Research Unit of Biodiversity (UO-CSIC-PA), University of Oviedo, Mieres Campus, 33600, Mieres, Asturias, Spain.
Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Ambio. 2018 Feb;47(1):78-85. doi: 10.1007/s13280-017-0937-3. Epub 2017 Aug 22.
For successful integration of biological conservation into economic markets, economic processes need to capture ecological values. South African wildlife ranching is a tourist-based activity that generates unique information on the economic value of wildlife species. We used public data from South African wildlife auctions to evaluate if annual prices 1991-2012 related to species characteristics associated with scarcity, aesthetics and ecology of South African carnivores and ungulates. While none of the species characteristics influenced carnivore prices, ungulate prices were related to characteristics associated with novelty and aesthetics, which relative importance had increased over time. We raise both ecological and economic concerns for this apparent focus. Our results also suggest a potential importance of non-species-related factors, such as market and buyer characteristics. We encourage further evaluation of the relative influences of species characteristics versus factors that are intrinsically linked to economic processes on price variations in South African wildlife.
为了使生物保护成功融入经济市场，经济过程需要捕捉生态价值。南非野生动物养殖是一项基于旅游的活动，它为野生动物物种的经济价值提供了独特的信息。我们使用了南非野生动物拍卖的公共数据，评估了 1991 年至 2012 年的年度价格是否与南非肉食动物和有蹄类动物的稀缺性、美学和生态相关的物种特征有关。虽然没有一种物种特征会影响肉食动物的价格，但有蹄类动物的价格与新奇和美学相关的特征有关，这些特征的相对重要性随着时间的推移而增加。我们对这种明显的关注提出了生态和经济方面的担忧。我们的研究结果还表明，市场和买家特征等与经济过程内在相关的非物种相关因素可能具有重要意义。我们鼓励进一步评估物种特征与南非野生动物价格变化内在相关的经济过程因素的相对影响。
