IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v235y2025ics0921800925001296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Landscape features on farms: Evidence on factors influencing their quantity and ecological value

Author

Listed:
  • Kaiser, Antonia
  • Wang, Yanbing
  • Klein, Noëlle
  • Mack, Gabriele
  • Ritzel, Christian

Abstract

Intensive agriculture and increasingly homogeneous agricultural landscapes are major drivers of biodiversity loss. The implementation of landscape features (e.g. hedges, trees, and field margins) as part of ecological focus areas on farms is a promising approach. This study aims to fill the gaps in understanding the influence of factors related to farmers' willingness and ability on their implementation of landscape features. We combine survey data on socio-psychological, economic, and sociodemographic factors collected in 2023 from 882 Swiss farmers with agricultural census data on registered landscape features and with biodiversity scores. Using regression analysis and various robustness checks, we estimate the influence of the above-mentioned factors on the farm area covered by landscape features and the ecological value of these features. Our findings indicate that both farmers' willingness (personal norms and self-efficacy to conserve biodiversity) and ability (biodiversity payments, education, and farm type) to preserve biodiversity affect the area of landscape features. The ecological value provided by landscape features is more influenced by farmers' ability than by their willingness. However, we also find that for landscape features that are not supported by biodiversity payments, farmers' willingness (i.e. personal norms) plays a decisive role, while ability is not important.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaiser, Antonia & Wang, Yanbing & Klein, Noëlle & Mack, Gabriele & Ritzel, Christian, 2025. "Landscape features on farms: Evidence on factors influencing their quantity and ecological value," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:235:y:2025:i:c:s0921800925001296
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108646
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800925001296
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108646?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Läpple, Doris & Kelley, Hugh, 2013. "Understanding the uptake of organic farming: Accounting for heterogeneities among Irish farmers," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 11-19.
    2. Weihua Guan, 2003. "From the help desk: Bootstrapped standard errors," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 3(1), pages 71-80, March.
    3. Canessa, Carolin & Venus, Terese E. & Wiesmeier, Miriam & Mennig, Philipp & Sauer, Johannes, 2023. "Incentives, Rewards or Both in Payments for Ecosystem Services: Drawing a Link Between Farmers' Preferences and Biodiversity Levels," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    4. Laure Kuhfuss & Raphaële Préget & Sophie Thoyer & Nick Hanley & Philippe Le Coent & Mathieu Désolé, 2016. "Nudges, Social Norms, and Permanence in Agri-environmental Schemes," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 92(4), pages 641-655.
    5. Alberto Abadie & Susan Athey & Guido W Imbens & Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2023. "When Should You Adjust Standard Errors for Clustering?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 1-35.
    6. Lanz, Bruno & Dietz, Simon & Swanson, Tim, 2018. "The Expansion of Modern Agriculture and Global Biodiversity Decline: An Integrated Assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 260-277.
    7. Edi Defrancesco & Paola Gatto & Ford Runge & Samuele Trestini, 2008. "Factors Affecting Farmers’ Participation in Agri‐environmental Measures: A Northern Italian Perspective," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 114-131, February.
    8. Francis H. D'Emden & Rick S. Llewellyn & Michael P. Burton, 2008. "Factors influencing adoption of conservation tillage in Australian cropping regions ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(2), pages 169-182, June.
    9. Calvet, Coralie & Le Coent, Philippe & Napoleone, Claude & Quétier, Fabien, 2019. "Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 113-125.
    10. G. A. A. Wossink, 2003. "Biodiversity conservation by farmers: analysis of actual and contingent participation," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 30(4), pages 461-485, December.
    11. Vicente Calabuig & Gonzalo Olcina & Fabrizio Panebianco, 2014. "The Dynamics of Personal Norms and the Emergence of Cultural Diversity," Discussion Papers in Economic Behaviour 0514, University of Valencia, ERI-CES.
    12. Philippe Le Coent & Raphaële Preget & Sophie S. Thoyer, 2018. "Do farmers follow the herd? The influence of social norms in the participation to agri-environmental schemes," Working Papers halshs-01936004, HAL.
    13. Jack Peerlings & Nico Polman, 2009. "Farm choice between agri-environmental contracts in the European Union," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 593-612.
    14. Knowler, Duncan & Bradshaw, Ben, 2007. "Farmers' adoption of conservation agriculture: A review and synthesis of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 25-48, February.
    15. Philippe Le Coent & Raphaële Préget & Sophie Thoyer, 2018. "Do farmers follow the herd? The influence of social norms in the participation to agri-environmental schemes," Working Papers hal-02791014, HAL.
