| Wildlife diseases threaten human and domestic animal health, natural resource-based recreation, and conservation of biodiversity. Yet knowledge of wildlife disease management is limited and the few options available for disease control are nonselective with respect to infected animals. The ecological literature has focused on identifying a host population density threshold (exogenously determined by ecological parameters) below which a disease naturally dissipates, and suggests using population controls to achieve that density. But human actions that influence wildlife habitats can also affect disease spread. There are likely tradeoffs between the two types of controls.; Bioeconomic models are useful for assessing economic and ecological tradeoffs associated with different management choices. A bioeconomic model, using bovine tuberculosis (Mycobaterium bovis) in Michigan white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) as case study, is developed to examine the use of population density and environmental controls. The host-density threshold is shown to be endogenously determined by both ecological and economic forces. However, the disease is not optimally eradicated, due to costs associated with the nonselective nature of the controls. This model is then expanded to allow targeting by sex, with males assumed to be the "risker" subpopulation. This improved target leads to more control over the host-density threshold, resulting in lower control costs and the optimal eradication of the disease. |
