ORIGINAL PAPER Challenges in confirming eradication success of invasive red-eared sliders Pablo Garcı ´a-Dı ´az . David S. L. Ramsey . Andrew P. Woolnough . Marc Franch . Gustavo A. Llorente . Albert Montori . Xabier Buenetxea . Asier R. Larrinaga . Matthieu Lasceve . Alberto A ´ lvarez . Jose ´ Marı ´a Traverso . Aitor Valdeo ´n . Arin ˜e Crespo . Virginia Rada . Enrique Ayllo ´n . Vicente Sancho . J. Ignacio Lacomba . Jose ´ Vicente Bataller . Miguel Lizana Received: 21 December 2016 / Accepted: 11 June 2017 Ó Springer International Publishing AG 2017 Abstract Confirming eradication success can be notoriously difficult and costly, especially when the species is still present but remains undetected, due to very low population densities and imperfect detection methods. There has been a lack of research on appropriate guidelines and estimation procedures for declaring eradication success for programs aimed at eradicating alien reptiles. Here we develop quantita- tive rules for confirmation monitoring in eradication campaigns of the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans). We used a database of slider trapping data from control and eradication campaigns con- ducted in localities across the Iberian Peninsula and southern France to construct models for inferring appropriate trapping efforts for confirming slider turtle eradication. Basking traps were slightly more efficient than net traps in capturing sliders, although trapping was an inefficient monitoring method given the low capture probabilities estimated. The results of our spatially-explicit eradication scenarios revealed the importance of habitat configuration in declaring eradication success. Declaration of eradication suc- cess is contingent on the thresholds set to minimise Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1480-7) contains supple- mentary material, which is available to authorized users. P. Garcı ´a-Dı ´az (&) School of Biological Sciences and Centre for Conservation Science and Technology (CCoST), The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, SA 5005, Australia e-mail: pablo.garciadiaz@adelaide.edu.au; Garcia-DiazP@landcareresearch.co.nz P. Garcı ´a-Dı ´az  M. Lizana Department of Animal Biology, University of Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, 37007 Salamanca, Spain Present Address: P. Garcı ´a-Dı ´az Landcare Research, P.O. Box 69040, Lincoln 7640, New Zealand D. S. L. Ramsey Arthur Rylah Institute, Department of Land, Water and Environment, 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia A. P. Woolnough Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, 475-485 Mickleham Road, Attwood, VIC 3049, Australia M. Franch  G. A. Llorente  A. Montori Section of Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain M. Franch CICGE - Centro de Investigac ¸a ˜o em Cie ˆncias Geo- Espaciais Observato ´rio Astrono ´mico Prof. Manuel de Barros Alameda do Monte da Virgem, 4430-146 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal X. Buenetxea BOLUE Ingurumen Ikerketak, Bolintxu Baserria, Ergoien Auzoa, 73, 48113 Gamiz-Fika, Bizkaia, Spain 123 Biol Invasions DOI 10.1007/s10530-017-1480-7