On the functional relationship between biodiversity and economic value

Paul, C., Hanley, N. , Meyer, S. T., Fürst, C., Weisser, W. W. and Knoke, T. (2020) On the functional relationship between biodiversity and economic value. Science Advances, 6(5), eaax7712. (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aax7712) (PMID:32064338) (PMCID:PMC6989135)

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Abstract

Biodiversity’s contribution to human welfare has become a key argument for maintaining and enhancing biodiversity in managed ecosystems. The functional relationship between biodiversity (b) and economic value (V) is, however, insufficiently understood, despite the premise of a positive-concave bV relationship that dominates scientific and political arenas. Here, we review how individual links between biodiversity, ecosystem functions (F), and services affect resulting bV relationships. Our findings show that bV relationships are more variable, also taking negative-concave/convex or strictly concave and convex forms. This functional form is driven not only by the underlying bF relationship but also by the number and type of ecosystem services and their potential trade-offs considered, the effects of inputs, and the type of utility function used to represent human preferences. Explicitly accounting for these aspects will enhance the substance and coverage of future valuation studies and allow more nuanced conclusions, particularly for managed ecosystems.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:T.K. and C.P. are grateful for financial support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (KN 586/9-1, PA3162/1-1). S.T.M. and W.W.W. were supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the framework of FOR 1451 (grant WE 3081/31-1).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hanley, Professor Nicholas
Authors: Paul, C., Hanley, N., Meyer, S. T., Fürst, C., Weisser, W. W., and Knoke, T.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Science Advances
Publisher:American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN:2375-2548
ISSN (Online):2375-2548
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2020 The Authors
First Published:First published in Science Advances 6(5):eaax7712
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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