Executive Summary

    Russian Olives are an invasive species in the Four Corners as well as the rest of New Mexico. These trees were originally planted for their hardiness but are now replacing native plants and soaking up valuable water.

    These plants are very difficult to eradicate due to being able to reproduce both sexually and asexually. We wanted to create a computer model using the best treatment to see how long it would take to eradicate them.  Focusing on the cut-stump method that cuts the tree to allow herbicides to be applied to the trunk, we created a computer model using Starlogo. As the model runs the trees grow and birds disperse the seeds.  Cut-stump can treat and kill either young or mature trees.

    We ran three experiments each five times to average the results.  We found that it takes an average of 25 months with two mature and three young cut-stump treatments to eradicate an area with a starting number of 50 trees and 50 birds.  With this many treatments it would cost about $10,500. We also discovered that running an experiment with more birds increased the number of trees treated, money spent, and time to eradicate the trees.

    We look forward to have others use our study to learn that invasive species must be dealt with, using specific planning.  In order to achieve the most efficient use of time, effort and money computer modeling can be used.