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A systematic approach for assessing spatially and temporally differentiated opportunity costs of biodiversity conservation measures in grasslands

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  • Mewes, Melanie
  • Drechsler, Martin
  • Johst, Karin
  • Sturm, Astrid
  • Wätzold, Frank

Abstract

Biodiversity loss in Europe is caused to a large extent by agricultural intensification. To halt this loss, agri-environment schemes have been introduced to compensate farmers for (costly) biodiversity conservation measures. Current agri-environment schemes often consider only a few conservation measures which is insufficient to conserve all endangered biodiversity in an agricultural region. This problem is particularly pertinent in grasslands where many different mowing and grazing dates are required to protect the variety of species breeding in the grassland at different times. A key requirement to design agri-environment schemes for grassland conservation is therefore to offer specific compensation for more measures based on a systematic approach that calculates farmers' opportunity costs in relation to the timing of grassland use which is still lacking. This will at best attract more farmers and offer compensation calculated in line with EU requirements for co-financed measures through the Rural Development Programme. We fill this gap by developing a systematic approach to assess the costs of different mowing and grazing dates. Our approach is general enough to be applicable on a large spatial scale but can still sensitively differentiate among different timings. Moreover it is straightforward and time-saving enough to be suitable for implementation in regional scale optimisation procedures. We demonstrate this by applying the systematic cost assessment in the decision support software DSS-Ecopay using the example of grassland biodiversity conservation measures in the German federal state of Saxony.

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  • Mewes, Melanie & Drechsler, Martin & Johst, Karin & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2015. "A systematic approach for assessing spatially and temporally differentiated opportunity costs of biodiversity conservation measures in grasslands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 76-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:76-88
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2015.03.010
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    1. Gerling, Charlotte & Drechsler, Martin & Keuler, Klaus & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2022. "Time to consider the timing of conservation measures: designing cost-effective agri-environment schemes under climate change," MPRA Paper 113877, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Markova-Nenova, Nonka & Wätzold, Frank & Sturm, Astrid, 2020. "Distributional Impacts of Cost-effective Spatially Homogeneous and Regionalized Agri-Environment Payments. A case study of a Grassland Scheme in Saxony, Germany," MPRA Paper 104759, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Gerling, Charlotte & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2019. "Ecological-economic modelling to compare the impact of organic and conventional farming on endangered grassland bird and butterfly species," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 424-434.
    4. Gerling, Charlotte & Drechsler, Martin & Keuler, Klaus & Leins, Johannes A. & Radtke, Kai & Schulz, Björn & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2021. "Cost-effective conservation in the face of climate change: combining ecological-economic modelling and climate science for the cost-effective spatio-temporal allocation of conservation measures in agr," MPRA Paper 105608, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Gerling, Charlotte & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2017. "The impact of organic farming on endangered birds and butterflies: applying an ecological-economic model," MPRA Paper 83290, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kaligarič, Mitja & Čuš, Jure & Škornik, Sonja & Ivajnšič, Danijel, 2019. "The failure of agri-environment measures to promote and conserve grassland biodiversity in Slovenia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 127-134.
    7. Sturm, Astrid & Drechsler, Martin & Johst, Karin & Mewes, Melanie & Wätzold, Frank, 2018. "DSS-Ecopay – A decision support software for designing ecologically effective and cost-effective agri-environment schemes to conserve endangered grassland biodiversity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 113-116.
    8. Schöttker, Oliver & Wätzold, Frank, 2017. "Cost-effectiveness of buying land for conservation versus paying land-users for conservation measures – the case of preserving an oligotrophic lake in a Natura 2000 area in North Germany," MPRA Paper 80661, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Kipling, Richard P. & Bannink, André & Bellocchi, Gianni & Dalgaard, Tommy & Fox, Naomi J. & Hutchings, Nicholas J. & Kjeldsen, Chris & Lacetera, Nicola & Sinabell, Franz & Topp, Cairistiona F.E. & va, 2016. "Modeling European ruminant production systems: Facing the challenges of climate change," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 24-37.
    10. Gerling, Charlotte & Strum, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2020. "The impact of climate change on the profit-maximising timing of grassland use and conservation costs," MPRA Paper 102945, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Gerling, Charlotte & Drechsler, Martin & Keuler, Klaus & Leins, Johannes A. & Radtke, Kai & Schulz, Björn & Sturm, Astrid & Wätzold, Frank, 2021. "Modelling the cost-effective spatio-temporal allocation of conservation measures in agricultural landscapes facing climate change," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242352, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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