A DSS based on ecological-economic modelling to facilitate the implementation of biodiversity offsets and agri-environment schemes in grasslands

Abstract

In Europe, the decline of biodiversity is primarily a result of agricultural intensification. Especially grasslands show an increasingly poor conservation status whereas – if appropriately managed – extensive grasslands belong to the species-richest habitats in Europe. We present DSS-Ecopay AllerGruen®, a further development of the previous versions of DSS-Ecopay®. DSS-Ecopay AllerGruen® is based on a spatiotemporally explicit ecological-economic modelling procedure to assess the ecological effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of grassland measures on species and habitats. It is designed for small-scale regional applications as a tool to support the planning of grassland measures but also to be used in consultations with stakeholders by a local conservation foundation and the local nature conservation authorities. The software can be utilized to analyze the cost-effectiveness and ecological effectiveness of over 2000 grassland measures on target species and habitats for designing biodiversity offsets and agri-environment schemes.