PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Matthew A. Cole
AU  - Robert J. R. Elliott
AU  - Eric Strobl
TI  - Biodiversity and Economic Land Use
AID  - 10.3368/le.97.2.281
DP  - 2021 May 01
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 281--304
VI  - 97
IP  - 2
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/97/2/281.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/97/2/281.full
SO  - Land Econ2021 May 01; 97
AB  - We quantify the impact of economic land use (urban and agricultural) on biodiversity measured as phylogenetic diversity (or evolutionary distinctiveness). We construct phylogenetic diversity indexes for bird populations throughout the United States and match them to high-resolution land use data. Agricultural land decreases phylogenetic diversity. In contrast, urban land use initially encourages diversity; however, once 27% of the local area is urbanized, phylogenetic diversity falls. Phylogenetic diversity also benefits from the presence of a variety of land use types, to a point. We project land conversion and biodiversity loss to 2051 and calculate the costs of preventing such land conversion.