Ecological-economic Model Research Articles

Herbicide‐resistant weed management with robots: A weed ecological–economic model

AbstractThe heavy reliance on herbicides for weed control has led to an increase in resistant weeds in the United States. Robotic weed control is emerging as an alternative technology for removing weeds mechanically using artificial intelligence. We develop an integrated weed ecological and economic dynamic (I‐WEED) model to examine the biophysical and economic drivers of adopting robotic weed management and simulate the optimal timing and intensity of robotic adoption within and across growing seasons. We specify a cohort‐based weed growth model that relates yield damages to effective weed density and treats the susceptibility of weeds to herbicides as a renewable resource that can be regenerated by using mechanical weeding robots, due to a fitness cost that makes resistant weeds less prolific. Compared to myopic weed management which ignores resistance development, forward‐looking management leads to earlier adoption of robots and treating robots as complements instead of substitutes to herbicides. This weed management results in adopting fewer robots, deploying robots on a smaller portion of the land, higher profitability, and lower yield loss in the long run, relative to myopic management. Counterintuitively, myopic management leads to a lower resistance level through its higher robot adoption intensity. We also find that a lower level of initial weed seed resistance and/or a higher fitness cost result in a higher level of resistance because they create incentives for farmers to delay the adoption of robotic weed control. Our analysis shows the importance of jointly considering the interactions between weed ecology and economics in analyzing the incentives and effects of robotic weed management on weed resistance.

Managing ecosystem services in oleaginous forests for bioenergy provision and climate change mitigation

Oleaginous forests provide diverse ecosystem services, including timber, seed yield (a vital feedstock for biodiesel production), and substantial carbon savings. These carbon savings encompass carbon sequestration related to timber growth and carbon savings resulting from substituting fossil fuel with biodiesel. However, oleaginous forests are vulnerable to seed wasp attacks (disservice), which significantly threaten both seed yield and carbon savings. Using an integrated ecological-economic model that includes Faustmann's Land Expectation Value model and a pest damage control model, we aim to understand the intricate relationship among multiple ecosystem services and disservices of oleaginous forests. The results reveal four distinct phases contingent on varying pesticide application rates: the pesticide under-use phase, substitution phase, complementary phase, and over-use phase. Notably, a potential avenue to minimize pest damage is identified during the complementary phase by reducing the optimal rotation age at the expense of decreased carbon sequestration and bioenergy provision, posing a challenge to climate change mitigation. These findings have implications for formulating policies to manage conflicting ecosystem services of energy forests, offering valuable insights into the intersection of sustainable forest management and climate policy.

Discussion on the development of sports industry in China based on the perspective of “low carbon economy”

Abstract Low-carbon economy is an important part of national strategic objectives, which not only refers to an ecological and environmental economic model but also is the main direction for the development of the sports industry. Based on the characteristics and components of the low carbon economy, this paper utilizes the environmental Kuznets curve and decoupling theory to set the goal of low carbon economy development in the sports industry and explore the influence mechanism of low carbon economy on the structural development of the sports industry. Starting from the perspective of the development of the sports industry structure, a multi-period double-difference model is designed to calculate the net effect of a low-carbon economy on the sports industry structure. The relationship between the low carbon economy and the structural change of the sports industry is visualized using non-linear fitting and partial derivatives. The evaluation model of sports industry development capacity is constructed to evaluate the development of the sports industry from two perspectives: economic performance and economic value added. The experimental results show that the impact of a low carbon economy on the structure of the sports industry is divided into three stages, namely, coefficient value <0.15, coefficient value in [0.15, 0.25), and coefficient value ≤0.25. The low-carbon economy has a marginal positive effect on the sports industry in the second stage. The calculation of EVA value shows that the EVA value of the subject sports enterprises is greater than 0 from 2017 to 2023, which indicates that the sports industry realizes value creation along with the development of the low-carbon economy.

