Ecological-Economic Modelling for Biodiversity Conservation

✍ Scribed by Martin Drechsler

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 315
• Series: Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Ecologists and economists both use models to help develop strategies for biodiversity management. The practical use of disciplinary models, however, can be limited because ecological models tend not to address the socioeconomic dimension of biodiversity management, whereas economic models tend to neglect the ecological dimension. Given these shortcomings of disciplinary models, there is a necessity to combine ecological and economic knowledge into ecological-economic models. Gradually guiding the reader into the field of ecological-economic modelling by introducing mathematical models and their role in general, this book provides an overview on ecological and economic modelling approaches relevant for research in the field of biodiversity conservation. It discusses the advantages of and challenges associated with ecological-economic modelling, together with an overview of useful ways of integration. Although being a book about mathematical modelling, ecological and economic concepts play an equally important role, making it accessible for readers from very different disciplinary backgrounds.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I Modelling
1 What Is a Model?
2 Purposes of Modelling
2.1 Theory Development
2.2 Generalisation
2.3 Theory Testing
2.4 Understanding
2.5 Explanation
2.6 Prediction
2.7 Decision Support
2.8 Communication
2.9 Education
2.10 Integration of Knowledge
2.11 Mediation between Scales
2.12 The Trade-Off between Generality and Specificity
2.13 Positive versus Normative Analysis
3 Typical Model Features
3.1 Spatial Structure
3.2 Dynamics
3.3 Stochasticity
3.4 Individual Variability
3.5 Feedback Loops
Part II Ecological Modelling
4 Homogenous Deterministic Population Models
4.1 Unlimited Population Growth
4.2 Limited Population Growth
4.3 Chaos and Scramble Competition
5 Homogenous Stochastic Population Models
5.1 Stochasticity in Population Dynamics
5.2 Probability Distributions and Random Numbers
5.3 Simulating Stochastic Population Dynamics and Population Viability Analysis
5.4 Stochastic Processes and Extinction Risk
5.5 The Risk Model of the IUCN
6 Spatial Population Models
6.1 Patch-Based Models: The Metapopulation Concept
6.2 Grid-Based Models
7 Models with Individual Variability
7.1 Equation-Based Models
7.2 Individual-Based Models
8 Models of Biodiversity
8.1 Niche Separation and Resource Partitioning
8.2 Spatial Structure and Stochastic Disturbance
8.3 Endogenous Disturbances
8.4 Trade-Offs between Species Traits
8.5 Neutral Theory
8.6 Neutral Theory with Trade-Offs
8.7 Combined Effect of Trade-Offs and Disturbance
8.8 Conclusions
Part III Economic Modelling
9 Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation
9.1 Market Failure and the Social Dilemma of Environmental Protection
9.2 Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation: Regulation
9.3 Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation: Conservation Payments
9.4 Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation: Offsets
9.5 Conclusions
10 Game Theory
10.1 Public Good Problems, External Effects and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
10.2 A Few Bites of Game Theory
10.3 Dynamic Games and Evolutionary Game Theory
11 Incentive Design
11.1 The Principal–Agent Problem
11.2 Payments under Asymmetric Information: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
11.3 Cost-Effectiveness versus Budget-Effectiveness
11.4 Auctions as an Alternative to Address Adverse Selection
11.5 Payments for Heterogeneity
11.6 The Agglomeration Bonus
12 Modelling Human Decisions
12.1 Utility Functions
12.2 Risk-Utility Functions: Modelling Decisions under Risk
12.3 Fairness and Inequity Aversion
12.4 Imperfect Information
12.5 Bounded Rationality
12.6 Heuristics
12.7 Modelling Change in Behaviour and Decisions
12.8 Conclusions
13 The Agglomeration Bonus
13.1 The Economics of Habitat Fragmentation and the Agglomeration Bonus
13.2 The Agglomeration Bonus in Conservation Auctions and Conservation Offsets
13.3 The Agglomeration Payment
13.4 Side Payments as Means to Improve Compliance
13.5 Variants of the Agglomeration Bonus
13.6 Experiments
13.7 Conclusions
Part IV Ecological-Economic Modelling
14 Foundations of Ecological-Economic Modelling
14.1 The History of Environmental and Ecological-Economic Thought in a Nutshell
14.2 Environmental Economics in a Nutshell
14.3 Ecological Economics in a Nutshell
14.4 Implications for Ecological-Economic Modelling
15 Benefits and Challenges of Ecological-Economic Modelling
15.1 Why Is Ecological-Economic Modelling Useful?
15.2 Challenges: Differing Modelling Approaches
15.3 Concepts That Facilitate Integration
16 Integration of Ecological and Economic Models
16.1 A Classification of Integration in Ecological-Economic Models
16.2 Economy Affects Ecology
16.3 Models with Bidirectional Influence
16.4 Social Efficiency of Biodiversity Conservation via Indifference Curves
16.5 Social Efficiency of Biodiversity Conservation via Demand Functions
16.6 Equivalence of Indifference Curves and Demand Functions and Conclusions for Environmental Valuation
16.7 Natural Capital, the Economics of Biodiversity and Conclusions
17 Examples of Ecological-Economic Modelling
17.1 Superposing Ecological and Economic Solutions and the Added Value of Integration
17.2 Feedback Loops in Output-Based Payments
17.3 Analysis of the Feedback Loop in the Output-Based Payment
17.4 The Stochasticity in the Ecological-Economic Dynamics
17.5 Conclusions
18 Outlook
18.1 Multiple Interacting Species
18.2 Multiple Ecosystem Services
18.3 Feedback into the Policy Level
18.4 Managing Dynamic Complexity
18.5 Making Models Relevant for Policymakers
18.6 Concluding Remarks
References
Index