Using choice experiments to explore the spatial distribution of willingness to pay for rural landscape improvements

We report findings from a choice experiment survey designed to estimate the economic benefits of policy measures to improve the rural landscape in the Republic of Ireland. Using a panel mixed logit specification to account for unobserved taste heterogeneity we derived individual-specific willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for each respondent in the sample. We subsequently investigated the spatial dependence of these estimates. Results suggest the existence of positive spatial autocorrelation for all rural landscape attributes. As a means of benefit transfer, kriging methods were employed to interpolate WTP estimates across the whole of the Republic of Ireland. The kriged WTP surfaces confirm the existence of spatial dependence and illustrate the implied spatial variation and regional disparities in WTP for all the rural landscape improvements investigated.

Energetics and water economy of common spiny mice Acomys cahirinus from north- and south-facing slopes of a Mediterranean valley

1. A comparison was made of the daily energy expenditure (DEE), resting metabolic rate (RMR) and water turnover (WTO) of two populations of Common Spiny Mice Acomys cahirinus from north- and south-facing slopes (NFS and SFS) of the same valley, which represented 'Mediterranean' and 'desert' habitats, respectively.