Relaxing the production-conservation trade-off: Biodiversity spillover in the bioeconomic performance of ecological networks

Ecological networks (ENs) aim to accommodate production and conservation within landscapes by shaping the spatial scope of conservation policies based on ecological criteria. The environmental effectiveness of these networks has been extensively studied; however, it has rarely been linked to their economic cost. This paper investigates whether EN-based spatial targeting relaxes the production-conservation trade-off and, if so, what the processes underlying its performance may be. We design an EN at the national level (France), with common farmland birds defined as a conservation goal and grassland expansion defined as a conservation lever. A dynamic, mechanistic, ecological-economic model simulates policy scenarios up to 2050 with alternative targeting strategies, including the EN. The results reveal that EN targeting is almost twice as cost-effective as a nationally homogeneous policy and about as cost-effective as focusing on biodiversity reservoirs, but with higher biodiversity gains. These outcomes rely on higher initial bird abundance in targeted regions, as well as positive feedback and spillover supported by bird dispersal. However, the EN's superiority only appears in the medium term because of ecological inertia. These interdisciplinary insights on a tool from ecology and conservation biology echo policy needs for the design and implementation of sustainable landscape management strategies.

Ecological and economic trade-offs between amount and spatial aggregation of conservation and the cost-effective design of coordination incentives

To counter not only the continuous loss but also the fragmentation of species habitats, coordination incentives (CI) have been proposed to incentivise the spatial aggregation of conservation efforts. An important issue is the cost-effective design of these instruments. Two main types of CI, the agglomeration bonus and the agglomeration payment, are analysed with stylised models. Their ecological effects are assessed through a metapopulation simulation model. Rather than choosing the usual approach and analysing the joint ecological-economic model, I analyse the ecological and economic sub-models separately and join the results within an economic production theory framework in which production factors (here, the proportion and aggregation of conserved land parcels) are financed under a budget- or cost constraint and generate an output (here, metapopulation viability). This decomposition of the ecological-economic analyses allows highlighting the ecological and economic trade-offs between proportion and spatial aggregation of conservation and generating a more general understanding of the budget- and cost-effectiveness of CI. Results include, among others, that the agglomeration payment is never more budget- and cost-effective than the agglomeration bonus and that in the agglomeration bonus the budget-effective level of spatial aggregation is lower than the cost-effective level.

A Bi-level optimization approach to reduce the pollution burden of lake water with ecological compensation

Lake Ecological Compensation (LEC) mechanism is a localized approach of payment for ecosystem services to address the conflict between economic development and ecological conservation. However, how to motivate regional stakeholders to participate in water quality protection is a challenge. Based on the traditional Coase Theorem, vertical eco-compensation mechanism has been proposed to solve pollution of lake basin. The quantification of LEC is characterized by key water quality indicators (NH3-N and COD) in this paper. Integrating LEC mechanism with the ecological-economic model, this paper proposes a bi-level optimization framework for the conservation of the lake water environment. Referring to Coase’s theory, the leader’s goal is to distribute waste load permits equally to sub-regions while followers aim to minimize environmental costs. The appropriate application of this method to Taihu Basin demonstrates its efficiency and practicality. The LEC mechanism with different scenarios is analyzed and suggestions for lake water quality are made. The results show that: (1) Considering equitable principle, the new COD allocation scheme has reduced the total amount of emissions by 17% compared to the data in 2020, and the total amount of NH3-N has decreased by 16%. (2) With the cooperation of lake basin institutions, the LEC mechanism is proved to be an effective measure in promoting the conservation of the lake water environment. (3) The spillover effect of environmental and ecological policies in lake water indicates the need to upgrade industrial structure. This paper proposes to provide a more reliable the conservation of the lake water environment paradigm.

An Analysis of an Ecological–Economic Model of Asian Elephant Population Development under the Influence of Human Disturbance

The population development of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) has been greatly affected by the intensification of human activities. In this study, development of the Asian elephant population under the influence of human disturbance was analyzed logically, with expansion of the rubber forest area as the main influencing factor. The ecological–economic model of Asian elephant population development was constructed using the logical analysis method, the population growth model and the integrated environmental–economic control model. The results are as follows: (1) Theoretically, the ecological–economic model could be applied to the analysis of wildlife conservation and regulation and management policies; (2) The data show that in 2016, the intrinsic growth rate of Asian elephants in Xishuangbanna was 0.0216 head/day, which has a strong proliferation capacity, meaning the population will continue to grow under natural conditions. However, at present, the population development of Asian elephants has been negatively affected by human interference, which has reduced the population growth rate of Asian elephants to 0.0193 head/day, and this impact has a tendency to intensify; (3) From 2004 to 2016, the investment rate of Asian elephants increased by 0.182, while the anti-interference protection rate of Asian elephants decreased by 0.227. The overall development trend of Asian elephants was from equilibrium point one (golden age) to equilibrium point two (dark age).

