Assessing the impacts of biodiversity offset policies

Environmental Modelling and Software

Volumn 26, Issue 12, 2011, Pages 1481-1488

  Gordon, Ascelin ^a   Langford, William T ^a   Todd, James A ^b   White, Matt D ^c   Mullerworth, Daniel W ^a   Bekessy, Sarah A ^a  

^a RMIT UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^b Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Division   (Australia)

^c ARTHUR RYLAH INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH   (Australia)

Author keywords

Biodiversity offsets; Conservation planning; Global sensitivity analysis; Grassland; Habitat quality; Policy modelling; Uncertainty

Indexed keywords

CONSERVATION PLANNING; GLOBAL SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS; GRASSLAND; HABITAT QUALITY; UNCERTAINTY;

BIODIVERSITY; CONSERVATION; ECOSYSTEMS; SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS; UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS;

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION;

ASSESSMENT METHOD; BASELINE CONDITIONS; BIODIVERSITY; CONSERVATION PLANNING; ECOLOGICAL IMPACT; ENDANGERED SPECIES; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; GRASSLAND; HABITAT FRAGMENTATION; HABITAT LOSS; HABITAT QUALITY; POLICY ANALYSIS; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; RESTORATION ECOLOGY; SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS; UNCERTAINTY ANALYSIS; URBAN GROWTH; VEGETATION COVER;

AUSTRALIA; MELBOURNE; VICTORIA [AUSTRALIA];

