Feedback control for ecosystem management: The case of wolf-elk-hunting dynamics in the US Mountain West

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the promise of utilizing some relatively new feedback control techniques in ecosystem management. First, we set forth a basic ecological-economic model of a predator-prey-hunting system in which both the predator and prey have use (flow) and non-use (stock) value and when the predator can inflict transboundary damages. We then use new data from the US Mountain West to show how a particular feedback approach-linear parameter-varying (LPV) control-can be utilized in this context. Our LPV model is able to quantify the cost of managing disturbances that inevitably arise as a manager tries to keep the actual path of the system “close” to its optimum. The results suggest management strategies in mountain ecosystems that feature large, mammalian carnivores.