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Elegant multi-market models and intricate discounting methods are difficult, at times impossible to utilize in the real world because the necessary data just are not available. While there is no perfect substitute for adequate data, there are good ones that are capable of improving policy decisions. This paper describes one such substitute by way of an example: the designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for West Coast salmon and steelhead. The example shows how a cost-effectiveness approach can mitigate (to some extent) the effects of poor data on the monetary benefits of regulatory actions.

The purpose of this paper is to inform funders and potential funders alike of the likely outcomes of their financial contributions. Additionally, the authors reported on the assessment of the underlying logic model or theoretical underpinnings of what the authors will term the “Habitat Model.”

This study utilized a one-shot case study design to obtain data. In a one-shot case study the experimental group is exposed to the independent variable (X), then observations of the dependent variable (O) were made. No observations were made before the independent variable was introduced. A one-shot case study design was necessary as this is the first impact study conducted by BAHFH because of the changes within BAHFH over the years as well as the lack of consistent archival data on families and operations.

Most of the feedback obtained from stakeholders was positive. Many of the demographic variables showed significant improvement in partner family life style since moving into a Habitat house.

The findings of this study provide evidence of positive economic, social, and psychological impacts on families participating in BAHFH homeownership and on their communities. It also showed substantial economic impacts on the communities served. Furthermore, this study showed that other stakeholders in the process were substantially and positively impacted. Finally, this study pointed to a number of things that BAHFH needed to change such as homeowner education, financial counseling, and the opening of a local ReStore.

The current study provides data that provide evidence of positive economic, social, and psychological impacts on families participating in BAHFH homeownership opportunities.

Over the past century, the rate of sea level rise (SLR) has increased more than twice the average historical rate and the US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by 2100 the sea level will increase nearly two feet in many coastal areas. Property owners and municipalities typically respond to SLR by constructing seawalls and similar structures to protect shoreline property (a practice known as “armoring”). The degree to which SLR and armoring threaten key coastal habitats has not been well studied, however. This study, aims to develop an inundation model on behalf of Stratus Consulting to examine anticipated habitat changes in coastal Ocean County, New Jersey.

The model used a geographical information system to map predicted changes in coastal habitats under two alternative SLR scenarios and six different shoreline armoring scenarios. The paper then used information from local experts and the scientific literature to predict changes in the relative abundances of fish and bird species under the different scenarios.

Under all scenarios, the model predicted substantial declines in the areal extent of Spartina marshes and in the annual production of finfish and shrimp. Declines in these marsh‐dependent species would have significant impacts on commercial and recreational fisheries. The study also predicted substantial declines in bird species such as songbirds and dabbling ducks.

The results of the study can help local stakeholders and decision‐makers plan responses to SLR. Conventional armoring responses could result in substantial and irreversible losses of coastal habitats and the species dependent on these habitats.

Ecologically habitat is an area of a particular species wherefrom its play every relationship with the surrounding. Therefore, every species hold habitat that supports to survive its life. The large terrestrial herbivore animal elephant (Elephas maximus) requires deferent kind of habitat for their biological behaviour. Forest habitat one of the landscapes entire their home range is very much responsible for selecting suitable habitat. The nature of habitat selection by an elephant is deeply concerned with landscape attributes.

The present study started in this opinion. The study area Panchet Forest Division (PFD) has 28 forest patches are not in same size. Generally, forest patches are the most suitable habitat for elephant in every forest landscape as well as in PFD. But which forest patch will be highly suitable that depends on ecological function of other geospatial attributes like patch shape complexity, patch core, road intervention intensity, amount of water body and composition of the forest. The present study measures these attributes by different sequential steps such as field inquiry, satellite image processing and GIS application by using ERDAS 9.3 and ArcGIS 10.3 version software.

After measuring these attributes value, Habitat Suitability Index is assessed through combined weighted principle method and prepared a suitability map. This map signifies that Joypur-I and II, Upper Peardoba, Brindabanpur, Kalabagan forest patches have good condition for elephant to prefer as a suitable habitat in PFD.

Spatial classification of elephant habitat in PFD helps society and managing authority. It facilitates better management and reducing the chance of human – elephant frequent contact.

This study seeks to operationalise the reporting of corporate natural assets (i.e. habitats, flora and fauna). A natural inventory model is used, building on existing methodology. This study significantly extends the prior research by considering environmental accounting in the context of a large site and by using a UK publicly listed company, Hyder plc. The research finds that the methodology is generally applicable. Data were available to identify and value ten important habitats. Moreover, data were present for critical species (especially birds and mammals), and for flora and fauna on critical habitats. However, for some non‐critical species, data, particularly population data, was problematic. The potential benefits of the natural inventory model are substantial, the costs are modest.

