Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T04:34:25.162Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2009

Jim Hone
Affiliation:
University of Canberra
Get access

Summary

Pests can be defined as organisms that cause harm: economic, environmental or epidemiological. Cherrett et al. (1971) defined a pest animal as one which is noxious, destructive or troublesome to humans. Woods (1974) qualified the definition to incorporate a requirement of causing economic damage. Today, vertebrates cause problems in agriculture: to crops, to livestock, in and around buildings and other equipment and by spreading diseases. Problems also occur in forestry, in conservation of plant and animal species and communities, in urban industry and in our own homes.

There are difficulties, however, in defining a pest (Harris, 1989). Is it that coyotes kill sheep or the number of sheep killed that causes coyotes to be called a pest? Answering this question is partly a social issue but also a scientific issue. This book is about the science of evaluating vertebrate pest control with particular emphasis on mammals and birds as pests; how to analyse whether populations of vertebrates really are pests and how to plan and assess what is achieved by pest control. It is not, however, about how to control vertebrate pests. For example, the book is not about how to control rats and mice, but describes how to determine if they are pests, and if so, how to estimate what is achieved by control.

Worldwide in scope, the book describes and critically reviews the literature on a range of analyses used in vertebrate pest research and management.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Introduction
  • Jim Hone, University of Canberra
  • Book: Analysis of Vertebrate Pest Control
  • Online publication: 08 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511525797.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Jim Hone, University of Canberra
  • Book: Analysis of Vertebrate Pest Control
  • Online publication: 08 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511525797.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Jim Hone, University of Canberra
  • Book: Analysis of Vertebrate Pest Control
  • Online publication: 08 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511525797.002
Available formats
×