arXiv subjects

Ben Balmford

Publications and source records attributed to Ben Balmford.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Bringing the economics of biodiversity into policy and decision-making: A target and cost-based approach to pricing biodiversity

Given ongoing, human-induced, loss of wild species we propose the Target and Cost Analysis (TCA) approach as a means of incorporating biodiversity within government appraisals of public spending. Influenced by how carbon is priced in countries around the world, the resulting biodiversity shadow price reflects the marginal cost of meeting government targets while avoiding disagreements on the use of willingness to pay measures to value biodiversity. Examples of how to operationalize TCA are developed at different scales and for alternative biodiversity metrics, including extinction risk for Europe and species richness in the UK. Pricing biodiversity according to agreed targets allows trade-offs with other wellbeing-enhancing uses of public funds to be sensibly undertaken without jeopardizing those targets, and is compatible with international guidelines on Cost Benefit Analysis.

econ.GN↗

arXiv2024

A general relationship between extinction risk and carrying capacity

Understanding the relationship between a populations probability of extinction and its carrying capacity frames conservation status assessments and guides efforts to understand and mitigate the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Despite this, our understanding of the mathematical form of this relationship remains limited. We conducted ~5 billion population viability assessments that jointly converge on a modified Gompertz curve. This pattern is consistent across >1700 distinct model populations, representing different breeding systems and widely varying rates of population growth, levels of environmental stochasticity, adult survival rate, age at first breeding, and initial population size. Analytical treatment of the underlying dynamics shows that few assumptions suffice to show that the relationship holds for any extant population subject to density-dependent growth. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results and consider the practical use of our findings by conservationists.

q-bio.PE↗