided into cells, and pest growth and dispersal across those cells are accounted for in integer programs that include choice variables for applying control treatments to those cells. Two model formulations are developed and demonstrated in a simple case example: one that assumes no limit to host capacity and one that assumes a limit to host capacity accumulated over time. The formulation with no host capacity limit is shown to be potentially unrealistic if control treatments are not limited. Different objective functions and amounts of control treatment result in optimal strategies that vary from immediate containment near the pest's origin to delayed containment at an area away from the pest's origin. Both formulations are difficult to solve, reflecting the exploratory nature of this paper.