The Economics of Threatened Species Conservation: A Review and Analysis

Stabilizing human population size and reducing human-caused impacts on the environment are keys to conserving threatened species (TS). Earth\u27s human population is ~ 7 billion and increasing by ~ 76 million per year. This equates to a human birth-death ratio of 2.35 annually. The 2007 Red List prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categorized 16,306 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and other organisms (e.g., lichens, algae) as TS. This is ~ 1 percent of the 1,589,161 species described by IUCN or ~ 0.0033 percent of the believed 5,000,000 total species. Of the IUCN’s described species, vertebrates comprised relatively the most TS listings within respective taxonomic categories (5,742 of 59,811), while invertebrates (2,108 of 1,203,175), plants (8,447 of 297,326), and other species (9 of 28,849) accounted for minor class percentages. Conservation economics comprises microeconomic and macroeconomic principles involving interactions among ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics. A sustainable-growth (steady-state) economy has been posited as instrumental to preserving biological diversity and slowing extinctions in the wild, but few nations endorse this approach. Expanding growth principles characterize most nations\u27 economic policies. To date, statutory fine, captive breeding cost, contingent valuation analysis, hedonic pricing, and travel cost methods are used to value TS in economic research and models. Improved valuation methods of TS are needed for benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of conservation plans. This Chapter provides a review and analysis of: (1) the IUCN status of species, (2) economic principles inherent to sustainable versus growth economies, and (3) methodological issues which hinder effective BCAs of TS conservation

The Economics of Threatened Species Conservation: A Review and Analysis

Stabilizing human population size and reducing human-caused impacts on the environment are keys to conserving threatened species (TS). Earth\u27s human population is ~ 7 billion and increasing by ~ 76 million per year. This equates to a human birth-death ratio of 2.35 annually. The 2007 Red List prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categorized 16,306 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and other organisms (e.g., lichens, algae) as TS. This is ~ 1 percent of the 1,589,161 species described by IUCN or ~ 0.0033 percent of the believed 5,000,000 total species. Of the IUCN’s described species, vertebrates comprised relatively the most TS listings within respective taxonomic categories (5,742 of 59,811), while invertebrates (2,108 of 1,203,175), plants (8,447 of 297,326), and other species (9 of 28,849) accounted for minor class percentages. Conservation economics comprises microeconomic and macroeconomic principles involving interactions among ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics. A sustainable-growth (steady-state) economy has been posited as instrumental to preserving biological diversity and slowing extinctions in the wild, but few nations endorse this approach. Expanding growth principles characterize most nations\u27 economic policies. To date, statutory fine, captive breeding cost, contingent valuation analysis, hedonic pricing, and travel cost methods are used to value TS in economic research and models. Improved valuation methods of TS are needed for benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of conservation plans. This Chapter provides a review and analysis of: (1) the IUCN status of species, (2) economic principles inherent to sustainable versus growth economies, and (3) methodological issues which hinder effective BCAs of TS conservation

CUE ENHANCEMENT OF LITHIUM-CHLORIDE-INDUCED MUTTON/SHEEP AVERSIONS IN COYOTES

In an enclosure-type study, I investigated the use of odor, auditory, and visual cues to enhance lithium-chloride (LiCl)- induced prey aversion in coyotes (Canis latrans). Eight adult, male, wild-caught coyotes that killed 2 adult sheep during successive daily, 1 -hr trials were assigned to LiCl- and sodium-chloride (NaCl)-bait groups. The 4 LiCl-bait coyotes were sequentially presented with leg-of-sheep and whole-sheep carcasses injected with a 33% LiCl water solution (4.5 ml/kg) 1 -hr daily until bait shy. The 4 NaCl coyotes were exposed to baits and carcasses injected with 25% NaCl/water solution (4.5 ml/kg) for matched trials. Additionally, 2 coyotes within each LiCl and NaCl group were presented with baits/carcasses sprayed with cologne and fitted with a red collar and attached bell, and 2 reference coyotes within each LiCl and NaCl group were offered similar baits/ carcasses without these stimuli. Following onset of bait aversion, coyotes were again paired for 1 hr daily with a live sheep that had either the stimuli or no stimuli affixed until 2 sheep were killed. Coyotes required 7 to 23 1-hr exposures to LiCl meats to cease ingestion (develop bait shyness). Coyotes presented both LiCl-baits/carcasses and subsequent live sheep affixed with stimuli showed greater suppression of predation, but this effect was of limited duration (\u3c9 pairings with sheep)

