The intensification of land uses in the United States results from population growth, rapid expansion in the service sector, and residential land use growth. These trends cause diminishment of open space and increase sprawl-type land development. So-called "livability" issues are of growing importance in many metropolitan and rural areas across the country. Exasperating this transformation of land use, current demographic trends in the U.S. imply a near-future turnover of a large percentage of farmland and open space land in the form of estate transfer. Current U.S. estate tax policy could be accelerating the transfer of open spaces to developed land uses. Local zoning ordinances, as well as state and federal infrastructure subsidies are also compounding this trend. To date, no method exists which evaluates the economic feasibility of open space preservation. This thesis proposes to establish such a method. A landholder may conserve their land parcel in a non-developed use in perpetuity by placing a Conservation Easement on the property. This land value, the development rights of the land parcel, can be donated to a non-profit organization. The landowner may then deduct the development right value from their income tax as a charitable donation. This thesis compares the economic viability of a landholder that donates a Conservation Easement and invests the tax benefits, with that of a landholder that sells their land parcel to development interests. Further, this thesis explores the demographic profile for which preserving open space may be economically beneficial for the donor of a conservation easement. This thesis is the intersection of three literatures, drawing together three separate land preservation paradigms. First, the altruistic philanthropy landowners exhibit when donating development rights without economic impetus. Second, the thesis introduces the income tax benefits, and their investment potential, available in the Internal Revenue Code for charitable donations. Third, federal land preservation mandates and subsequent funding availability is examined. These tools function together to provide implications for facilitating the deterrence of sprawl-type development. Further, these tools will be compared to the current methods of land preservation, consisting of local zoning ordinances and the purchase of development rights by governmental agencies. These current policies possess serious shortcomings in ameliorating conflict between land uses, as well as diverting sub-urban development from prime farm and open space land. Conservation Easements are shown to have applications in the protection of land subject to estate turnover, control of land uses that cause nuisance externalities, and general local land policy. A spreadsheet algorithm in Microsoft Excel Solver format is included that determines the economic feasibility of performing an easement at the individual landholder level. / Master of Science

影響農地價格之因素，隨著市場條件之差異，如土地使用管制或農地政策而有所不同。歸納我國過去有關農地價格研究之文獻，對於東部農地市場之研究較少，且鮮少探討自然景觀因素對於農地價格之影響。對於東部農地價格之研究，可能遺漏重要的影響因素。因此本研究探討影響花蓮縣農地價格之因素，且加入自然景觀作為研究變數，以觀察自然景觀對於花蓮縣農地價格之影響。又農業發展條例於民國89年修正後，准許農民在其自有農地興建農舍。故本研究將農地樣本分為得興建農舍及不得興建農舍之農地，進一步比較自然景觀對農地價格之影響於兩者之間有無差異。由於本研究選取之農地，為其興建之農舍皆得作為民宿使用之樣本，因此，本研究加入衡量市場對於民宿需求之變數，探討市場對於民宿之需求，是否加深自然景觀對於農地價格之影響。 　　本研究以民國101年8月至103年12月花蓮縣非都市農地實價登錄資料作為研究樣本，透過線性迴歸模型，探討包括自然景觀因素在內之各項因素對於花蓮縣農地價格之影響。實證結果觀察到：對於花蓮縣農地市場，農地是否得興建農舍為自然景觀是否會影響農地價格之主因，且自然景觀對於農地價格之影響，受到市場對於民宿之需求而有所差異。基於上述，本研究研究結論如下：一、自然景觀因素影響花蓮「得興建農舍」之農地價格，但不影響「不得興建農舍」之農地價格。二、農舍作為民宿使用機率變高時，將加深自然景觀之價格效果。 / Factors that affect the price of the farmland vary in different market conditions, such as land use regulation or farmland policy. Previous studies on farmland prices is found to have paid little attention to farmland market in eastern Taiwan, and rarely discuss the amenity of natural landscape that might also affect the price of farmland. Lack of studies may lead to ignore the important factors of farmland price in eastern Taiwan. This study discusses the factors that affect the price of farmland in Hualien County, and adds the natural landscape as the independent variables so as to observe how natural landscape affect the farmland price in Hualien County. After Agricultural Development Act amended in 2000, farmers are allowed to construct individual farmhouses on their own farmland. Therefore, we split the data into farmland in which construction of farmhouse is allowed and farmland otherwise. Furthermore, we compare the difference between two types of farmland. Because the farmland where the farmhouses are allowed to construct are also permitted to operate the Bed and Breakfast, we also add the independent variables of the market demand for the Bed and Breakfast. In so doing, we are able to investigate whether the market demand for the Bed and Breakfast increases the natural landscape that affect the price of farmland. We choose the non-urban farmland price registration data from August 2012 to December 2014 in Hualien County. The linear regression model is used to analyze how various factors including natural landscape affect the farmland price in Hualien County. Based on the empirical results, three conclusions are arrived at below: First, factors of natural landscape only affect the price of farmland which allow for construction of farmhouses, but not affect the price of farmland where construction of farmhouses are forbidden. Second, farmhouses that are permitted to operate the Bed and Breakfast will increase the price effect of natural landscape.

