Determinants of successful arthropod eradication programs

Despite substantial increases in public awareness and biosecurity systems, introductions of non-native arthropods remain an unwelcomed conse- quence of escalating rates of international trade and travel. Detection of an established but unwanted non- native organism can elicit a range of responses, including implementation of an eradication program. Previous studies have reviewed the concept of erad- ication, but these efforts were largely descriptive and focused on selected case studies. We developed a Global Eradication and Response DAtabase (''GER- DA'') to facilitate an analysis of arthropod eradication programs and determine the factors that influence eradication success and failure. We compiled data from 672 arthropod eradication programs targeting 130 non-native arthropod species implemented in 91 countries between 1890 and 2010. Important compo- nents of successful eradication programs included the size of the infested area, relative detectability of the target species, method of detection, and the primary feeding guild of the target species. The outcome of eradication efforts was not determined by program costs, which were largely driven by the size of the infestation. The availability of taxon-specific control tools appeared to increase the probability of eradica- tion success. We believe GERDA, as an online database, provides an objective repository of infor- mation that will play an invaluable role when future eradication efforts are considered.