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Agricultural production and practices are sometimes at odds with efforts to preserve the Nation's wildlife. ERS' ongoing research focuses on private landowner incentives for habitat conservation, the nonmarket benefits of wildlife viewing and fishing/hunting, and implications of wildlife policies such as the Endangered Species Act.
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3.1 Biological Resources and Agriculture—Biological resources refer to the living landscape—the plants, animals, and other aspects of nature—and are important to society for the various services they provide, as well as problems they may create. Biological resources are grouped into those that affect agriculture, such as cultivated plants, pollinators, and pests; those that are sources of scientific inputs, such as agricultural plant varieties (and their wild relatives) that provide genetic resources; and those that provide natural goods and services, such as wildlife, fish, and scenic beauty. Traditional measures of agricultural productivity do not capture all the benefits of preserving biological resources on private lands. Because of this, private landowners may not have adequate incentives to consider the full range of goods and services produced by the biological resources under their control. In particular, it may not be profitable for farmers to adopt practices that provide the quantity and quality of wildlife habitat and genetic diversity desired by the American public. Similarly, farmers may not consider the full spectrum of indirect benefits when they make land use decisions. AREI (11/01).
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updated: May 19, 2003
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