Biological conservation in dynamic agricultural landscapes: Effectiveness of public policies and trade-offs with agricultural production

• Published in: Ecological economics 2011-03, Vol.70 (5), p.910-920
• Main Authors: Barraquand, F., Martinet, V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural economics; Agricultural production; Agriculture; Agriculture Conservation Dynamic landscape Ecological-economic model Land-use change Price volatility; Biodiversity; Conservation; Conservation of resources; Dynamic landscape; Ecological analysis; Ecological–economic model; Ecology; Economic models; Economics; Economics and Finance; Environmental degradation; Environmental policy; Farmers; Humanities and Social Sciences; Land use; Land utilization; Land-use change; Landscape; Management; Modelling; Nature conservation; Population; Price volatility; Public policy; Subsidies; Taxation; Value
• ISSN: 0921-8009; 1873-6106
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.12.019

Land use change and land management intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss, especially in agricultural landscapes, that cover a large and increasing share of the world's surface. Incentive-based agri-environmental policies are designed to influence farmers' land-use decisions in order to mitigate environmental degradation. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes for biological conservation in a dynamic agricultural landscape under economic uncertainty. We develop a dynamic ecological economic model of agricultural land-use and spatially explicit population dynamics. We then relate policies (subsidies to grassland, taxation of agricultural intensity) to the ecological outcome (probability of persistence of a species of interest). We also analyze the associated trade-offs between agricultural production (in value) and biological conservation (in probability of persistence) at the landscape scale. ► We develop a dynamic ecological–economic model of agricultural land-use. ► We exhibit the trade-offs between probability of persistence and agricultural output. ► We study the effectiveness of agri-environmental schemes for biological conservation. ► Improving conservation does not require to reduce economic outcomes too much. ► Input taxation to reduce intensity is a substitute for subsidy to favorable habitat.