An ecological-economic model of land-use decisions, agricultural production and biocontrol.

The regulation of agricultural pests by their natural enemies is a key step in the agroecological transition. The level of biocontrol seems, however, to highly depend on the agronomic and ecological context. It is thus important to identify the conditions under which this ecosystem service is efficient as well as the magnitude of its effects. An actual reduction of pesticide use depends on a change in farmers’ decisions, calling for the consideration of economic dimensions. We develop a dynamic agroecological-economic model representing land-use and agricultural intensity decisions as well as the dynamics of a crop pest and a natural enemy. Biocontrol is assessed considering both private benefits (increase in farmers’ profit) and public benefits (reduction of pesticide use) with respect to a situation without a natural enemy. We provide a theoretical assessment of the magnitude of biocontrol over a wide range of agronomic contexts (spatially explicit maps of agricultural production potential, with heterogeneous distribution and control of spatial fragmentation) and ecological contexts, described through various parameter values of a reaction–diffusion model. The contexts in which biocontrol plays a significant role are identified, and the role of key parameters is discussed. Our open-access model offers a tool to investigate alternative specifications.

Ecological-economic model of nature reservation and greening of the European economy

The factors, that define the evolution of natural environmental quality, and the processes of society and economics reaction to facing contemporary industrial and technological challenges have been analyzed in a complex way. A cause-and-effect relationship of pollution and opportunities of ecosystem restoration has been also determined and analyzed with economic and financial consideration of European countries opportunities outlined. The statistical investigation with the comparative analysis of principal ecological and economic processes in the biosphere, which is connected with the increase of human impact on the nature environment, has been done. It was studied out that leading countries form contemporary world viewpoint on the necessity of the implementation of the fundamental mechanisms of rational nature management and natural environment protection. The unity and association of ecological perspective for all European countries has been analytically proved. Theirs uniformity and solidity have been once more demonstrated. It was determined that the realisation of the innovative ecological, economic and financial policy is a chief aspect for the constant development of the European countries. Furthermore, this process has to be a stimulus for the implementation of waste-free manufacture and full-fledged nature conservation, what unequivocally will create the consequences for manufacture potential increase and will promote the receiving of the considerable economic effect.

Ecological and economic implications of alternative metrics in biodiversity offset markets.

Policy tools are needed that allow reconciliation of human development pressures with conservation priorities. Biodiversity offsetting can be used to compensate for ecological losses caused by development activities. Landowners can choose to undertake conservation actions, including habitat restoration, to generate biodiversity offsets. Consideration of the incentives facing landowners as potential biodiversity offset providers and developers as potential buyers of credits is critical when considering the ecological and economic landscape-scale outcomes of alternative offset metrics. There is an expectation that landowners will always seek to conserve the least profitable land parcels, and, in turn, this determines the spatial location of biodiversity offset credits. We developed an ecological-economic model to compare the ecological and economic outcomes of offsetting for a habitat-based metric and a species-based metric. We were interested in whether these metrics would adequately capture the indirect benefits of offsetting on species not considered under a no-net-loss policy. We simulated a biodiversity offset market for a case study landscape, linking species distribution modeling and an economic model of landowner choice based on economic returns of the alternative land management options (restore, develop, or maintain existing land use). Neither the habitat nor species metric adequately captured the indirect benefits of offsetting on related habitats or species. The underlying species distributions, layered with the agricultural and development rental values of parcels, resulted in very different landscape outcomes depending on the metric chosen. If policy makers are aiming for the metric to act as an indicator to mitigate impacts on a range of closely related habitats and species, then a simple no-net-loss target is not adequate. Furthermore, to achieve the most ecologically beneficial design of offsets policy, an understanding of the economic decision-making processes of the landowners is needed.

