Targeting Incentives to Reduce Habitat Fragmentation

The Value of Learning about Natural History in Biodiversity Markets

Markets for biodiversity have generated much controversy because of the often unstated and untested assumptions included in transactions rules. Simple trading rules are favored to reduce transaction costs, but others have argued that this leads to markets that favor development and erode biodiversity. Here, I describe how embracing complexity and uncertainty within a tradable credit system for ...

The effects of habitat fragmentation on bird communities in Hyrcanian forests (Case study: Gorgan Township)

Hopes and challenges for giant panda conservation under climate change in the Qinling Mountains of China

One way that climate change will impact animal distributions is by altering habitat suitability and habitat fragmentation. Understanding the impacts of climate change on currently threatened species is of immediate importance because complex conservation planning will be required. Here, we mapped changes to the distribution, suitability, and fragmentation of giant panda habitat under climate ch...

The Endangered Species Act and Private Landowner Incentives

While intended to increase the habitat available to endangered species, the restrictions of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) increase the costs of harboring an endangered species to private landowners and create incentives for private landowners to reduce habitat. This paper illustrates the incentive for habitat destruction with a simple model of private land use under the ESA, and uses it to p...

Policies for Habitat Fragmentation: Combining Econometrics with GIS-Based Landscape Simulations

Habitat fragmentation is widely considered a primary threat to biodiversity. In this paper, we analyze incentive-based policies designed to reduce forest fragmentation in the coastal plain region of South Carolina. Our approach integrates an econometric model of land use with simulations that predict the spatial pattern of land-use change. We analyze how subsidies for afforestation affect distr...