    16. Peter Howley & Neel Ocean, 2021. "Doing More with Less: Leveraging Social Norms and Status Concerns in Encouraging Conservation Farm Practices," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 97(2), pages 372-387.
    17. Granado-Díaz, Rubén & Villanueva, Anastasio J. & Gómez-Limón, José A., 2022. "Willingness to accept for rewilding farmland in environmentally sensitive areas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    18. Calvet, Coralie & Le Coent, Philippe & Napoleone, Claude & Quétier, Fabien, 2019. "Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 113-125.
    19. Wang, Yanbing & Schaub, Sergei & Wuepper, David & Finger, Robert, 2023. "Culture and agricultural biodiversity conservation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Jane Mills & Peter Gaskell & Julie Ingram & Janet Dwyer & Matt Reed & Christopher Short, 2017. "Engaging farmers in environmental management through a better understanding of behaviour," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(2), pages 283-299, June.
    21. Möhring, Anke & Mann, Stefan, 2020. "Causes and impacts of the mis-representation of agricultural policy—The case of food supply security payments in Switzerland," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 466-482.
    22. Berit Hasler & Mette Termansen & Helle Ørsted Nielsen & Carsten Daugbjerg & Sven Wunder & Uwe Latacz-Lohmann, 2022. "European Agri-environmental Policy: Evolution, Effectiveness, and Challenges," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 105-125.
    23. Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2011. "Farmers adoption of integrated crop protection and organic farming: Do moral and social concerns matter?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1536-1545, June.
    24. Jeroen Scheper & Isabelle Badenhausser & Jochen Kantelhardt & Stefan Kirchweger & Ignasi Bartomeus & Vincent Bretagnolle & Yann Clough & Nicolas Gross & Montserrat Vilà & Carlos Zaragoza-Trello & Davi, 2023. "Biodiversity and pollination benefits trade off against profit in an intensive farming system," Post-Print hal-04167122, HAL.
    25. Anne M. Valkengoed & Wokje Abrahamse & Linda Steg, 2022. "To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1482-1492, November.
    26. Takamasa Nishizawa & Sonja Kay & Johannes Schuler & Noëlle Klein & Felix Herzog & Joachim Aurbacher & Peter Zander, 2022. "Ecological–Economic Modelling of Traditional Agroforestry to Promote Farmland Biodiversity with Cost-Effective Payments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, May.
    27. Mack, G. & Finger, R. & Ammann, J. & El Benni, N., 2023. "Modelling policies towards pesticide-free agricultural production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    28. Bethan Thompson & Gaëlle Leduc & Gordana Manevska‐Tasevska & Luiza Toma & Helena Hansson, 2024. "Farmers' adoption of ecological practices: A systematic literature map," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 84-107, February.
    29. Mann, Stefan, 2018. "Conservation by Innovation: What Are the Triggers for Participation Among Swiss Farmers?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 10-16.
    30. Jesus Barreiro-Hurle & Maria Espinosa-Goded & Pierre Dupraz, 2010. "Does intensity of change matter? Factors affecting adoption of agri-environmental schemes in Spain," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(7), pages 891-905.
    31. Mack, Gabriele & Ritzel, Christian & Jan, Pierrick, 2020. "Determinants for the Implementation of Action-, Result- and Multi-Actor-Oriented Agri-Environment Schemes in Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    32. Ritzel, Christian & Mann, Stefan, 2021. "The Old Man and the Meat: On Gender Differences in Meat Consumption across Stages of Human Life," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315917, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    33. Isabel Vanslembrouck & Guido Van Huylenbroeck & Wim Verbeke, 2002. "Determinants of the Willingness of Belgian Farmers to Participate in Agri‐environmental Measures," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 489-511, November.
    34. Sergei Schaub & Jaboury Ghazoul & Robert Huber & Wei Zhang & Adelaide Sander & Charles Rees & Simanti Banerjee & Robert Finger, 2023. "The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri‐environmental schemes: A systematic review," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 617-660, September.
    35. D'Emden, Francis H. & Llewellyn, Rick S. & Burton, Michael P., 2008. "Factors influencing adoption of conservation tillage in Australian cropping regions," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 52(2), pages 1-14.
    36. Simoncini, Riccardo & Ring, Irene & Sandström, Camilla & Albert, Christian & Kasymov, Ulan & Arlettaz, Raphael, 2019. "Constraints and opportunities for mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy: Insights from the IPBES assessment for Europe and Central Asia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    37. François J Dessart & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & René van Bavel, 2019. "Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 417-471.
    38. Läpple, Doris & Rensburg, Tom Van, 2011. "Adoption of organic farming: Are there differences between early and late adoption?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1406-1414, May.