Halbnatürliche Grünlandflächen sind artenreiche Habitate von großer Bedeutung für viele Tier- und Pflanzenarten und die Bereitstellung zahlreicher Ökosystemdienstleistungen. Jedoch werden diese Flächen zunehmend seltener, weshalb ihr Schutz in Europa ein wichtiges Ziel geworden ist. Der Verlust von halbnatürlichem Grünland ist häufig mit einer Intensivierung der Agrarwirtschaft verbunden und innerhalb Europas geographisch sehr unterschiedlich. Diese Arbeit befasst sich hauptsächlich mit der Region Südtranssilvanien in Rumänien, in der fast alle dauerhaften Grünlandflächen halbnatürlich sind, jedoch von der zunehmenden Intensivierung bedroht werden. Der Schutz dieser Grünlandflächen wird hier auf unterschiedlichen räumlichen Ebenen und aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln betrachtet, um sowohl die ökologischen als auch die gesellschaftlichen Aspekte der Bewirtschaftung zu berücksichtigen. Schutzmaßnahmen werden derzeit hauptsächlich auf der Feldebene umgesetzt, jedoch interagieren Grünlandarten häufig auch mit Populationen in der umgebenden Landschaft. Daher beschäftigt sich Kapitel 2 dieser Arbeit am Beispiel von Pflanzen und Heuschrecken mit den Auswirkungen von ökologischen Prozessen auf Grünlandarten auf lokaler und auf Landschaftsebene. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Landschaftszusammensetzung im 2 km-Radius einen gleichstarken Effekt auf die Artenvielfalt hat wie die lokalen Faktoren. Hierbei steigt der Pflanzenartenreichtum mit höherer Landschaftsheterogenität, während die Heuschrecken positiv auf den Anteil von Grünlandfläche in der Umgebung reagieren. Schutzmaßnahmen für artenreiches Grünland sollten daher Prozesse auf Landschaftsebene mit berücksichtigen, obwohl kein Landschaftstyp gleichzeitig alle Artengruppen begünstigt. Daher ist die Förderung einer extensiven Landwirtschaft die beste Möglichkeit, eine Vielfalt an Landschaftstypen zu erhalten, die die Artenvielfalt der Grünländer unterstützt. Neben dem Design von Schutzmaßnahmen ist auch ihre Umsetzbarkeit von großer Bedeutung. In der Untersuchungsregion ist die Kooperation der Nutzer miteinander besonders wichtig für Management-Entscheidungen, da es sich bei dem beweideten Grünland überwiegend um gemeinschaftlich benutzte Flächen (Allmendweiden) handelt. Allerdings zeigt Kapitel 3, dass sich dieses System hin zur Aufteilung der Flächen in kleinere Parzellen, die von Einzelnen gepachtet werden, verändert. Diese „Privatisierung“ der Allmende wird hauptsächlich von den flächenbasierten Zahlungen der gemeinsamen EU-Agrarpolitik gefördert. Sie wirkt sich derzeit sowohl negativ auf den Zugang von Kleinbauern zur Weide, als auch möglicherweise auf deren extensive Bewirtschaftung aus. Kapitel 4 untersucht daher das Potential von Bauernverbänden für die Wahrung der gemeinschaftlichen Bewirtschaftung von Allmendweiden. Bauernverbände können mithilfe von Agrarsubventionen eine extensive Bewirtschaftung der Allmendweide sichern sowie auch Informationen und Dienstleistungen für die Landwirte bereitstellen. Derzeit bedürfen derartige Verbände in der Untersuchungsregion allerdings noch Unterstützung bei der Organisation ihrer Aktivitäten. Forschung und Politik auf der europäischen Ebene müssen die Vielfalt der sozio-ökologischen Kontexte berücksichtigen, unter denen Naturschutz in Agrarlandlandschaften stattfindet. Kapitel 5 zeigt auf, dass die Unterschiede im Naturschutz in der Agrarlandschaft zwischen Ländern in West- und Osteuropa nicht ausreichend wahrgenommen werden. Forschung und Politik sind vorwiegend auf westeuropäische Länder fokussiert, während sich besonders große Flächen von artenreichen Agrarlandschaften jedoch in Osteuropa befinden. Diese benötigen häufig andere Naturschutzkonzepte, da sich die Hofstruktur und die Einstellung gegenüber dem Naturschutz vielfach von der in Westeuropa unterscheiden. Forschung in weniger untersuchten Gegenden sollte gefördert werden, um regional-spezifische, wissensbasierte Maßnahmen zu erarbeiten. Zudem sollte versucht werden, über Umweltbildung die Effektivität von Maßnahmen zu erhöhen. Die ausgedehnten Grünlandflächen in Südtranssilvanien bieten eine hervorragende Möglichkeit extensive, artenreiche Agrarlandschaften zu untersuchen und zu schützen. Auch wenn die Bewirtschaftung traditionell wirkt, ist der Fortschritt in vielen Bereichen sichtbar. Diese von Menschen geschaffenen Habitate müssen den zukünftigen Bedürfnissen einer wachsenden Bevölkerung angepasst werden. Diese Arbeit versucht durch das Verständnis der Einflussfaktoren auf Grünland, Wege aufzuzeigen, wie Entwicklungs- und Naturschutzziele miteinander verbunden werden können. Dies kann vor allem durch wissensbasierte und effiziente Naturschutzmaßnahmen und durch die Stärkung der Zusammenarbeit unterschiedlicher Interessengruppen erreicht werden. Dies gilt für viele Teile Osteuropas, in denen extensive Landwirtschaft und gemeinschaftliche Landnutzung Möglichkeiten bieten, artenreiche Agrarlandschaften auch in Zukunft zu erhalten.

