| dc.description |
Wildlife managers are on the front lines of the effort to conserve wildlife and
are required to do so cost-effectively. This dissertation consists of three manuscripts
that integrate economics and ecology to inform cost-effective wildlife management.
The first and second manuscripts focus on identifying cost-effective wildlife
management plans. The third manuscript considers wildlife management under
uncertainty.
The first manuscript integrates economic and ecological principles to identify
cost-effective management plans. Bio-physical simulation and regression analysis are
paired to approximate response functions for an important duck species, the mallard
(Anas platyrhynchos). Response functions are then included in an economic
optimization model to estimate management cost functions. Approximated response
functions indicate that mallard response is non-linear due to diminishing marginal
productivity and interdependence of management activities. This results in non-linear
cost functions, which imply that the standard approach of treating ecological
production and economic costs independently may result in inefficient management.
The second manuscript extends the first by incorporating landscape
heterogeneity. The same modeling approach is replicated for three landscapes that
differ in their ecological and economic productivity. This approach demonstrates that
taking advantage of landscape heterogeneity can generate cost savings if managers
target multiple landscapes simultaneously. Additionally, management activities that
do not interfere with agriculture are found to be highly cost-effective, suggesting that
common ground exists between conservationist and private landowners.
The first and second manuscripts assume that managers can predict wildlife
response with certainty. The third manuscript illustrates the tradeoff between the risk
and return to management when response is uncertain. Financial portfolio theory is
adapted to account for diminishing marginal productivity and interdependence of
management activities. An analytical model is used to determine how these properties
alter the standard derivation of mean-variance efficient portfolios. This has
implications for addressing uncertainty in many renewable resource contexts.
Simulated data on mallards are used to apply the portfolio model to wildlife
management. Results indicate that portfolio theory provides practical insights about
managing wildlife under uncertainty. |
|