Cost-effective Conservation Measures Research Articles

Time to consider the timing of conservation measures: Designing cost-effective agri-environment schemes under climate change

AbstractClimate change is one of the largest threats for biodiversity as changing climatic conditions often make existing habitat sites less suitable. This poses new challenges for species conservation, in particular in agricultural landscapes, where climate change may also induce modifications in agricultural land use. To conserve species in agricultural landscapes, agri-environment schemes (AES) which compensate farmers for implementing conservation measures are commonly used. However, current research on the cost-effective design of AES largely ignores necessary adaptations of conservation measures given climate change. We develop a climate-ecological-economic (CEE) model to examine how the cost-effective design of AES has to be modified under climate change. We apply the model to the conservation of eight meadow bird species in Northern Germany and determine the cost-effective conservation measures under recent and future climatic conditions. We find that the timing of conservation measures in the AES needs to be changed in the RCP8.5 scenario given the species’ phenological adaptations and the impact of extreme events (inundations) on costs. The novelty of the research lies in the development of a CEE model which considers both spatial and temporal changes in costs and benefits to develop recommendations for the cost-effective design of AES under climate change.

Cost-effectiveness of Natura 2000 forest contracts for biodiversity conservation

Natura 2000 contracts in the European Union aim to maintain or restore natural habitats to a favorable conservation status. This article aims to analyze the cost-effectiveness of Natura 2000 forest contracts at the individual level of intervention areas in France. The level of long-term biodiversity was assessed using ex ante and ex post levels of conservation status, evaluated on a 100-point scale. Data collection was conducted on the contract areas using a combination of plotless and line intersection sampling methods. Cost-effectiveness was analyzed by modeling a cost function of conservation measures that is estimated simultaneously with the ex ante and ex post biodiversity equations. We performed an empirical illustration based on a small number of observations, and, therefore, the results deserve to be confirmed using larger databases. The conservation measures implemented in the contracts studied had a significant effect on maintaining and restoring biodiversity. Nevertheless, we found pronounced diseconomies of scale and low cost-effectiveness. This suggests the possibility of less ecologically ambitious contracts with lower average costs. Our results also recommend new targeting and prioritizing rules to implement more cost-effective conservation measures (e.g., veteran trees) in a less costly context (e.g., targeting main tree species in larger intervention areas). These recommendations could make Natura 2000 contracts significantly more cost-effective.

Soil health and land degradation related problems and remedial measures with special reference to central and peninsular India

Land degradation in black soil regions of India (occurring between 8045’ and 2600’ N latitude and 6600’ and 83045’ E longitude spread over an area of 76.4m ha constituting almost 22.2 per cent of total geographical area of India) is the continuous process for some inherent soil physicochemical and hydrological properties coupled with poor management. The soils in these regions occur on flat to varying degree of undulating topography and therefore water erosion accompanied by severe losses of essential plant nutrients are the serious problems even on flat topography. This emphasizes the need for effective conservation of land and water resources and their efficient utilization for enhancing crop productivity on sustainable basis. Appropriate cost effective conservation measures for land and water have been found effective in improving the land and water resources and thereby productivity of crops and live-stocks. Integrated watershed management is now considered as the best approach for sustainable protection, preservation and efficient utilization of all the natural resources particularly land and water and socio-economic resources. Present paper reviews land degradation status and various kinds of land uses and presents the technological options for managing them so that productivity of arable crops may be improved on sustainable basis.

Crop wild relative diversity and conservation planning in two isolated oceanic islands of a biodiversity hotspot (Mauritius and Rodrigues)

AbstractThe rising need for crop diversification to mitigate the impacts of climate change on food security urges the exploration of crop wild relatives (CWR) as potential genetic resources for crop improvement. This study aimed at assessing the diversity of CWR of the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues and proposing cost-effective conservation measures for their sustainable use. A comprehensive list of the native species was collated from The Mauritius Herbarium and published literature. Each species was assessed for the economic value of its related crop, utilization potential for crop improvement, relative distribution, occurrence status and Red List conservation status, using a standard scoring method for prioritization. The occurrence data of the priority species were collected, verified, geo-referenced and mapped. A total of 43 crop-related species were identified for both islands and 21 species were prioritized for active conservation. The CWR diversity hotspots in Mauritius included Mondrain, followed by Florin and Le Pouce Mountain. Although a wide diversity of CWR has been recorded on both islands, most do not relate to major economic crops in use, therefore only a few species may be gene donors to economic crops at the regional and global level. For example, coffee, a major global beverage crop, has three wild relatives on Mauritius, which could potentially be of interest for future predictive characterization.

