IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v195y2022ics0921800922000179.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The consequences of misrepresenting feedbacks in coupled human and environmental models

Author

Listed:
  • Apriesnig, Jenny L.
  • Warziniack, Travis W.
  • Finnoff, David C.
  • Zhang, Hongyan
  • Lee, Katherine D.
  • Mason, Doran M.
  • Rutherford, Edward S.

Abstract

Feedbacks between the ecosystem and the economy are important to consider when measuring impacts from a disturbance but are often omitted from general equilibrium bioeconomic models. These models usually focus on how humans respond to ecological change, but do not consider that in adapting to changed conditions, humans can further affect the ecosystem. We present a framework that couples a regional computable general equilibrium model with an Ecopath with Ecosim food web model with bidirectional feedbacks between the two systems. Our bioeconomic model uniquely represents a comprehensive mapping of the entire regional economy, including recreational and commercial fishing, harvest quotas, and fish biomass in the economic system. We simulate the bioeconomic impacts of a potential Asian carp invasion of Lake Erie's food web and regional economy with and without bidirectional feedbacks between the economy and the ecosystem. When feedbacks are omitted there are large ecological variations in the projected biomass levels of many target species, with differences in biomass of up to 80 percentage points. Results demonstrate the need to reflect bidirectional feedbacks between the economy and the ecosystem; omission of these feedbacks in this case may appear to be economically trivial yet have large ecological consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Apriesnig, Jenny L. & Warziniack, Travis W. & Finnoff, David C. & Zhang, Hongyan & Lee, Katherine D. & Mason, Doran M. & Rutherford, Edward S., 2022. "The consequences of misrepresenting feedbacks in coupled human and environmental models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:195:y:2022:i:c:s0921800922000179
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107355
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800922000179
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107355?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Eichner & John Tschirhart, 2007. "Efficient ecosystem services and naturalness in an ecological/economic model," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(4), pages 733-755, August.
    2. Langseth, Brian J. & Rogers, Mark & Zhang, Hongyan, 2012. "Modeling species invasions in Ecopath with Ecosim: An evaluation using Laurentian Great Lakes models," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 251-261.
    3. Junjie Zhang & Martin D. Smith, 2011. "Estimation of a Generalized Fishery Model: A Two-Stage Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 690-699, May.
    4. Finnoff, David & Shogren, Jason F. & Leung, Brian & Lodge, David, 2005. "The importance of bioeconomic feedback in invasive species management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 367-381, February.
    5. Travis Warziniack & David Finnoff & Jonathan Bossenbroek & Jason Shogren & David Lodge, 2011. "Stepping Stones for Biological Invasion: A Bioeconomic Model of Transferable Risk," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(4), pages 605-627, December.
    6. Trond Bjorndal & Jon M. Conrad, 1987. "The Dynamics of an Open Access Fishery," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 74-85, February.
    7. McDermott, Shana M. & Finnoff, David C. & Shogren, Jason F., 2013. "The welfare impacts of an invasive species: Endogenous vs. exogenous price models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-49.
    8. Campbell, H. F., 1991. "Estimating the elasticity of substitution between restricted and unrestricted inputs in a regulated fishery: A probit approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 262-274, May.
    9. David Finnoff & John Tschirhart, 2003. "Protecting an Endangered Species While Harvesting Its Prey in a General Equilibrium Ecosystem Model," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 79(2), pages 160-180.
    10. Hutniczak, Barbara, 2015. "Modeling heterogeneous fleet in an ecosystem based management context," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 203-214.
    11. Avila-Foucat, V.S. & Perrings, C. & Raffaelli, D., 2009. "An ecological-economic model for catchment management: The case of Tonameca, Oaxaca, México," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2224-2231, June.
    12. Armstrong, Claire W., 2007. "A note on the ecological-economic modelling of marine reserves in fisheries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 242-250, April.
    13. Eli P. Fenichel & Joshua K. Abbott, 2014. "Natural Capital: From Metaphor to Measurement," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 1-27.