SPREADSHEETS, RESPONSE SURFACES, AND INTERVENTION DECISIONS IN WILDLIFE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT

Abstract: An a priori approach to examining the economics of performing management activities to reduce agricultural and resource damage by wildlife is described. Computer spreadsheet procedures are used to derive response surfaces of potential net savings and benefit:cost indices for selected crop-or resource-protection activities. Tabular and graphical displays of these indices afford decision-making aids for wildlife-damage interventions. An example based on the use of an acute rodenticide, zinc phosphide (Zn 3 P 2 ), for vole (Microtus spp.) control in alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is described. Iterative calculations were derived for 1,260 possible combinations of 3 field-size, 6 crop-loss, 7 bait-effectiveness, and 10 application-fee variables. Average 1998 USDA alfalfa yield and price data (7.77 Mton•ha -1 and US$100.33•Mton ), served as the point of comparison. Effects were transitive, with greater net savings and benefit:cost ratios linked with larger field-size, crop-damage and bait-effectiveness variables, but decreased bait-application fees. Potential net savings were essentially negative when damage was <10%. Minimum and maximum benefit:cost ratios were 0.40 and 6.45; ratios ≥2.0 occurred typically when damage was ≥15%. The utility of the illustration and the approach are discussed

Impacts of Wildlife Diseases In Urban Environments

Approximately 60% of diseases causing pathogenic illness in humans originate in animals. Emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases pose considerable public health, environmental, and economic impacts in the U.S. There are over 250 urban areas in the U.S. with populations \u3e 100,000. These densely populated centers, with concomitant development of natural areas, greenbelts, and walking trails, are viewed to exacerbate the potential for human-wildlife, pet-wildlife, and pet-human interactions leading to greater risks of zoonotic disease transmission. Wildlife rabies, West Nile virus (WNV), and bovine tuberculosis (bTB) offer illustrations of potential impacts from zoo noses in urban areas. Prevention of wildlife variants of the rabies virus are estimated to cost \u3e $250 million annually; probable transmission in urban environments can involve direct human exposure to rabid coyotes (Canis latrans), raccoons (Procyon lotor), skunks (Mephitis mephitis, Spilogale putoris), and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) or indirect exposure to the virus via pet-wildlife contacts with these animals. West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne illness that has killed \u3e785 people in the U.S.; hospitalization costs associated with the outbreak of this disease in Colorado\u27s densely populated Front Range averaged$33,980/admitted patient. The re-emergence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle (Bovidae spp.) of Michigan\u27s northern Lower Peninsula has resulted in a loss of the State\u27s TB-accredited free status costing the state an estimated $22-74 million in five years. Monitoring, preventing, and treating zoonotic diseases pose new challenges for public health, veterinary, and wildlife professionals, with densely populated urban environments likely to exacerbate transmission and impacts