Wild bees respond complementarily to ‘high-quality’ perennial and annual habitats of organic farms in a complex landscape

Agricultural intensification leads to large-scale loss of habitats offering food and nesting sites for bees. This has resulted in a severe decline of wild bee diversity and abundance during the past decades. There is an urgent need for cost-effective conservation measures to mitigate this decline. We analysed the impact of five different high-quality habitats on species richness and abundance of wild bees in a complex landscape of north-western Switzerland at six sites. The five habitat types included 45 plots situated on eight organic farms and were composed of 16 low-input meadows, six low-input pastures, seven herbaceous strips adjacent to hedges, five sown flower strips and eleven organic cereal fields. All of them are financially subsidised by the Swiss agri-environmental scheme. Wild bees were sampled between the end of April and end of August 2014 by using trio-pan traps and complementary sweep netting on these five habitat types. On 45 plots we recorded 3973 bee specimens, belonging to 91 species, 16 of which are red listed, revealing a high bee species richness in the study area. Wild bee species richness and abundance were best explained by habitat type, number of flowering plants and site. A strong relationship of increasing number of flowering plants and bee species richness and abundance was found. Grassland habitats, especially low-input meadows, harboured the highest species richness and abundances. Organic cereal fields showed a potential to conserve bee species relevant to nature conservation (harbouring exclusively two red list species and four rare species). Ordination analysis of the bee communities showed a relative dissimilarity between the habitat types and indicates their complementary effects to benefit the diversity of wild bees. Our results demonstrate that a matrix of low-input habitats are needed to sustain rich assemblages of wild bees in agroecosystems.

Comparative landscape genetics of pond-breeding amphibians in Mediterranean temporal wetlands: The positive role of structural heterogeneity in promoting gene flow.

Comparative landscape genetics studies can provide key information to implement cost-effective conservation measures favouring a broad set of taxa. These studies are scarce, particularly in Mediterranean areas, which include diverse but threatened biological communities. Here, we focus on Mediterranean wetlands in central Iberia and perform a multi-level, comparative study of two endemic pond-breeding amphibians, a salamander (Pleurodeles waltl) and a toad (Pelobates cultripes). We genotyped 411 salamanders from 20 populations and 306 toads from 16 populations at 18 and 16 microsatellite loci, respectively, and identified major factors associated with population connectivity through the analysis of three sets of variables potentially affecting gene flow at increasingly finer levels of spatial resolution. Topographic, land use/cover, and remotely sensed vegetation/moisture indices were used to derive optimized resistance surfaces for the two species. We found contrasting patterns of genetic structure, with stronger, finer scale genetic differentiation in Pleurodeles waltl, and notable differences in the role of fine-scale patterns of heterogeneity in vegetation cover and water content in shaping patterns of regional genetic structure in the two species. Overall, our results suggest a positive role of structural heterogeneity in population connectivity in pond-breeding amphibians, with habitat patches of Mediterranean scrubland and open oak woodlands ("dehesas") facilitating gene flow. Our study highlights the usefulness of remotely sensed continuous variables of land cover, vegetation and water content (e.g., NDVI, NDMI) in conservation-oriented studies aimed at identifying major drivers of population connectivity.

Quantitative ecological risk assessment of accidental oil spills on ship routes nearby a marine national park in Brazil

ABSTRACTFernando de Noronha (FN) is a marine protected area off the coast of Brazil. The study of risks caused by nearby ship routes is new to authorities concerned with preserving FN. We identify nearby ship routes that cause FN to be potentially exposed to oil spills from tankers. A coral species is chosen as a bioindicator of the ecosystem's health, which aids quantitative approaches. We simulate oil leakage scenarios with pessimistic occurrence frequencies and corals' mortality in case of accident. A metapopulation coral model is integrated to quantify measures of ecological risk under the potential occurrence of accidental scenarios. The categorization of risk results according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature quantitative criteria shows that risks are negligible. Due to the considerable uncertainty in the results, we propose a more conservative categorization of risks based not on total metapopulation extinction, but on half loss. As a result, risks were considered not acceptable. The presented methodology and results are useful in supporting authorities in their preservation efforts such as the prioritization of sources of hazard as well as selection of the best cost-effective conservation measures for maintaining good environmental health on a realistic budget, using this methodology as an exploratory tool.

Bumble bee species' responses to a targeted conservation measure depend on landscape context and habitat quality

The global decline of insect pollinators, especially bees, is cause for concern, and there is an urgent need for cost-effective conservation measures in agricultural landscapes. While landscape context and habitat quality are known to influence species richness and abundance of bees, there is a lack of evidence from manipulative field experiments on bees' responses to adaptive management across differently structured landscapes. We present the results of a large-scale study that investigated the effects of a targeted agri-environment scheme (AES) on bumble bees (Bombus spp.) over three years in the United Kingdom. Forage patches of different sizes were sown with a conservation flower mixture across eight sites covering a broad range of agricultural land use types. Species richness and worker densities (especially of the longer-tongued Bombus species for which the mixture was targeted) were significantly higher on sown forage patches than on existing non-crop control habitats throughout the three-year study, but the strength of this response depended on both the proportions of arable land and abundance of herbaceous forb species in the surrounding landscape. The size of sown patches also affected worker density, with smaller patches (0.25 ha) attracting higher densities of some species than larger patches (1.0 ha). Our models show that a targeted AES can deliver greater net benefits in more intensively farmed areas, in terms of the number and species richness of bumble bees supported, than in heterogeneous landscapes where other foraging habitats exist. These findings serve to strengthen the evidence base for extending agri-environment schemes to boost declining pollinator populations to a larger number of agricultural landscapes across the globe.

