Update from working group economic valuation & EMB Susanne

Part I - conceptual part Manuscript: document on economic valuation and its combination with ecological models to support EBM .... “Concepts & Questions” of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Main results – new definitions Degradation & Ecosystem Quality Degradation: by human activity caused changed state of an ecosystem which provides conditions less beneficial for human activities then before the impact of human activity. meaning of degradation is not necessarily univocal. An ecosystem can be degraded from the perspective of one user group, but still suitable for others.

Definition ecosystem quality configuration of an ecosystem regarding its actual capacity to contribute to the fulfillment of human needs. several human needs represented by different user groups and it is difficult to place them in a hierarchy. One option to define a high quality state of an ecosystem is that it provides conditions to user groups with activities that are (highly) sensitive to the configuration of the ecological elements to conduct them in a beneficial manner

Part II – empirical part Clarification of analysis Aim: identify to what extent differences in yields/activity levels are attributable to ecosystem configuration Activities: SCUBA diving, recreational fishing, commercial fishing

background in a first step we assume fixed prices for each activity and use the intensity of activity as a proxy for the benefits human beings receive from engaging in the activity at particular places.

model Activity level ald,rf,cf= f (ecosystem configuration, manmade features, distribution of humans) Activity level/intensity: measured in hours (at least for recreational activities)

“demand” curves – recreational activities If ecosystem configuration is significant explanatory variable for activity level  “demand curve” for activity level as function of ecosys config can be derived

yield – commercial activity If ecosystem configuration is significant explanatory variable for yield (value of landings – effort)  curve of yield as function of ecosys config can be derived

Expected results “total” economic value (total amount of hours X benefits per hour) of each recreational activity given ecosystem configuration Total economic value of (yield) of commercial fishing activity given ecosystem configuration Economic value (potential economic loss) of a changes in ecosystem configuration for different activities Seems nice and easy…. up to here.

Challenge – all activities in one objective function We want to consider commercial activity in combination with recreational activities. What does this mean for common currency? Can we use hours or do we have to use $?

“Effort” in recreational and commercial activities for recreational activities assumed as fixed, expected benefits reflected in activity levels for commercial activities effort reflect costs dependent on level of technology  lower costs, higher yields at same ecosys config effort/prices can not be assumed as fixed High effort (many hours fishing) can be a direct signal for low ecological quality level hours can not be the common currency it has to be $

Where to get $ values from? (I) Diving: diving survey what costs are included? Direct trip costs, travel costs (time) + equipment how to count hours of a diving trip? Time spend in water (shore dive) Time spend on boat+water (“trip dive”) Commercial fishing: Steinback et al. (2004)+data mining direct expenditures by marine anglers ($) (weighted for CA) divided by total hours spent fishing. Result = $ benefit of one hour fishing; multiplied by fishing hours in kelp  benefit of rec. fishing in kelp forest in CA

Where to get $ values from? (II) Commercial fishing: data mining Effort in CA kelp Value of landings

Things to be done during the meeting data mining commercial fishing Effort Value of landings Recreational fishing Hours spend Both: as spatially explicit as possible, as specifically as possible related to kelp species

… after the meeting Finish dive survey Analysis