Takes an historical perspective, considering the events leading to the sale of Habitat by the Storehouse group to the Swedish furniture retailer IKEA in October 1992. Focuses on the strategic issues involved in the acquisition of an international retailer by a retail organisation that is truly global in its operation. Describes the development of both retailers (with particular emphasis on their international development) and a description of the terms of the sale. Areas for further discussion and analysis arising from the case can include: the future development of Habitat within the global strategic framework laid down by IKEA; analysis of the motives of Storehouse in disposing of Habitat, including the future development of a smaller Storehouse; and issues relating to market segmentation and positioning, with specific reference to retail brands.

At the beginning of the 20th century, three intertwined ambitions drove federal legislation over wildlife and biodiversity: establishment of multiple-use federal lands, the economic development of natural resources, and the maintenance of option values. We examine this federal intervention in natural resource use by analyzing roll call votes over the past century with a Random Utility Model (Manski, 1977) and conclude that economics mattered. So did ideology, but not uniformly. After World War II, the pro-environment vote which had been conservative shifted to being liberal. All these votes involved decisions regarding public land that reallocated the returns to users by changing the asset’s physical character or its usage rights. We suggest that long-term consequences affecting current resource allocations arose from disparities between broadly dispersed benefits and locally concentrated socioeconomic and geophysical (spatial) costs. We show that a primary intent of public land management has become to preserve multiple-use option values and identify important factors in computing those option values. We do this by demonstrating how the willingness to forego current benefits for future ones depends on the community’s resource endowments. These endowments are defined not only in terms of users’ current wealth accumulation but also from their expected ability to extract utility from natural resources over time.

The purpose of this study is to investigate a new and innovative sandwich material evaluating its capability for use in space habitat structural components in deployable and foldable configurations. The main habitat requirements were considered in the preliminary design of a typical space outpost, proposing a preliminary architecture.

The stiffness properties of the innovative sandwich (MAdFlex ®) were evaluated using numerical and experimental investigations. Four-point bending tests were performed for complete sandwich characterization. Numerical FE simulations were performed using typical material properties and performance. The application to a space habitat main structure as a basic material has also been discussed and presented.

MAdFlex basic stiffness performances have been determined considering its double behavior: sufficiently stiff if loaded in a specific direction, flexible if loaded in the opposite direction and enhanced folding performance. Successful application to a typical space habitat confirms the validity and convenience of such a material in designing alternative structures.

The innovative material demonstrates wide potential for structural application and design in demanding space situations under operating conditions and in stored ones at launch.

Several simple deployable structural components can be designed and optimized both for the space environment and for the more traditional terrestrial applications.

Simplification in structural design can be derived from deployable low-weight items.

Innovative customized material in sandwich configuration has been proposed and investigated with the aim to demonstrate its potentiality and validity in alternative design architecture.

Large-scale urbanisation has become a significant barrier to the natural migration of tree species, which is being exacerbated by accelerated climate change. Within this context, improving the permeability of urban landscapes is expected to be an effective strategy to facilitate the process of forest migration through cities. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method to assess the permeability of urban green spaces as stepping stones for forest migration, from the perspective of seed dispersal.

The proposed method combines a least-cost path (LCP) model and a graph theory-based approach. The LCP model is applied to map the potential pathways of seed dispersal at multiple spatial and temporal scales, based on which graph theory-based indices are used to quantify the accessibility of urban landscapes for seed dispersers. This method is demonstrated by a case study in the Greater Manchester area, UK. Eurasian jay, Eurasian siskin, coal tit and grey squirrel are selected as the main seed dispersers in the study area.

The results provide a comparison of the landscape permeability maps generated from different seed dispersers and identify key areas likely to facilitate the process of forest migration. Recommendations regarding landscape management for improving permeability are also discussed.

This method allows designers to re-visualise highly modified and fragmented urban landscapes as stepping stones for seed dispersal, which in turn allows for a more piecemeal form of landscape design to optimise urban landscapes for climate adaptation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the state of extinction accounting, and the motivations for its use in the UK public sector. Prior studies are mostly concerned with corporate attempts to account for species, despite studies in related areas calling for examinations of the public sector context.

The paper analyses the use of extinction accounting in three separate case organisations, conducting a total of 21 interviews across the three cases. Interviews were conducted with a range of organisational participants each having experience with extinction accounting.

Interviews reveal a number of common uses and applications of extinction accounting across the three councils. Practices are used to generate reports on species loss and recovery within each region, and to facilitate planning for species protection and recovery. However, in attempting to use this information, key trade-offs emerge between satisfying economic and ecological criteria, and even trade-offs are created regarding development of protection schemes. This leads to a subversion of extinction accounting.

Commensurate with prior studies in the corporate context, the study finds the presence of an economic logic impinging upon ecological decision making, suggesting that practices of extinction accounting may be affected by the same acknowledged economic motivations that reside in corporate attempts to account for nature.

The paper makes an important contribution by evaluating the public sector context of extinction accounting, which is lacking in existing research. The findings relating to the public sector use of species and extinction information also provide a useful context to understand how relatively new social and environmental accounting practices are deployed in organisations, as well as some indication of their effectiveness and limitations.