    39. Geraldine Ducos & Pierre Dupraz & Francois Bonnieux, 2009. "Agri-environment contract adoption under fixed and variable compliance costs," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 669-687.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Fabian Klebl & Peter H. Feindt & Annette Piorr, 2024. "Farmers’ behavioural determinants of on-farm biodiversity management in Europe: a systematic review," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(2), pages 831-861, June.
    2. Canessa, Carolin & Ait-Sidhoum, Amer & Wunder, Sven & Sauer, Johannes, 2024. "What matters most in determining European farmers’ participation in agri-environmental measures? A systematic review of the quantitative literature," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    3. Massfeller, Anna & Meraner, Manuela & Hüttel, Silke & Uehleke, Reinhard, 2022. "Farmers' acceptance of results-based agri-environmental schemes: A German perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Daniele Mozzato & Paola Gatto & Edi Defrancesco & Lucia Bortolini & Francesco Pirotti & Elena Pisani & Luigi Sartori, 2018. "The Role of Factors Affecting the Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Farming Practices: Can Geographical Context and Time Explain the Differences Emerging from Literature?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, August.
    5. Philippe Le Coent & Coralie Calvet, 2016. "Challenges of achieving biodiversity offsetting through agri-environmental schemes: evidence from an empirical study," Working Papers 16-10, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier.
    6. François J Dessart & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & René van Bavel, 2019. "Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 417-471.
    7. Wąs, Adam & Malak-Rawlikowska, Agata & Zavalloni, Matteo & Viaggi, Davide & Kobus, Paweł & Sulewski, Piotr, 2021. "In search of factors determining the participation of farmers in agri-environmental schemes – Does only money matter in Poland?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Calvet, Coralie & Le Coent, Philippe & Napoleone, Claude & Quétier, Fabien, 2019. "Challenges of achieving biodiversity offset outcomes through agri-environmental schemes: Evidence from an empirical study in Southern France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 113-125.
    9. Ober, Carina & Canessa, Carolin & Frick, Fabian & Sauer, Johannes, 2025. "The role of behavioural factors in accepting agri-environmental contracts – Evidence from a Q-method and thematic analysis in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    10. Sergei Schaub & Jaboury Ghazoul & Robert Huber & Wei Zhang & Adelaide Sander & Charles Rees & Simanti Banerjee & Robert Finger, 2023. "The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri‐environmental schemes: A systematic review," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 617-660, September.
    11. Finger, Robert & Sok, Jaap & Ahovi, Emmanuel & Akter, Sharmin & Bremmer, Johan & Dachbrodt-Saaydeh, Silke & de Lauwere, Carolien & Kreft, Cordelia & Kudsk, Per & Lambarraa-Lehnhardt, Fatima & McCallum, 2024. "Towards sustainable crop protection in agriculture: A framework for research and policy," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    12. Coyne, L & Kendall, H & Hansda, R & Reed, M.S. & Williams, D.J.L., 2021. "Identifying economic and societal drivers of engagement in agri-environmental schemes for English dairy producers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Aguiar-Noury, Felipe & Buckley, Cathal & Hynes, Stephen, 2025. "Transition from chemical fertilizers to sustainable swards: What determines farmers' adoption decisions for clover and multi-species swards?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    14. Whitten, Stuart M. & Reeson, Andrew & Windle, Jill & Rolfe, John, 2013. "Designing conservation tenders to support landholder participation: A framework and case study assessment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 82-92.
    15. Rosario Perez-Espejo & Alonso Aguilar Ibarra & Jose Luis Escobedo-Sagaz, 2011. "Agriculture and Water Pollution: Farmers' Perceptions in Central Mexico," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 263-273, March.
    16. Kuhfuss, Laure & Préget, Raphaële & Thoyer, Sophie & de Vries, Frans P. & Hanley, Nick, 2022. "Enhancing spatial coordination in payment for ecosystem services schemes with non-pecuniary preferences," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    17. Kreft, Cordelia & Huber, Robert & Wuepper, David & Finger, Robert, 2021. "The role of non-cognitive skills in farmers' adoption of climate change mitigation measures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    18. Le Coent, Philippe & Préget, Raphaële & Thoyer, Sophie, 2017. "Compensating Environmental Losses Versus Creating Environmental Gains: Implications for Biodiversity Offsets," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 120-129.
    19. Bartosz Bartkowski & Stephan Bartke, 2018. "Leverage Points for Governing Agricultural Soils: A Review of Empirical Studies of European Farmers’ Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-27, September.
    20. Marie Asma Ben-Othmen & Mariia Ostapchuk, 2023. "How diverse are farmers’ preferences for large-scale grassland ecological restoration? Evidence from a discrete choice experiment," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 341-375, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:235:y:2025:i:c:s0921800925001296. 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.