Genetic diversity and its value: conservation genetics meets economics
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METHODS AND RESOURCES ARTICLE
Genetic diversity and its value: conservation genetics meets economics Noël Bonneuil1 · Raouf Boucekkine2,3 Received: 15 August 2018 / Accepted: 24 April 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract Does drawing economic benefit from nature impinge on conservation? This has been a subject of controversy in the literature. The article presents a management method to overcome this possible dilemma, and reconcile conservation biology with economics. It is based on recent advances in the mathematical theory of dynamic systems under viability constraints. In the case of a one-locus two-allele plant coexisting with a one-locus two-allele parasite, the method provides a rule for deciding when and to what extent the resistant or the susceptible strain should be cultivated, in the uncertain time-varying presence of the parasite. This is useful for preventing the fixation of the susceptible allele—and thereby limiting the plant’s vulnerability in the medium term, should the parasite reappear. The method thus provides an aid to decision for economic and ecology-friendly profitability. Keywords C-viability · Sustainability · Genetic diversity · Genetic distance · Genetic resistance Mathematics Subject Classification 93C83 · 93C95 · 92D25 · 92D10 JEL Classification Q01 · Q20 · Q56
Introduction Preserving genetic diversity corresponds to maintaining the proportions of alleles within a certain range. An allele is a variant expression of a gene, which itself is a locus of DNA. Different alleles of a same gene may have different properties, notably in terms of susceptibility or resistance to parasites. Calls to “halt biodiversity loss” and “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources” are now on the United Nations’ “Goals for Sustainable Development” agenda. Sustaining genetic diversity raises the question of genetic diversity’s economic value, a question made intricate
* Noël Bonneuil [email protected] 1
Institut national d’études démographiques, and École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, France
2
Cnrs, Éhess, Centrale Marseille, Amse, and Iméra, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
3
Institut universitaire de France, Paris, France
by the presence of both quantitative and qualitative facets (Ten Kate and Laird 2004). The economic literature on biodiversity and the related measurement methods are abundant (Nijkamp et al. 2008). They may be controversial: for example, Spash (2015) denounces the use of economics as a way to legitimize destruction under the cover of rationalizing nature conservation by building trade-offs which ultimately favor developers to the detriment of conservation. Conversely, Meinarda et al. (2016) argue that economics are diverse and that monetary valuation would be beneficial to conservation biologists. Edwards and Abivardi (1998) include pest control in ecosystem services, and argue that economic analysis can contribute to conservation goals and to the preservation of biological and genetic diversity. We contribute t
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