Modelling inter-relationships between biodiversity, land use and landscape: quantifying ecological and economic value of land use patterns in the Chilterns

Alan Poots, University of Reading

Link to project: Implications of a Nutrition Driven Food Policy for the Countryside

The aim of the studentship is to improve our understanding of the case for public support in sustaining biodiversity and landscape quality. We expect to distinguish between features that are valuable in their own right and those which are valuable solely in terms of their contribution to an ecosystem. Specifically we will:

• Identify the interdependence's of features of environmental quality in rural areas at a range of scales (species, habitats, landscapes);
• Investigate the public's preferences for the same components of environmental quality, through quantification of market and non-market benefits.