Valuing biodiversity and resilience: an application to pollinator diversity in the Stockholm region

Abstract

This paper characterizes the value of biodiversity and ecosystem resilience by formalizing a stochastic dynamic bioeconomic model of pollinator diversity under climate changes, with an application to oil rapeseed production in the Stockholm region of Sweden. It studies the optimal provision of semi-natural habitat for two different pollinator bee species: bumble bees and solitary wild bees. It is found that, despite being less effective, solitary bees hold considerable resilience value due to the differences in how the two species respond to temperature shocks. The paper also discusses the role of spatial aspects, in particular the reduced pollination effectiveness due to spatially uneven allocation of semi-natural habitats. It is found that spatial unevenness leads to an increase in the habitat provision, with an attendant reduction in the resilience value of solitary bees.