Cost-Effective Recovery Of An Endangered Species: The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker

Abstract

A model for the cost-effective recovery for an endangered species is developed and applied to the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), an endangered species once abundant in the southeastern United States. There is a finite set of integer recovery actions that might be implemented in each time period with the goal of reaching a population target at some future date. The recovery actions include translocation of individuals or breeding pairs from other locations or captive breeding facilities and the construction of artificial nesting cavities. Dynamic programming is used to solve deterministic and stochastic versions of the model. Least cost recovery plans are found for the deterministic problem where it is possible to attain a population target with certainty. For the stochastic problem, the least cost, adaptive recovery actions are identified.