Brian Drawert
National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, USA
Andrew S. Flies
Menzies Institute for Medical Research, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia
Sean Matthew
National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, USA
Megan Powell
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, USA
Bryan Rumsey
National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, USA
Tasmanian Devils facial tumor disease (DFTD) is severely impacting the population of this wild animal. We developed a computational model of the population of Tasmanian Devils, and the change induced by DFTD. We use this model to test possible intervention strategies Tasmanian conservationists could do. We investigate bait drop vaccination programs, diseased animal removals programs, and evolution of natural immunity. We conclude that a combination of intervention strategies gives the most favorable outcome. An additional goal of this paper is reproducibility of our results. Our StochSS software platform features the ability to share and reproduce the computational notebooks that created all of the results in the paper. We endeavor that all readers should be able to reproduce our results with minimum effort.
