Abstract
In cases where invasive, exotic mammal control is conducted via trapping, spatial allocation of traps influences control results. In many cases, managers do not have sufficient information on the distribution of target species. Therefore, effective trap allocation methods based on capture results from prior years is useful for controlling target species. We examined effective trap allocation methods using a lattice model and considered two opposing situations in which population density dependence of catchability was either high or low. We used parameter values for the small Indian mongoose Herpestes javanicus found on Amami-oshima island in southern Japan. The results show that when population density dependence of catchability is low, eradication is achieved early if trap allocation is 2:1 in favor of areas where the target was previously captured, as compared to neighboring areas where the target was not captured. When density dependence of catchability is high, there is a trade-off between preventing further distribution expansion and reducing the remaining population. If many traps are allocated to an area where the target was captured in the vicinity, distribution expansion is slow. Reducing the remaining population requires allocation of the same amount of traps into both the surrounding areas and area where the target was captured.