The thesis presents data from bird monitoring, carried out in agricultural landscape in borderland of Southern Moravia (Czech republic) and Lower Austria (Austria). Relations among habitats and bird species richness and abundance are studied and data from both countries compared.

Concern over unexplained population declines in the common toad (Bufo bufo) has led to it being recognised as a priority species for conservation research. The general consensus among herpetologists is that the most important cause of the declines seen as part of a global amphibian extinction crisis is habitat loss and degradation. The aim of thesis is to investigate the effect of habitat availability and quality on common toad populations in the United Kingdom, with a particular emphasis on the effect of land under agricultural use. I use occupancy modelling, resource selection function modelling and genetic techniques to determine the effects of both terrestrial and aquatic habitat on common toads. Based on my findings, I consider the impacts of habitat at local, landscape and national scales. My research revealed the importance of pond density and presence of woodland in increasing relative probability of toad occurrence in the terrestrial habitat (Chapters 2 and 3) and the importance of water quality, woodland coverage and available terrestrial habitat coverage in determining common toad presence in ponds. The isolating effect of urban areas is demonstrated in Chapter 4 where Isolation By Barriers (IBB) explains genetic distance between common toad breeding populations better than Isolation By Distance (IBD). In Chapter 5 I again use the resource selection function for terrestrial habitat use developed in Chapter 3, to investigate the importance of terrestrial habitat availability in determining pond use by common toads at a national scale. In my concluding chapter, I make recommendations for management and further research including consideration of potential interactions between the effect of habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation with other potential causes of common toad decline.

Doctor of Philosophy / Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Christine Wilson / Farmland values have reached all-time highs and have significantly risen over the last few years. This has caused much debate about whether farmland prices are currently on a bubble and ready to burst, much like the earlier 1980s. Much research has been done on farmland values; however, work done outside of agricultural economics, looking at general asset values, can be incorporated into models of farmland value. Information cascades, or herding, are phenomenon where information in the market is sent between investors and this information is bid into the asset price, thus resulting in boom and bust periods. By using a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model, farmland price dynamics are modeled and analyzed for spatial dependencies from one region to the next. VAR allows for no a priori specification of network typology. This allows for the examination of the existence of information cascades and what form the network takes among spatially located farmland markets. This method is then compared to two other spatial estimation techniques. The first is a Spatial Autoregressive (SAR) model where network typology is imposed prior to estimation. The second is a VAR model where no network is modeled, and only the region’s own asset prices can influence future periods. It is found that information cascades exist and network typology is somewhat random. These results caution the current direction of the literature of imposing network or spatial structure. However, due to data requirements, SAR models are easier to estimate since they require less data and if network structure, which the SAR model inherently imposes by the weight matrix, could be determined by an autoregressive process instead of an adjacency rule it could prove to be the most accurate forecasting method.