Application Analysis of the Ecological Economics Model of Parallel Accumulation Sorting and Dynamic Internet of Things in the Construction of Ecological Smart City

In order to improve the effect of ecological smart city construction, this paper analyzes the application of the ecological economic model based on parallel accumulation sorting and dynamic Internet of Things in the construction of ecological smart city. Moreover, this paper studies the core technology algorithm of information retrieval, proposes a parallel accumulation sorting algorithm, and combines the dynamic Internet of Things and ecological economics to construct an ecological smart city construction model. In addition, on the basis of constructing an ecological smart city, this paper combines the parallel accumulation sorting algorithm and the dynamic Internet of Things technology to analyze the construction effect of the ecological smart city. The experimental research results show that the ecological economic model based on parallel accumulation sorting and dynamic Internet of Things has a good application effect in the construction of ecological smart city.

A combined approach for sustainable use of mountainous agricultural land: land suitability evaluation and ecological-economic model

In the quest for poverty reduction, developing sustainable agriculture and stabilizing cultivation areas for specialty plants can be substantially improved by a new approach, which combines land suitability assessment and designs of ecological-economic models. The land suitability was assessed according to the FAO framework and the Vietnamese standard TCVN-8409:2012. The criteria were grouped in the parameters of climate, topography, and soil physicochemical properties. The seven land utilization types selected for analysis included orange, banana, tea, turmeric, cinnamon, chinaberry, and chukrasia in mountainous regions of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Provinces, Vietnam. The results showed that the most suitable lands (S1) for cultivating these crops were 169.916 ha for orange, 201.166 ha for banana, 107.636 ha for tea, and 570.744 ha for turmeric, 233.987 ha for cinnamon, 633.306 ha for chinaberry, and 280.704 ha for chukrasia. Based on that foundation, the study designed three ecological models with economic efficiency and elaborated on six formations of the models. The analyses obtained from the research also allowed the proposal of six prioritized spaces for land use and environmental protection, which were illustrated on a 1:100,000 map of proposed agricultural land use. Therefore, this study provided a detailed and reliable approach for researchers and managers in agricultural land use planning. A proper procedure for the assessment of agricultural land in mountainous areas can be suggested from this research.

Climate Change and the Cost-Effective Governance Mode for Biodiversity Conservation

Climate change poses a key challenge for biodiversity conservation. Conservation agencies, in particular, have to decide where to carry out conservation measures in a landscape to enable species to move with climate change. Moreover, they can choose two main governance modes: (1) buy land to implement conservation measures themselves on that land, or (2) compensate landowners for voluntarily carrying out conservation measures on their land. We develop a dynamic, conceptual ecological-economic model to investigate the influence of changes in climatic parameters on the cost-effectiveness of these governance modes and specific patch selection strategies (price prioritisation, species abundance prioritisation, climate suitability prioritisation, climate change direction prioritisation). We identify five effects that explain the cost-effectiveness performance of the combinations of governance mode and patch selection strategy and find that their cost-effectiveness depends on climate parameters and is thus case-specific.

Vietnam's transition to an ecological economic model in a new context

Vietnam's transition to an ecological economic model in a new context

On the Cost-Effective Temporal Allocation of Credits in Conservation Offsets when Habitat Restoration Takes Time and is Uncertain

Tradable permits, or offsetting schemes, are increasingly used as an instrument for the conservation of biodiversity on private lands. Since the restoration of degraded land often involves uncertainties and time lags, conservation biologists have strongly recommended that credits in conservation offset schemes should be awarded only with the completion of the restoration process. Otherwise, the instrument is claimed to fail on the objective of no net loss in species habitat and biodiversity. What is ignored in these arguments, however, is that such a scheme design may incur higher economic costs than a design in which credits are already awarded at the initiation of the restoration process. In the present paper a generic agent-based ecological-economic simulation model is developed to explore different pros and cons of the two scheme designs, in particular their cost-effectiveness. The model considers spatially heterogeneous and dynamic conservation costs, risk aversion and time preferences in the landowners, as well as uncertainty in the duration and the success of the restoration process. It turns out that, especially under fast change of the conservation costs, awarding credits at the initiation of restoration can be more cost-effective than awarding them with completion of restoration.

