Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5049387 Ecological Economics 2015 14 Pages PDF
Abstract

•Many proxies used in economic valuation fail to grasp the diversity aspect of biodiversity.•Most studies use single-attribute proxies, which do not reflect the multi-dimensional complexity of biodiversity.•Multi-attribute proxies are better suited to account for biodiversity, but they are at the minority.•The emphasis on biodiversity roles with respect to human well-being should be imperative.•Provision of encompassing information, e.g., via deliberative approaches, is crucial.

Biodiversity is a highly complex and abstract ecological concept. Even though it is not one physical entity, it influences human well-being in multiple ways, mostly indirectly. While considerable research effort has been spent on the economic valuation of biodiversity, it remains to be a particularly challenging 'valuation object'. Valuation practitioners therefore have to use proxies for biodiversity, many of which are very simple (single species, habitats). This paper presents a comprehensive and critical review of biodiversity valuation studies with special emphasis on biodiversity valuation in order to depict the state-of-the-art in this research field. It develops evaluation criteria so as to identify best-practice applications and shows that the field of biodiversity valuation studies is rather heterogeneous regarding both valuation objects and valuation methods. On the basis of our evaluation criteria and best-practice studies we suggest that to account for the complexity and abstractness of biodiversity, multi-attribute approaches with encompassing information provision should be used that emphasise the roles biodiversity plays for human well-being.

Related Topics
Life Sciences Agricultural and Biological Sciences Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
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