Cost-benefit analysis of abatement measures for nutrient emission from agriculture

In intensive animal husbandry areas surface water N and P concentrations often remain too high. The Water Framework Directive calls for additional nutrient emission abatement measures. Therefore, costs and benefits for possible agricultural measures in Flanders were first analysed in terms of soil balance surplus. Finally, abatement measures for agriculture, households and industry were set off against each other and ranked according to their cost-efficiency by the Environmental Costing Model. Increased dairy cattle efficiency, winter cover crops and increased pig feed efficiency turn out very cost efficient. Other agricultural measures are less cost efficient than for instance collective treatment for households and industry.nitrogen and phosphorus abatement, surface water, cost efficiency, Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

Toekomstverkenning landbouw en milieu

Dit project was meer dan louter een toekomstverkenning voor de Vlaamse land- en tuinbouw aan de hand van de modelleertool SELES. Het was in eerste instantie een diepgaande kennismaking met het model, zijn mogelijkheden en beperkingen en het verkrijgen van inzicht in de samenhang tussen inputs en output. Het LEI was tevens betrokken bij de klankbordgroep voor deze modelerin

Development of artificial neural network models predicting macroinvertebrate taxa in the river Axios (Northern Greece)

Artificial Neural Network models (ANNs) were used to predict habitat suitability for 12 macroinvertebrate taxa, using environmental input variables. This modelling technique was applied to a dataset of 102 measurement series collected in 31 sampling sites in the Greek river Axios. The database consisted of seven physical-chemical and seven structural variables, as well as abundances of 90 macroinvertebrate taxa. A seasonal variable was included to allow the description of potential temporal changes in the macroinvertebrate communities. The induced models performed well for predicting habitat suitability of the macroinvertebrate taxa. Senso-nets and sensitivity analyses revealed that dissolved oxygen concentration and the substrate composition always played a crucial role in predicting habitat suitability of the macroinvertebrates. Although ANNs are often referred to as black box prediction techniques, it was demonstrated that ANNs combined with sensitivity analyses can provide insight in the relationship between river conditions and the occurrence of macroinvertebrates, and thus deliver new ecological knowledge. Consequently, these models can be useful in decision-making for river restoration and conservation management

Cost-benefit analysis of abatement measures for nutrient emission from agriculture

In intensive animal husbandry areas surface water N and P concentrations often remain too high. The Water Framework Directive calls for additional nutrient emission abatement measures. Therefore, costs and benefits for possible agricultural measures in Flanders were first analysed in terms of soil balance surplus. Finally, abatement measures for agriculture, households and industry were set off against each other and ranked according to their cost-efficiency by the Environmental Costing Model. Increased dairy cattle efficiency, winter cover crops and increased pig feed efficiency turn out very cost efficient. Other agricultural measures are less cost efficient than for instance collective treatment for households and industry