Climate–ecological–economic modelling for the cost-effective spatiotemporal allocation of conservation measures in cultural landscapes facing climate change

Abstract Climate change has become a key threat to biodiversity. As a response to climate change, species may adapt spatially (with range shifts) and temporally (with phenological adaptations), which may alter the impact of conservation measures. In cultural landscapes, where conservation often depends on specifically timed land use, climate change may also induce spatial changes in opportunity costs of conservation measures and with respect to their timing. Thus, previously cost-effectiveness conservation efforts may become less cost-effective. We develop a climate–ecological–economic model to investigate climate change-induced modifications of the cost-effective spatiotemporal allocation of conservation measures. We apply the model to a case study to investigate the cost-effectiveness of grassland measures to conserve the large marsh grasshopper in northern Germany for the periods 2020–39 and 2060–79. Our model shows modifications in the cost-effective spatial allocation of conservation measures and that the timing of measures adapted to phenological changes remains cost-effective under climate change.

Integrated sustainability policy assessment – an agent-based ecological-economic model

The paper proposes an agent-based evolutionary ecological-economic model that captures the link between the economy and the ecosystem in a more inclusive way than standard economic optimization models do. We argue that an evolutionary approach is required to understand the integrated dynamics of both systems, i.e. micro–macro feedbacks. In the paper, we illustrate that claim by analyzing the non-triviality of finding a sustainability policy mix as a use case for such a coupled system. The model has three characteristics distinguishing it from traditional environmental and resource economic models: (1) it implements a multi-dimensional link between the economic and the ecological system, considering side effects of production, and thus combines the analyses of environmental and resource economics; (2) following literature from biology, it uses a discrete time approach for the biological resource allowing for the whole range of stability regimes instead of artificially stabilizing the system, and (3) it links this resource system to an evolving, agent-based economy (on the basis of a Nelson-Winter model) with bounded rational decision makers instead of the standard optimization model. The policy case illustrates the relevance of the proposed integrated assessment as it delivers some surprising results on the effects of combined and consecutively introduced policies that would go unnoticed in standard models.

Formation of a model of a closed production cycle in an agricultural enterprise based on the use of biological waste

An ecologically safe agroecosystem can be thought of as a model of a closed cycle of matter and energy. Increasing the adaptive potential of the production system is achieved by creating flexible production facilities, improving infrastructure, as well as researching and preparing new types of raw materials, energy and technologies for inclusion in the production cycle. The use of an ecological-economic model, in the form of a computer program, will allow, using dynamic mathematical functions, combined into a structure according to the feedback principle, to process a large amount of information about the current state of production sectors, predicted climatic parameters, dynamics of market prices, etc. The result is a tactical modernization of production to ensure maximum sustainable profitability and environmental safety. The introduction of vermicompost into the soil, at a dose of 8-12 t/ha, provides a return of carbon to the agroecosystem (280-330 kg), which compensates for the losses of the humus mineralization process (285 kg) during the cultivation of grain crops, for example, spring barley, with a planned grain yield of 2.0 t/ha. The field of application of the model can be peasant and farm enterprises, state agricultural enterprises, regional departments of agriculture with the possibility of regulating the social and agricultural policy of the region.

The Status Quo and Attribution of Wildlife Crimes: A Study of Cases in China From the Perspective of Ecological Economic Ethics.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the world, has led to a rethinking of the relationship between humans and nature and the clichés of the economic-centered model. Thus, the ecological economy has been reviewed, especially from an ethical worldview. This paper uses statistical methods to retrieve and categorize 3,646 wildlife crime cases for analysis and quantitative research. It adopts legal and ethical perspectives to analyze the subject and the subjective, incidence, and sentencing factors of wildlife crimes and uses the ecological economic ethical model to measure wildlife crimes. We argue that the existing judicial system fails to answer the difficulties of the economic ethics of wildlife crimes. It is recommended that ecological and economic ethical awareness be internalized. We suggest calling for comprehensive legislation on wildlife crimes from the perspective of ecological economic ethics to effectively prevent and reduce wildlife crime and eventually promote public health.

Understanding the Performance of Biodiversity Offset Markets: Evidence from an Integrated Ecological-Economic Model

Understanding the Performance of Biodiversity Offset Markets: Evidence from an Integrated Ecological-Economic Model