EID: 84855509848     PISSN: 13648152     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.envsoft.2011.07.021     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2007-08 2009, ABS, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.
2. Alvey A.A. Promoting and preserving biodiversity in the urban forest. Urban For. Urban Green 2006, 5:195-201.
3. Anselme B., Bousquet F., Lyet A., Etienne M., Fady B., Le Page C. Modelling of spatial dynamics and biodiversity conservation on Lure mountain (France). Environ. Modell. Softw. 2010, 25:1385-1398.
4. Business, Biodiversity Offsets and BBOP: An Overview 2009, BBOP, Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program, Washington, D.C, Available from:, (accessed February 2010). http://www.forest-trends.org/biodiversityoffsetprogram/guidelines/overview.pdf.
5. Bekessy S.A., Wintle B.A., Lindenmayer D.B., McCarthy M.A., Colyvan M., Burgman M.A., Possingham H.P. The biodiversity bank cannot be a lending bank. Conserv. Lett. 2010, 3:151-158.
6. Carter O., Murphy A., Cheal D. Natural Temperate Grassland 2003, Environment Australia, Available from:, (accessed Jan 2010). http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/publications/grasslands/pubs/grassland.pdf.
7. van Delden H., Seppelt R., White R., Jakeman A.J. Amethodology for the design and development of integrated models for policy support. Environ. Modell. Softw. 2011, 26:266-279.
8. Victoria's Biodiversity: Sustaining our Living Wealth 1997, DNRE, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne.
9. Melbourne @ Five Million 2008, DPCD, Department of Planning and Community Development, Melbourne, Available from:, (accessed January 2010). http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/236F09822413669ACA25751200211D74/$File/DPC051+M5M+A4Bro+FA+WEB.pdf.
10. Victorian Planning Schemes Online 2010, DPCD, Department of Planning and Community Development, Melbourne, Available from:, (accessed June 2010). http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/planningschemes.
11. Victoria's Native Vegetation Management: A Framework for Action 2002, DSE, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne, Available from:, (accessed January 2010). http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/C2E5826C9464A9ECCA2570B400198B44/$File/Native+Vegetation+Management+-+A+Framework+for+Action.pdf.
12. Action Statement No. 182. Western (Basalt) Plains Grassland 2004, DSE, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
13. Corporate Geospatial Data Library 2009, DSE, Land Information Group, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Level 13, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000.
14. Ferraro P.J., Pattanayak S.K. Money for nothing? A call for empirical evaluation of biodiversity conservation investments. Plos Biol. 2006, 4:4.
15. Figgis P. Conservation on Private Lands: the Australian Experience 2004, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge.
16. Gallo J.A., Pasquini L., Reyers B., Cowling R.M. The role of private conservation areas in biodiversity representation and target achievement within the Little Karoo region, South Africa. Biol. Conserv. 2009, 142:446-454.
17. Gibbons P., Briggs S.V., Ayers D., Seddon J., Doyle S., Cosier P., McElhinny C., Pelly V., Roberts K. An operational method to assess impacts of land clearing on terrestrial biodiversity. Ecol. Indic. 2009, 9:26-40.
18. Gibbons P. The case for biodiversity offsets. Decis. Point 2010, 39:2-3. Available from:, (accessed June 2010). http://www.aeda.edu.au/docs/Newsletters/DPoint_39.pdf.
19. Halkos G.E., Tzeremes N.G. Measuring biodiversity performance: a conditional efficiency measurement approach. Environ. Modell. Softw. 2010, 25:1866-1873.
20. Hartig F., Horn M., Drechsler M. EcoTRADE - A multi-player network game of a tradable permit market for biodiversity credits. Environ. Modell. Softw. 2010, 25:1479-1480.
21. ten Kate K., Bishop J., Bayon R. Biodiversity Offsets: Views, Experience, and the Business Case 2004, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK and Insight Investment, London, UK.
22. Kiesecker J.M., Copeland H., Pocewicz A., McKenney B. Development by design: blending landscape-level planning with the mitigation hierarchy. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2009, 8:261-266.
23. Knight R.L. Private lands: the neglected geography. Conserv. Biol. 1999, 13:223-322.
24. Lagabrielle E., Botta A., Daré W., David D., Aubert S., Fabricius C. Modelling with stakeholders to integrate biodiversity into land-use planning - Lessons learned in Réunion Island (Western Indian Ocean). Environ. Modell. Softw. 2010, 25:1413-1427.
25. Langford W.T., Gordon A., Bastin L. When do conservation planning methods deliver? Quantifying the consequences of uncertainty. Ecol. Inform. 2009, 4:123-135.
26. Lempert R.J. Anew decision sciences for complex systems. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2002, 99:7309-7313.
27. Marino S., Hogue I.B., Ray C.J., Kirschner D.E. Amethodology for performing global uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in systems biology. J.Theor. Biol. 2008, 254:178-196.
28. Maron M., Dunn P.K., McAlpine C.A., Apan A. Can offsets really compensate for habitat removal? The case of the endangered red-tailed black-cockatoo. J.Appl. Ecol. 2010, 47:348-355.
29. McKenney B.A., Kiesecker J.M. Policy development for biodiversity offsets: a review of offset frameworks. Environ. Manag. 2009, 45:165-176.
30. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis 2005, MEA (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
31. Moilanen A., Kujala H. Zonation Spatial Conservation Planning Framework and Software v. 2.0. User Manual 2008, Available from:, (accessed October 2009). http://www.helsinki.fi/bioscience/consplan.
32. Moilanen A., Wintle B.A. The boundary quality penalty a quantitative method for approximating species responses to fragmentation in reserve selection. Conserv. Biol. 2007, 21:355-364.
33. Morris R., Alonso I., Jefferson R., Kirby K. The creation of compensatory habitat - Can it secure sustainable development?. J.Nat. Conserv. 2006, 14:106-116.
34. Muir A. Western (Basalt) Plains Grassland Community. Flora and Fauna Guarantee Action Statement No. 53 1994, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne, Available from:, (accessed January 2010). http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/CA256F310024B628/0/E8DE47BBCA88B00DCA2570ED001BFCCE/$File/182+five+lowland+temperate+grassland+and+grassy+woodland+communities+2003.pdf.
35. Parkes D., Newell G., Cheal D. Assessing the quality of native vegetation: the 'habitat hectares' approach. Ecol. Manag. Restor. 2003, 4:29-38.
36. Refsgaard J., Vandersluijs J., Hojberg A., Vanrolleghem P. Uncertainty in the environmental modelling process - A framework and guidance. Environ. Modell. Softw. 2007, 22:1543-1556.
37. Saltelli A., Ratto M., Andres T., Campolongo F., Cariboni J., Gatelli D., Saisana M. Global Sensitivity Analysis: the Primer 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK.
38. Sarkar S., et al. Biodiversity conservation planning tools: present status and challenges for the future. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2006, 31:123-159.
39. Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 2010, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montréal. Available from:, (accessed June 2010). http://gbo3.cbd.int.
40. Commonwealth Conservation Advice on Natural Temperate Grassland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain 2008, Threatened Species Scientific Committee, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Available from:, (accessed February 2010). http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/communities/pubs/42-conservation-advice.pdf.
41. Threatened and Endangered Species and the Private Landholder 1997, USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), Available from:, (accessed June 2011). http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/wildlife/endangered/endangered.htm.
42. Williams N.S.G., Mcdonnell M.J., Seager E.J. Factors in influencing the loss of an endangered ecosystem in an urbanising landscape: a case study of native grasslands from Melbourne, Australia. Landscape Urban Plan. 2005, 71:35-49.
43. Williams N.S.G., Morgan J.W., McCarthy M.A., McDonnell M.J. Local extinction of grassland plants: the landscape matrix is more important than patch attributes. Ecology 2006, 87:3000-3006.