Effects of untrapped land on the control of predators and associated monetary costs
In an area targeted for predator control, untrapped land can act as a source of new predator recruits into the trapped area, reducing biodiversity outcomes. We investigated how increasing the size of untrapped land could drive up costs and also compromise the ability to control predators. Using an individual-based simulation model, we explored how increasing the size of untrapped land impacted rat, possum, and stoat densities and how monetary costs rise because of the need for extra trapping effort near the perimeter of the untrapped property.