Economic valuation for the conservation of marine biodiversity.

Policy makers are increasingly recognising the role of environmental valuation to guide and support the management and conservation of biodiversity. This paper presents a goods and services approach to determine the economic value of marine biodiversity in the UK, with the aim of clarifying the role of valuation in the management of marine biodiversity. The goods and services resulting from UK marine biodiversity are detailed, and 8 of the 13 services are valued in monetary terms. It is found that a decline in UK marine biodiversity could result in a varying, and at present unpredictable, change in the provision of goods and services, including reduced resilience and resistance to change, declining marine environmental health, reduced fisheries potential, and loss of recreational opportunities. The results suggest that this approach can facilitate biodiversity management by enabling the optimal allocation of limited management resources and through raising awareness of the importance of marine biodiversity.

[1]  D. Brito.  The importance of sound biological information and theory for ecological economics studies valuing Brazilian biodiversity: A response to Mendonça et al. (2003) , 2005 .

[2]  N. Hanley,et al.  Preferences, information and biodiversity preservation , 1995 .

[3]  E. Gosling.  The mussel Mytilus: ecology, physiology, genetics and culture , 1992 .

[4]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[5]  E. Wilson.  The Diversity of Life , 1992 .

[6]  Evan Williams,et al.  The value of Scotland's ecosystem services and natural capital , 2003 .

[7]  John B. Loomis,et al.  Economic benefits of rare and endangered species: summary and meta-analysis , 1996 .

[8]  Yong-Suhk Wui,et al.  The economic value of wetland services: a meta-analysis , 2001 .

[9]  P. Reich,et al.  Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment , 2006, Nature.

[10]  M. Fonseca,et al.  A preliminary evaluation of wave attenuation by four species of seagrass , 1992 .

[11]  C. Folke,et al.  Ecological goods and services of coral reef ecosystems , 1999 .

[12]  David L. Strayer,et al.  Mollusks as ecosystem engineers: the role of shell production in aquatic habitats , 2003 .

[13]  F. Chapin,et al.  EFFECTS OF BIODIVERSITY ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING: A CONSENSUS OF CURRENT KNOWLEDGE , 2005 .

[14]  C. Lintas,et al.  SPATIAL VARIATION IN THE FAUNA ASSOCIATED WITH MYTILUS EDULIS ON A WAVE-EXPOSED ROCKY SHORE , 1994 .

[15]  D. Bellwood,et al.  New paradigms for supporting the resilience of marine ecosystems. , 2005, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[16]  Y. Chee.  An ecological perspective on the valuation of ecosystem services , 2004 .

[17]  E. Maltby,et al.  The short-term impact of managed realignment on soil environmental variables and hydrology , 2004 .

[18]  The Use of Market Incentives to Preserve Biodiversity , 2006 .

[19]  K. M. Norderhaug,et al.  Colonisation of kelp imitations by epiphyte and holdfast fauna; a study of mobility patterns , 2002 .

[20]  E. V. van Ierland,et al.  Identification, definition and quantification of goods and services provided by marine biodiversity: implications for the ecosystem approach. , 2007, Marine pollution bulletin.

[21]  I. Joint,et al.  Estimation of phytoplankton production from space: current status and future potential of satellite remote sensing. , 2000, Journal of experimental marine biology and ecology.

[22]  J. Wilson.  The distribution of the coral Lophelia pertusa (L.) [L. prolifera (Pallas)] in the north-east Atlantic , 1979, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[23]  Raymond B. Seed,et al.  Population and community ecol-ogy of Mytilus , 1992 .

[24]  G. van der Velde,et al.  Interactions between waves, bank erosion and emergent vegetation: An experimental study in a wave tank , 1996 .

[25]  Robert Costanza,et al.  Economic Reasons for Conserving Wild Nature , 2002, Science.

[26]  Donald Ludwig,et al.  Limitations of Economic Valuation of Ecosystems , 2000, Ecosystems.

[27]  J. Runge.  Should we expect a relationship between primary production and fisheries? The role of copepod dynamics as a filter of trophic variability , 1988, Hydrobiologia.

[28]  Richard Lotspeich,et al.  The Economics and Ecology of Biodiversity Decline , 1996 .

[29]  Roger A. Sedjo,et al.  Valuing Biodiversity for Use in Pharmaceutical Research , 1996, Journal of Political Economy.

[30]  E. Barbier,et al.  Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services , 2006, Science.

[31]  J. Hall‐Spencer,et al.  Bivalve fishing and maerl-bed conservation in France and the UK: retrospect and prospect , 2003 .

[32]  R. D. Groot,et al.  A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services , 2002 .

[33]  M. Frankignoulle,et al.  Distribution of surface seawater partial C0 2 pressure in the English Channel and in the Southern Bight of the North Sea , 1996 .

[34]  Robert Costanza,et al.  The ecological, economic, and social importance of the oceans , 1999 .

[35]  J. Hall‐Spencer,et al.  Nursery-area function of maerl grounds for juvenile queen scallops Aequipecten opercularis and other invertebrates , 2004 .

