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Sustainability
Volume 11
Issue 15
10.3390/su11154169
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Article

Distribution and Management of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) Populations in South Korea

by
Young-Chae Kim
1,
Areum Kim
1,
Jongpyo Lim
2,
Tae-Su Kim
3,
Su-Gon Park
1,
Minhan Kim
1,
Jung-Hyo Lee
1,
Jung Ro Lee
1,* and
Do-Hun Lee
1,*
1
National Institute of Ecology, 1210 Geumgang-ro, Maseru-myeon, Seocheon-gun 33657, Korea
2
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
3
Department of Life Sciences, Yeungnam University, 280 Daehak-Ro, Gyeongsan 38541, Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(15), 4169; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154169
Submission received: 17 June 2019 / Revised: 24 July 2019 / Accepted: 31 July 2019 / Published: 1 August 2019
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Abstract

In 2014, the South Korean government initiated the “Nutria Eradication Project” to actively manage and control populations of nutria, an invasive alien species that threatens national biodiversity. In the present study, we examined domestic nutria habitats in 2014 to 2018 and analyzed spatial shifts in habitat distribution to develop management policies and eradication strategies for the South Korean Ministry of Environment. A total of 27,487 nutria individuals were captured over five years upon the initiation of the eradication project. We found that the number of habitat tracks decreased from 1510 in 19 administrative districts in 2014 to 176 in 14 districts in 2018. We examined the distribution of nutria habitat tracks and found a northwestward shift at an average angle of 313.9° and 46,656.9 m. This distribution shift prompted improvements in control policies focused on nutria capture to suppress rodent movement and shifting distributions. We redefined the spatial scope of our control regions accordingly and established isolated environments in each region to prevent further spread. Additionally, resource management was focused in areas showing habitat expansion. Overall, we observed an estimated 54% decrease in nutria habitat tracks from 2016 to 2017. Our results have since been enacted in government policies and provide a basis for establishing flexible strategies for effectively controlling nutria habitats and populations. In 2017, the South Korean government allocated additional funds for research and for the development of further control strategies working toward the project’s goals.
Keywords: invasive alien species; habitat; Nakdong River; distribution pattern; biodiversity invasive alien species; habitat; Nakdong River; distribution pattern; biodiversity

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kim, Y.-C.; Kim, A.; Lim, J.; Kim, T.-S.; Park, S.-G.; Kim, M.; Lee, J.-H.; Lee, J.R.; Lee, D.-H. Distribution and Management of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) Populations in South Korea. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154169

AMA Style

Kim Y-C, Kim A, Lim J, Kim T-S, Park S-G, Kim M, Lee J-H, Lee JR, Lee D-H. Distribution and Management of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) Populations in South Korea. Sustainability. 2019; 11(15):4169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154169

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kim, Young-Chae, Areum Kim, Jongpyo Lim, Tae-Su Kim, Su-Gon Park, Minhan Kim, Jung-Hyo Lee, Jung Ro Lee, and Do-Hun Lee. 2019. "Distribution and Management of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) Populations in South Korea" Sustainability 11, no. 15: 4169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154169

APA Style

Kim, Y.-C., Kim, A., Lim, J., Kim, T.-S., Park, S.-G., Kim, M., Lee, J.-H., Lee, J. R., & Lee, D.-H. (2019). Distribution and Management of Nutria (Myocastor coypus) Populations in South Korea. Sustainability, 11(15), 4169. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11154169

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