Deriving values for the ecological support function of wildlife: An indirect valuation approach

We describe a method that combines economic willingness-to-pay estimates for higher trophic-level species with basic information available about ecosystem relationships to derive estimates of partial willingness-to-pay for lower level species that might be of direct policy interest. This method is intended as a quasi-benefit transfer method for use in benefit-cost analysis. Our method makes it possible to establish partial willingness-to-pay estimates for the large number of species of immediate or potential policy interest using only data available in non-market valuation and biology and ecology literature. We provide a partial estimation of indirect values for the predator-prey relationships that support golden eagles in the Snake River Bird of Prey area as an example of how to operationalize our approach.