Frente aos desafios da agricultura para as próximas décadas a terra assume um papel fundamental no cenário econômico. E, por sua relevância e abrangência, aumentam também as complexidades na apuração de seu valor econômico. Tendo em vista os diversos usos concorrentes a que a terra se destina, este trabalho tem o intuito de analisar quais são os agentes ativos no mercado de terras e quais os processos e métodos que os mesmos utilizam para avaliar as propriedades rurais. Além disso, busca-se explorar expandir as fronteiras conceituais do tema sob os diferentes enfoques em que a terra é discutida. A literatura acadêmica aborda o tema por diversos ângulos singulares nos campos da economia, ecologia, ciência política, direito, sociologia, e outros, na busca dos componentes determinantes do preço ou valor desse ativo, no entanto, há pouca cooperação entre essas disciplinas na análise da questão. Por meio de entrevistas com os agentes operantes no mercado de terras, representantes dos diversos interesses concorrentes no mercado, busca-se investigar como as propriedades são efetivamente avaliadas no mercado, quais os direcionadores de preço que esses agentes observam e quais os processos e fins dos seus relatórios de avaliação. Por fim, esses resultados são confrontados com a literatura acadêmica estudada e são levantados os pontos de coerências e discrepâncias da escolha desses métodos. / Facing the challenges of agriculture in the coming decades the farmland plays a key role in the economic scenario. For its relevance and scope, it also enhances the complexities of determining its economic value. Given competing uses and allocations to which it relates, this work aims to identify which are the participants in the farmland market and what processes and methods do they use to evaluate rural properties. In addition, it aims to explore and expand the conceptual boundaries of the topic through the different approaches in which the farmland is discussed. The academic literature addresses the topic from different angles concerning the fields of economics, ecology, political science, sociology, and others, in the search for its prices or value drivers. However, there is little cooperation among these disciplines. Making use of interviews with participants operating in the land market, representing the competing forces of this market, the research seeks to investigate how are the properties evaluated in the market, which are the observed drivers of their prices, according to the participant\'s point of view, and what are the processes and purposes of their valuation reports. Finally, these results are examined with respect to the existing academic theory pointing out their consistencies and discrepancies in conformity to the chosen valuation methods.

Farmland bird populations in Europe have been in decline for a long time. Agricultural intensification and growing a large share of crops that provide suboptimal breeding habitat could be the main causes of the observed decline. To explore these possible drivers, I focused on population trends of farmland bird species in different habitats in the Czech Republic over the periods 1982-1990 and 1990-2010. Specifically, I focused on the variability in trends within each species in respect to the differences in landscape management between the lowlands and mid-altitude areas before and after 1990. The expected effect of intensive farming in the lowlands until 1990 was reflected by a strong decline in populations of Northern Lapwing and Yellowhammer. The influence of less intensive farming in mid-altitude areas causing moderate population decline was confirmed rather by shrubs and trees species than farmland specialists. After 1990, less intensive farming in the lowlands should reduce the decline, which may have occurred, but compelling comparison of population trends between the two time periods was not possible for most species due to the lack of data. On the contrary, more intensive population decline in mid-altitudes after 1990, which should be the response to arable land abandonment, was not...

The Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra is one of the most severely declining farmland birds across Europe. In the UK, numbers fell by 86% between 1967 and 2008. Corn Buntings favour open landscapes, nest on or close to the ground, are often polygynous, double-brooded, and have a seed-based diet supplemented in summer by invertebrates. This study investigated the recent causes of decline in arable and mixed farmland in eastern Scotland, and sought to identify potential conservation solutions that could be delivered through agri-environment schemes (AES). Combining new data with analyses of existing long-term datasets, I investigated habitat associations during summer and winter, the timing and success of nesting attempts, and measured reproductive and population responses to AES. Corn Buntings declined almost to extinction in one study area where, over 20 years, the main recorded intensifications of farming were reduced weed abundance within crops and removal of boundaries to make bigger fields. Territory locations, late-summer occupancy and polygyny were all strongly associated with weedy fields. There were also positive associations with overhead wires and in early summer with winter barley and forage grasses. Late-summer occupancy was associated with spring-sown cereals, crops that are amongst the last to be harvested. Changes in habitat associations and to aspects of the mating system as the population declined and agriculture intensified are discussed. Intensive monitoring showed that Corn Buntings laid clutches from mid-May to mid-August, mostly in fields of forage grasses and autumn-sown cereals in early summer, and spring sown cereals in late summer. A preference for nesting in dense swards explained this seasonal variation. Breeding success in forage grasses was poor, due to high rates of nest loss during mowing. However, in experimental trials, nest success in fields with delayed mowing was fivefold that of control fields. With sufficient uptake through AES, delayed mowing could raise productivity to levels required to reverse population declines. In winter, cereal stubbles and AES unharvested crop patches were the main foraging habitats used. Unharvested crops with abundant cereal grain in their first winter of establishment were favoured. Population monitoring over seven years and 71 farms revealed increases on farms with AES targeted at Corn Buntings, no significant change on farms with general AES, and declines on control farms. In arable-dominated farmland, management that increased food availability reversed declines, but on mixed farmland where Corn Buntings nested in forage grasses, delayed mowing was essential for population increase. This study has already influenced the design of AES targeted at Corn Buntings in Scotland, and I make further recommendations for the species’ conservation and design of AES that are applicable to farmland throughout Britain and Europe.

High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) refers to traditional agricultural landscapes which support high levels of biodiversity. HNVf is declining across Europe, through both intensification and abandonment, raising concerns about the conservation of species associated with it. One argument is that such HNV species are better described as being dependent on disturbance, and that management practices on HNVf mimics the effects of natural disturbance processes such as herbivory, fire, severe weather and flooding, which are often suppressed across much of Europe. If true, one innovative approach for conserving HNV species would be to restore natural disturbance processes, as advocated by the "rewilding" conservation movement. I set out to explore the feasibility of this approach, focusing on flooding. Restoration of flood regimes is receiving growing attention, not only for its biodiversity benefits but also to reduce the risk of flooding in downstream urban areas, improve water quality, and increase the amenity value of rivers. I carried out four linked studies. Each followed a broadly similar approach: I selected sampling locations both in floodplain areas and comparable surrounding farmland, I surveyed birds and butterflies as indicator taxa of biodiversity, I carried out habitat mapping, and I estimated disturbance through both field measurements and remotely sensed data. My first study was around the Pripyat river in Ukraine, which has a large floodplain that has had minimal human intervention. I found that several, but not all, HNV species had higher population densities in the floodplain than in the surrounding HNV farmland, and several more had approximately equal population densities in the two habitats. This suggested intact flood regimes can retain some species that are elsewhere restricted to HNVf. My second study was around the river Rhône, France, where a restoration project has increased flow in floodplain channels and improved their connectivity with the main channel. I compared restored and non-restored segments of floodplain channel, as well as farmland and other habitats. While I found significant differences in population densitiesbetween habitat types, few species showed significant differences between restored and non-restored segments, suggesting that restoration had only limited ecological impacts on the wider landscape. My third study investigated a more ambitious restoration project which has reconnected a large area of floodplain to the river Peene in Germany. I found many HNV species had equal or higher population densities in the restored floodplain than in the surrounding unrestored farmland. This demonstrates that it is possible to restore the effect of natural flood disturbance on habitats and species. However, not all HNV species benefitted from flood-disturbed habitats, so clearly other conservation interventions need to be considered. For the final study, pooling data from all three sites I looked for associations between species' traits and environmental variables. My aim was to identify traits which predict species' responses to the environment, and hence which species are most likely to benefit from restoration. However, I did not find any significant associations in my data. In conclusion, I demonstrated that flood-disturbed habitats are suitable for many species traditionally associated with HNV farmland, and further that restoring flood disturbance processes can recreate those habitats. As such, reconnecting rivers and restoring floodplains would be a useful conservation intervention for species threatened by the abandonment or intensification of HNV farmland in Europe. However, other species did not benefit, and require other conservation interventions, perhaps other forms of rewilding, or continued incentivisation of favourable farming practices.