Market Barriers to Energy-Efficiency Investments

The conservation literature argues that numerous cost-effective conservation measures could be undertaken, but they are not because market barriers discourage such investments. A review of these barriers indicates that, in general, they do not discourage investment and they are not market failures. A conventional investment model suggests that business investments in energy efficiency are made with the same decision rules as any other investments. Consumers who invest in energy efficiency require higher rates of return when the investments are illiquid and they are unable to diversify away the risk. The high discount rates required by consumers for energy-efficiency investments reflect real costs in a competitive market, not artificial market barriers. Policies that encourage the dissemination of information, such as appliance labelling may promote energy efficiency and overall economic efficiency. Policies, such as appliance standards, that require consumers to invest according to lower discount rates, reduce consumers’ overall economic wellbeing. Two market failures that illuminate the need for government support of conservation policies are the external costs of energy consumption and production and the lack of aggregate insurance against energy-related risks.

The Hood River Conservation Project

The Hood River Conservation Project (HRCP) was a major residential conservation project, intended to test the upper limits of a utility retrofit program. It was proposed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) and operated by Pacific Power & Light Company (Pacific) in Hood River, Oregon. Thisfive-year, $20 million research and demonstration project installed as many cost-effective conservation measures in as many electrically heated homes in Hood River as possible. The measures were aimed at the building shell to reduce electricity use for space heating and at water-heating retrofits. This article summarizes the remarkable (and largely successful) efforts to design a comprehensive evaluation to address energy-policy issues important to the Pacific Northwest. Evaluation results are presented concerning project performance in three critical areas: the number of eligible households that participated, the number of recommended conservation actions adopted by participants and financed by HRCP, and the actual electricity use and savings achieved by HRCP.

Actual electricity savings and audit predictions for residential retrofit in the pacific northwest

An important and unresolved issue concerning home energy audit programs is the accuracy of the engineering calculations. That is, the accuracy of audit predictions of energy savings for recommended retrofit measures is generally unknown. Data available from a recent evaluation of the Bonneville Power Administration Residential Weatherization Pilot Program allow comparison and analysis of the relationships between actual electricity savings and audit estimates of likely savings. The BPA program offered free home energy audits to identify cost-effective conservation measures to reduce space and water heating electricity use. The program also offered zero-interest, deferred-payment loans for installation of measures recommended during the audit. The actual reduction in annual electricity use averaged 4130 kWh across participant households. The cost of the retrofits that yielded this saving averaged $2100. The median ratio of actual-to-estimated saving is 0.66. Thus, on average, two thirds of the expected saving is actually realized. However, there is substantial variation in this ratio. Actual electricity use increases in the second year for more than 10% of these homes. On the other hand, actual savings are more than double the audit estimates in more than 10% of the homes.

Comparison of actual energy savings with audit predictions for homes in the north central region of the U.S.A.

Utilities throughout the U.S. offer their customers on-site home energy audits. The main purpose of these audits is to give households specific suggestions on cost-effective conservation measures suitable for their home. Unfortunately, little is known about the accuracy of these audit procedures or on the actual energy savings achieved in these homes. Data from a recent evaluation of a home energy audit program in Minnesota were used to analyze the actual energy savings achieved in audited homes and the relationship between actual and predicted savings. The actual reduction in weather-adjusted natural gas use for 346 gas-heated single-family homes averaged 19 M Btu/year. The variation, however, was quite large: gas use increased in almost 20% of the homes, while gas use decreased by more than 50 M Btu/year in 10% of the homes. The median ratio of actual-to-predicted gas saving was 0.66, suggesting that, on average, two-thirds of the expected energy saving was actually realized. However, the actual saving was within 50% of the audit prediction in only 45% of the homes studied.

Building Energy use Compilation and Analysis (BECA): An international comparison and critical review. Part A: New residential buildings

The potential for energy conservation in space heating of new residential buildings is characterized using results from computer analysis, and from a survey of low-energy houses. Simulations of the energy requirements of a prototypical house in the United States at different levels of conservation have shown that much higher levels of conservation than those presently employed in new houses result in minimum life-cycle cost. Measurement taken in actual houses indicate that very low space heating energy requirements — comparable to that now used for domestic water heating — can be achieved in new houses by attention to insulation, infiltration, and solar-design principles. We conclude that building standards should be made more stringent to hasten the adoption of cost-effective conservation measures.