Zipkin, E.F., Kraft, C.E., Cooch, E.G., & Sullivan, P.J. (2009).

When can efforts to control

nuisance and invasive species backfire? Ecological Applications 19(6), 1585-1595.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/stable/pdf/40346271.pdf?
acceptTC=true

The authors of this study operated a model to determine what causes certain species to
overcompensate, or experience an increase in population, after a harvest. Harvesting is the
removal of individuals from a population with the goal of decreasing nuisance species in a
certain area. The study concluded that overcompensation occurred most frequently in
populations with high fecundity, or reproductive rates. Before conducting a harvest, agencies
must consider density-dependent variables and fecundity to determine if a harvest will cause
population instability. The authors are unbiased, acknowledging that their model cannot account
for all of the variables in nature. However, they cite empirical studies that support the
observations from the model. It is also acknowledged that populations respond differently, so
harvests are more successful in mammal populations than invasive plants. This source is helpful
because it discusses how human efforts to curb animal populations can be failures. It also
supports the idea that humans cannot simply pass legislation regarding animal populations
without considering all possibly ramifications.