Assessing feasibility in invasive plant management: a retrospective analysis of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) control

Given the difficulty that habitat managers face in controlling invasive species, assessing a project's feasibility before implementation can be a useful exercise. We describe efforts to eradicate a population of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) from an area of the Adirondack Park, United States. We applied a retrospective assessment of the feasibility of the project using 2 different decision support tools, the Invasive Plant Management Decision Analysis Tool (IPMDAT) and WeedSearch. We modeled several scenarios in each tool by varying parameters related to the effectiveness of control in order to test the sensitivity of project success to particular assumptions. Except for a small decline between 2007 and 2009, the population increased during the control period. The number of surveyed transects with at least one garlic mustard individual increased, as did plant density within transects. IPMDAT and WeedSearch analysis confirmed that eradication of the garlic mustard population at thi...