A systematic approach for assessing spatially and temporally differentiated opportunity costs of biodiversity conservation measures in grasslands

Abstract: Biodiversity loss in Europe is caused to a large extent by agricultural intensification. To halt this loss and to support species and habitat types in agricultural areas, agri-environment schemes have been introduced in Europe to compensate farmers for (costly) conservation measures. Currently, agri-environment schemes for grassland in general consider only a few conservation measures with fixed dates and a payment for average opportunity costs, e.g. for later mowing. A systematic approach that calculates farmers` opportunity costs in relation to the timing of grassland use is still lacking. We fill this gap by developing a systematic agri-economic cost assessment approach. Our approach is general enough to be applicable on a large spatial scale but can still sensitively differentiate among different timings. Moreover it is straightforward and time-saving enough to be suitable for implementation in regional scale optimisation procedures. We demonstrate this by applying the systemat

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource, 28 S.
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Veröffentlichungsversion

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: UFZ Discussion Papers ; Bd. 15/2013

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Leipzig
• (when): 2013
• Creator: Mewes, Melanie ; Drechsler, Martin ; Johst, Karin ; Sturm, Astrid ; Wätzold, Frank
• Contributor: Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung - UFZ

Further information

• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-361677
• Rights: Open Access; Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:35 AM CEST