Modeling the links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human wellbeing in the context of climate change: Results from an econometric analysis of the European forest ecosystems

Abstract

This paper constitutes a first attempt to model the relationship between climate change, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, with a specific emphasis on European forests. Firstly, we construct a composite biodiversity indicator that integrates quantitative and qualitative changes of biodiversity projected to 2050 for the EU-17 under future IPCC scenarios. Secondly, this indicator is integrated into two simultaneous equation models to capture the marginal impacts of changes in biodiversity on the value of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) due to climate change.