An Incremental Economic Analysis of Establishing Early Successional Habitat for Biodiversity

Slayton W. Hazard-Daniel, Patrick Hiesl, Susan C. Loeb and Thomas J. Straka
Additional contact information
Slayton W. Hazard-Daniel: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Box 340317, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Patrick Hiesl: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Box 340317, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Susan C. Loeb: USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, 233 Lehotsky Hall, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Thomas J. Straka: Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, Clemson University, Box 340317, Clemson, SC 29634, USA

Resources, 2017, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Early successional habitat (ESH) is an important component of natural landscapes and is crucial to maintaining biodiversity. ESH also impacts endangered species. The extent of forest disturbances resulting in ESH has been diminishing, and foresters have developed timber management regimes using standard silvicultural techniques that enhance ESH. We developed a financial framework to evaluate these ESH-enhancing forest management regimes, driven by differences in timber harvest costs and timber revenue. The economic model was applied to on-the-ground prescriptions in the Nantahala National Forest (NNF) designed to increase biodiversity and foster improved public awareness of the importance of ESH. Bats, a current conservation concern, commonly exploit ESH and were the focus of our prescriptions. The prescriptions were based on shelterwood cuts of varying patch size, spacing between the cuts, and the trail area required to move from patch to patch. The results showed that prescriptions with large patch areas were effective in increasing ESH, with minimal impact on the financial performance of timber harvesting operations. This information can be used to minimize financial losses while catering to wildlife species that prefer ESH, in addition to increasing overall biodiversity.

Keywords: early successional habitat; biodiversity; bats; economic analysis; forest management; incremental analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/6/4/53/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/6/4/53/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:6:y:2017:i:4:p:53-:d:113493

Access Statistics for this article

Resources is currently edited by Ms. Donchian Ma

More articles in Resources from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().