Shannon Ma

Public agencies worldwide are increasingly adopting an ecosystem service framework to manage lands serving multiple uses. Yet, reliable, practical, and well-tailored methods remain a major limitation in moving from conceptual to actionable approaches. Together with one of the largest federal land managing agencies, we co-develop and co-demonstrate an ecosystem services approach tailored to specific decisions, through a process with potentially widespread relevance. With the U.S. Department of… Show more

Public agencies worldwide are increasingly adopting an ecosystem service framework to manage lands serving multiple uses. Yet, reliable, practical, and well-tailored methods remain a major limitation in moving from conceptual to actionable approaches. Together with one of the largest federal land managing agencies, we co-develop and co-demonstrate an ecosystem services approach tailored to specific decisions, through a process with potentially widespread relevance. With the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), we focus on balancing military training with biodiversity and resource conservation under both budgetary and land-use pressures at a representative installation. In an iterative process of co-design and application, we define, map, and quantify multiple ecosystem services under realistic management options. Resource management budget emerges as a major determinant of the degree to which managers can sustain both necessary training environments – a DoD-specific ecosystem service – and a prairie ecosystem with species of conservation concern. We also found clear tradeoffs between training intensity and forest-related services. Our co-developed approach brings otherwise hidden values and tradeoffs to the fore in a balanced way that can help public agencies safeguard priority services under potentially conflicting uses and budget limitations. Show less

Wildlife managers are tasked with identifying and managing stressors that threaten persistence of populations. We demonstrate an approach to land‐use planning that combines scenario modeling and ecological risk assessment to map and quantify risk to population persistence for three rare prairie species in Washington State, USA. Following corroboration of model output, we found that of the management scenarios considered, only a scenario with year‐round restrictions on use of off‐road vehicles… Show more

Wildlife managers are tasked with identifying and managing stressors that threaten persistence of populations. We demonstrate an approach to land‐use planning that combines scenario modeling and ecological risk assessment to map and quantify risk to population persistence for three rare prairie species in Washington State, USA. Following corroboration of model output, we found that of the management scenarios considered, only a scenario with year‐round restrictions on use of off‐road vehicles, digging, and camping enforced in all potential habitat reduces risk to the species. Decreased risk is focused primarily in two patches of prairie habitat in our study area, indicating stringent restrictions need not be applied broadly. However, one area is not easily accessed by two of the three species considered, suggesting reintroductions to suitable but inaccessible habitat may play an important role in management of these species. Our analyses suggest changes in land use and management that might improve habitat for rare species, with options for minimizing monetary and social costs. Because the proposed approach relies on hypothetical management scenarios and uses a model flexible in data requirements to provide spatially explicit output, it can be used to inform adaptive management of rare species in diverse land‐planning processes and will be especially useful when management decisions must be made under time or cost constraints. Show less

Understanding farmers’ willingness to participate in agricultural payment-for-environmental-services (PES) programmes is an essential precondition for designing effective and efficient programmes. Willingness to participate is typically examined via stated preference surveys using the standard hurdle model for whether and how much to participate. Among respondents who decline to participate, such analyses cannot distinguish between respondents who declined due to the payment level and those who… Show more

Understanding farmers’ willingness to participate in agricultural payment-for-environmental-services (PES) programmes is an essential precondition for designing effective and efficient programmes. Willingness to participate is typically examined via stated preference surveys using the standard hurdle model for whether and how much to participate. Among respondents who decline to participate, such analyses cannot distinguish between respondents who declined due to the payment level and those who were not interested at all. This paper applies a double hurdle model to incorporate a prior condition for whether a respondent is even willing to consider participating in the PES market. The model uses a unique stated preference survey permitting separation of the consideration and enrolment decisions of 1,700 farmers in Michigan, USA. The first hurdle probit model suggests that farmers’ willingness to consider PES chiefly depends on farm and farmer characteristics, while the second hurdle tobit model shows that decisions on whether and how much to enrol depend more on the payment offer and marginal benefit–cost criteria. This study provides fresh insights on facilitating farmer participation in PES programmes using tiered strategies that differ in costs of programme payment and administration. Show less

Farmland provides agricultural products and natural amenities, as well as residential sites. The emergence of exurbanization appears to be changing the demand for natural amenities and their role in determining land values. To better understand how appraised value and sale price capture the determinants of farmland value in a region facing exurbanization, this study applies the hedonic method to land transaction data in southwestern Michigan during 2003–2007. Results suggest that appraised… Show more

Farmland provides agricultural products and natural amenities, as well as residential sites. The emergence of exurbanization appears to be changing the demand for natural amenities and their role in determining land values. To better understand how appraised value and sale price capture the determinants of farmland value in a region facing exurbanization, this study applies the hedonic method to land transaction data in southwestern Michigan during 2003–2007. Results suggest that appraised values are a poor substitute for sale prices if the research goal is to understand dynamically evolving determinants of land value in exurbanizing regions, especially the value of natural amenities. Show less

Agricultural lands, primarily managed for crops and livestock production, provide various ecosystem services (ES) to people. In theory, the economic value of the service flows that can be captured privately is capitalized into land prices. This study proposes an integrative framework to characterize the ecosystem services associated with agricultural lands. Using that framework, we demonstrate how hedonic analysis of agricultural land prices can be used to estimate the private values of… Show more

Agricultural lands, primarily managed for crops and livestock production, provide various ecosystem services (ES) to people. In theory, the economic value of the service flows that can be captured privately is capitalized into land prices. This study proposes an integrative framework to characterize the ecosystem services associated with agricultural lands. Using that framework, we demonstrate how hedonic analysis of agricultural land prices can be used to estimate the private values of land-based ES. The model is estimated with data from southwestern Michigan, USA. Results suggest that ES values are associated with lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests and conservation lands in rural landscapes. Ecosystem services that support direct use values, such as recreational and aesthetic services, are likely to be perceived by land owners and capitalized in land prices. Some regulating services that provide indirect use values may be partially capitalized in a land parcel's relationship to natural resources and landscapes. Other ES from the land parcel and its surroundings are unlikely to be capitalized due to lack of private incentives, unawareness, or small perceived value. The private ES values measured in this study highlight opportunities to design cost-effective public policies that factor in the value of private benefits from agricultural lands.

Research Highlights
► Land prices can reveal the economic values of many ecosystem services. ► A new framework shows when land prices can measure ecosystem service values. ► Recreational and aesthetic ecosystem services have high value in southern Michigan. ► Surrounding landscapes and nearby water bodies add value to parcels of farmland. ► Environmental values embodied in land prices can help design conservation policy. Show less