Biosecurity, Diseases, and Invasive Species: Implications of Bioterrorism for Agriculture: Discussion of Elbakidze and McCarl and Pierre, Spreen, and Moss

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Exotic and invasive species and bioterrorism are of increasing concern for U.S. policy makers. The economic analysis of these issues, especially bioterrorism, is a fast-growing, relatively new area. It is an area where an economist can provide important input into both policy and applied theory. The two papers in this section address invasive species issues.

In the exotic species literature, one often sees control strategies divided into five levels. The first level of control is prevention, which includes those activities designed to prevent the introduction of exotic species into an ecosystem. The next level is detection and monitoring; this includes finding those species that …