ORAL RABIES VACCINATION: REDUCING ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY VIA RESPONSE SURFACE ANALYSIS

Economic uncertainty surrounds the distribution of Raboral V-RG7 as an oral rabies vaccine (ORV) bait for the containment or elimination of raccoon-variant rabies in the United States. This paper describes a costs-savings model of ORV. It also describes Excel XP7 code that was prepared to compute potential net savings (NS) and benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) associated with Raboral V-RG7 bait distributions. Currently, baits and bait distributions are relatively expensive; individual baits are produced at a cost of $1.27 for federal use and typically dispensed at \u3e75 baits/km2. Distribution is estimated at$8.62/km2, $15.80/km2, and$33.30/km2 for fixed-winged (FW), ground (Gnd), and rotary-winged (RW) applications, respectively. Although many assumptions are required, iterative runs of the code allow plotting NS and BCR response surfaces for diverse scenarios based on 6 ORV variables: area (km2), bait-price (US/vaccine bait), bait-density (#/km2), application frequency (n), mode-of-delivery [US for % fixed-winged (FW), % rotarywinged (RW), and % ground-dispensed (Gnd)], and effectiveness (% seropositive titer conversion). Using a raccoon-rabies-epizootic-containment scenario for parts of Pennsylvania and a modest epizootic cost estimate of $40 million, the greatest NS ($6.4 to 38.4 million) and BCR (2.85 to 25.76) indices occurred for a one-time bait distribution involving FW aircraft over a fourth of the state with a $0.90/bait price. As expected, greater reliance on the more expensive RW and Gnd modes of bait distribution compared to FW aircraft, coupled with higher bait prices and higher bait densities, decreased NS and BCR indices. The utility of the approach to economic forecasting and decision making of ORV effects are discussed

Tactics and Economics of Wildlife Oral Rabies Vaccination, Canada and the United States

Progressive elimination of rabies in wildlife has been a general strategy in Canada and the United States; common campaign tactics are trap–vaccinate–release (TVR), point infection control (PIC), and oral rabies vaccination (ORV). TVR and PIC are labor intensive and the most expensive tactics per unit area (≈$616/km2 [in 2008 Can$, converted from the reported $450/km2 in 1991 Can$] and ≈$612/km2 [$500/km2 in 1999 Can$], respectively), but these tactics have proven crucial to elimination of raccoon rabies in Canada and to maintenance of ORV zones for preventing the spread of raccoon rabies in the United States. Economic assessments have shown that during rabies epizootics, costs of human post-exposure prophylaxis, pet vaccination, public health, and animal control spike. Modeling studies, involving diverse assumptions, have shown that ORV programs can be cost-efficient and yield benefit:cost ratios \u3e1.0

Capsicum oleoresin: development of an in-soil repellent for pocket gophers

A pre- and post-monitoring study was conducted of the potential use of capsicum oleoresin as an in-soil repellent for northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides). Pocket gophers were captured in irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L), affixed with radio transmitters, and monitored daily for location. Six plots (4.87 × 4.87m) each were randomly assigned to capsicum oleoresin and soybean oil treatments; these were set up based upon the centers of initial core areas of gophers. Mean (±SD) volumes of capsicum oleoresin and water and soybean oil and water mixtures (10 + 90 by volume) dispensed onto plots equaled 178.5 (±4.7) and 175.7 (±14.0) liters, respectively. Movements (m) of the radio-transmitted gophers from plot centers were computed for four daily readings (i.e., 0801–1000, 1101–1300, 1501–1700 and 1801–2000 h). Spectrophotometric analysis of soil samples from capsicum oleoresin plots validated the presence of capsicum on plots and the absence of capsicum on placebo- and off-plot locations. Analysis of variance for movement distances of gophers yielded a Date main effect [F(11, 103) = 2.08, P ≤ 0.03] and a Date × Reading (time) interaction [F(32, 299) = 3.21, P ≤ 0.01]. Results showed that gophers were located farther from plot centers for the 0801–1000 and 1501–1700 h telemetry readings for ≤3days postchemical application—a probable ‘disturbance’ effect rather than a chemical-induced avoidance. In a prior laboratory study, capsicum oleoresin and soil treatments of 1.5% w/w capsicum caused nearly a 50% decrease in soil contact time by gophers relative to placebo-exposed control animals. This implies that procedural variables warrant revision before abandoning this approach. The potential for soil insertion of repellents as a technique for expelling pocket gophers from territories and some methodological changes for future research of the technique are discussed

COYOTES, SHEEP AND LITHIUM CHLORIDE

The use of LiCl-treated baits and carcasses has been advocated as a means of controlling coyote predation on sheep through a process known as aversive conditioning or taste aversion. While some investigators have made well publicized claims of damage reduction through the use of LiCl on sheep ranges, other researchers have experienced difficulty establishing prey aversion in captive coyotes. The conflicting results suggest a need for extensive, carefully controlled research in both pen and field situations before valid conclusions can be reached regarding aversive conditioning as a depredations control method