Wildlife economics can help us better understand, and sometimes even quantify, the various relationships between humans and wildlife species. On one hand, humans benefit significantly from wildlife, for example through activities like hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, or through the conservation of threatened and endangered species. On the other hand, wildlife can also impose substantial costs to society, for example through human-wildlife conflicts like property damages, livestock depredations, and sometimes even human injuries or deaths. Invasive species and animals infected by disease are particularly likely to cause damages. Economists are trained to quantify both the good and the bad from wildlife, which in turn helps with weighing benefits and costs in an apples-to-apples way. Overall, wildlife economics research can help uncover key insights about socially optimal management of wildlife species, which is especially important in rapidly-changing environments and conditions.
Economists in the Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center have researched various wildlife species, including Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem bears, wide-ranging wildlife in Wyoming, and Alaska salmon, to name a few. SEA Branch economists specialize in both nonmarket valuation and bioeconomic modeling techniques. Their past work spans the following applications, among others:
- Evaluating different harvest strategies to determine which ones would lead to the highest expected net benefits for society.
- Examining how people's risk perceptions influence their self-protection actions against wildlife and pests.
- Determining people's willingness to donate to wildlife conservation.
- Quantifying various nonmarket benefits and damages from wildlife, covering both use and non-use values (for example, existence value).
- Determining the value of wildlife viewing, including by estimating annual benefit streams per individual live animal.
Compiling various wildlife-related value estimates into a centralized location useful for benefit transfer (for example, the Benefit Transfer Toolkit, which is under development).
Wildlife economics can help us better understand, and sometimes even quantify, the various relationships between humans and wildlife species. On one hand, humans benefit significantly from wildlife, for example through activities like hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, or through the conservation of threatened and endangered species. On the other hand, wildlife can also impose substantial costs to society, for example through human-wildlife conflicts like property damages, livestock depredations, and sometimes even human injuries or deaths. Invasive species and animals infected by disease are particularly likely to cause damages. Economists are trained to quantify both the good and the bad from wildlife, which in turn helps with weighing benefits and costs in an apples-to-apples way. Overall, wildlife economics research can help uncover key insights about socially optimal management of wildlife species, which is especially important in rapidly-changing environments and conditions.
Economists in the Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center have researched various wildlife species, including Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem bears, wide-ranging wildlife in Wyoming, and Alaska salmon, to name a few. SEA Branch economists specialize in both nonmarket valuation and bioeconomic modeling techniques. Their past work spans the following applications, among others:
- Evaluating different harvest strategies to determine which ones would lead to the highest expected net benefits for society.
- Examining how people's risk perceptions influence their self-protection actions against wildlife and pests.
- Determining people's willingness to donate to wildlife conservation.
- Quantifying various nonmarket benefits and damages from wildlife, covering both use and non-use values (for example, existence value).
- Determining the value of wildlife viewing, including by estimating annual benefit streams per individual live animal.
Compiling various wildlife-related value estimates into a centralized location useful for benefit transfer (for example, the Benefit Transfer Toolkit, which is under development).