    14. Finnoff, David & Tschirhart, John, 2008. "Linking dynamic economic and ecological general equilibrium models," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 91-114, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brockmann, Stephanie & Finnoff, David C. & Mason, Doran M. & Rutherford, Edward S. & Zhang, Hongyan, 2024. "Consequences of ecological aggregation in general equilibrium analysis of perturbed ecosystems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hussain, A.M. Tanvir & Tschirhart, John, 2013. "Economic/ecological tradeoffs among ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 116-127.
    2. Brockmann, Stephanie & Finnoff, David C. & Mason, Doran M. & Rutherford, Edward S. & Zhang, Hongyan, 2024. "Consequences of ecological aggregation in general equilibrium analysis of perturbed ecosystems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    3. Yun, Seong Do & Hutniczak, Barbara & Fenichel, Eli P. & Abbott, Joshua K., 2016. "The Wealth of Ecosystems:Valuing Natural Capital in the Context of Ecosystem Based Management," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235737, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Craig A. Bond, 2017. "Valuing Coastal Natural Capital in a Bioeconomic Framework," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Johannus Janmaat, 2012. "Fishing in a Shallow Lake: Exploring a Classic Fishery Model in a Habitat with Shallow Lake Dynamics," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 215-239, February.
    6. Carvalho, Natacha & Rege, Sameer & Fortuna, Mário & Isidro, Eduardo & Edwards-Jones, Gareth, 2011. "Estimating the impacts of eliminating fisheries subsidies on the small island economy of the Azores," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(10), pages 1822-1830, August.
    7. Finnoff, David & Gong, Min & Tschirhart, John, 2012. "Perspectives on Ecosystem Based Management for Delivering Ecosystem Services with an Example from an Eighteen-Species Marine Model," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 6(1), pages 79-118, January.
    8. Wilen, James E., 2000. "Renewable Resource Economists and Policy: What Differences Have We Made?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 306-327, May.
    9. Deacon, Robert T. & Finnoff, David & Tschirhart, John, 2011. "Restricted capacity and rent dissipation in a regulated open access fishery," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 366-380, May.
    10. McDermott, Shana M. & Finnoff, David C. & Shogren, Jason F., 2013. "The welfare impacts of an invasive species: Endogenous vs. exogenous price models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-49.
    11. John Tschirhart, 2012. "Biology as a Source of Non-convexities in Ecological Production Functions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 189-213, February.
    12. Dawid, Herbert & Kopel, Michael, 1997. "On the Economically Optimal Exploitation of a Renewable Resource: The Case of a Convex Environment and a Convex Return Function," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 272-297, October.
    13. Qu, Yang & Hooper, Tara & Austen, Melanie C. & Papathanasopoulou, Eleni & Huang, Junling & Yan, Xiaoyu, 2023. "Development of a computable general equilibrium model based on integrated macroeconomic framework for ocean multi-use between offshore wind farms and fishing activities in Scotland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).
    14. Chang Seung & Edward Waters, 2010. "Evaluating Supply-Side And Demand-Side Shocks For Fisheries: A Computable General Equilibrium (Cge) Model For Alaska," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 87-109.
    15. Costello, Christopher & Molina, Renato, 2021. "Transboundary marine protected areas," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    16. Burns, Christopher, 2014. "Measurement Error in the Schaefer Production Model," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170569, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Catherine J. Morrison Paul & Ronald G. Felthoven & Marcelo de O. Torres, 2010. "Productive performance in fisheries: modeling, measurement, and management," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(3), pages 343-360, July.
    18. Halkos, George & Managi, Shunsuke, 2023. "New developments in the disciplines of environmental and resource economics," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 513-522.
    19. Eppink, Florian V. & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2007. "Ecological theories and indicators in economic models of biodiversity loss and conservation: A critical review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 284-293, March.
    20. Yeh, D. Adeline & Gomez, Miguel I. & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2020. "Sustainable Pest Management Under Uncertainty: A Dynamic Bioeconomic Analysis of Lowbush Blueberry Production," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304326, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:195:y:2022:i:c:s0921800922000179. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.