[36]  S. Farber,et al.  Using natural coastal Wetlands systems for wastewater treatment: an economic benefit analysis , 1995 .

[37]  Louis Legendre,et al.  Integrating functional diversity, food web processes, and biogeochemical carbon fluxes into a conceptual approach for modeling the upper ocean in a high‐CO2 world , 2005 .

[38]  A. Purvis,et al.  Getting the measure of biodiversity , 2000, Nature.

[39]  R. Costanza,et al.  SPECIAL ISSUE: The Dynamics and Value of Ecosystem Services: Integrating Economic and Ecological Perspectives Economic and ecological concepts for valuing ecosystem services , 2002 .

[40]  O. Byström.  The Replacement Value of Wetlands in Sweden , 2000 .

[41]  HighWire Press.  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London , 1781, The London Medical Journal.

[42]  V. Gotceitas,et al.  Use of eelgrass beds (Zostera marina) by juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) , 1997 .

[43]  J. Stachowicz,et al.  Genetic diversity enhances the resistance of a seagrass ecosystem to disturbance , 2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[44]  R. K. Turner,et al.  Valuing ocean and coastal resources: a review of practical examples and issues for further action , 2002 .

[45]  B. Bett.  UK Atlantic Margin Environmental Survey: Introduction and overview of bathyal benthic ecology , 2001 .

[46]  J. Gage.  Deep-sea benthic community and environmental impact assessment at the Atlantic Frontier , 2001 .

[47]  J. Lester,et al.  The Value of Salt Marsh as a Sea Defence , 1995 .

[48]  C. Frid,et al.  'The fish meal and fish oil industry: its role in the common fisheries policy' , 2004 .

[49]  D. Pimentel,et al.  Economic and Environmental Benefits of Biodiversity , 1997 .

[50]  Stefan Baumgärtner,et al.  Relative and Absolute Scarcity of Nature: Assessing the Roles of Economics and Ecology for Biodiversity Conservation , 2006 .

[51]  J. Whitehead.  Total Economic Values for Coastal and Marine Wildlife: Specification, Validity, and Valuation Issues , 1993, Marine Resource Economics.

[52]  Odette Paramor,et al.  The effects of bioturbation and herbivory by the polychaete Nereis diversicolor on loss of saltmarsh in south‐east England , 2004 .

[53]  M. L. Murphy,et al.  A Comparison of Fish Assemblages in Eelgrass and Adjacent Subtidal Habitats Near Craig, Alaska , 2000 .

[54]  Oliver H. King,et al.  Estimating the value of marine resources: a marine recreation case , 1995 .

[55]  R. Moss,et al.  Ecosystems and human well-being: a framework for assessment , 2003 .

[56]  R. Leafe,et al.  On the loss of saltmarshes in south‐east England and the relationship with Nereis diversicolor , 2004 .

[57]  D. Wolfe,et al.  The Impact of Man on Seagrass Systems , 1975 .

[58]  Robert S. Steneck,et al.  Kelp forest ecosystems: biodiversity, stability, resilience and future , 2002, Environmental Conservation.

[59]  Robert J. Orth,et al.  Faunal communities in seagrass beds: A review of the influence of plant structure and prey characteristics on predator-prey relationships , 1984 .

[60]  J. Turpie,et al.  The existence value of biodiversity in South Africa: how interest, experience, knowledge, income and perceived level of threat influence local willingness to pay , 2003 .

[61]  E. Barbier,et al.  Paradise Lost: The ecological economics of biodiversity , 2009 .

[62]  Ing-Marie Gren,et al.  The Value of Investing in Wetlands for Nitrogen Abatement , 1995 .

[63]  C. S. Holling,et al.  Biodiversity Loss: Economic and Ecological Issues , 1996 .

[64]  Robert E. Wright,et al.  Valuing the diversity of biodiversity , 2006 .

[65]  Paulo R. A. Loureiro,et al.  A study on the valuing of biodiversity: the case of three endangered species in Brazil , 2003 .

[66]  O. A. L. Paramor,et al.  On the loss of saltmarshes in south-east England and methods for their restoration , 2004 .

[67]  N. Kamenos,et al.  Meiofaunal bivalves in maerl and other substrata; their diversity and community structure , 2004 .

[68]  Tom Spencer,et al.  Wind Wave Attenuation over Saltmarsh Surfaces: Preliminary Results from Norfolk, England , 1996 .

[69]  Boris Worm,et al.  Ecosystem recovery after climatic extremes enhanced by genotypic diversity. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[70]  Peter Nijkamp,et al.  The ecological economics of biodiversity: methods and policy applications. , 2003 .

[71]  D. Côté,et al.  Activity patterns of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in Buckley Cove, Newfoundland , 2002, Hydrobiologia.

[72]  P. Balvanera,et al.  Quantifying the evidence for biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and services. , 2006, Ecology letters.

[73]  K. Arrow,et al.  The Value of Nature and the Nature of Value , 2000, Science.

[74]  T. Smyth,et al.  Integration of radiative transfer into satellite models of ocean primary production , 2005 .