The U.S. Corn Belt is highly productive with respect to agricultural outcomes, but has unintended negative impacts on the water quality and biodiversity. Perennial conservation practices provide multiple benefits that can effectively mitigate many environmental challenges when strategically integrated within agricultural landscapes. Many conservationists and land use planners are turning to spatially targeted conservation, which can help conservation partners focus time and resources on the most vulnerable areas and plan for the joint alignment of environmental and economic outcomes. Our objective was to demonstrate a methodology for optimizing the placement of perennial conservation practices—including prairie strips, riparian buffers, and nutrient-removal wetlands—across agricultural landscapes.
We sought to cost-effectively maximize multiple environmental outcomes and understand the economic impacts of optimal conservation practice adoption in East Big Creek watershed, located in central Iowa. We used open source data and tools to inform the placement of perennial conservation practices and maximize watershed scale water quality (nitrate-nitrogen reduction) and biodiversity across a range of conservation practice annual cost constraints, and determined the regional economic impact of optimal conservation practice adoption. The optimization algorithm revealed landscape configurations that met the range of budget constraints. Reduction in watershed-level nitrate-nitrogen loss by 14% and improvements to biodiversity by 54% can be achieved by shifting as little as 1.3% of agricultural land use when perennial conservation practices were strategically chosen and placed. The initial establishment of perennial conservation practices generated substantial additional economic activity in comparison to the status quo, including the addition of $932-$5,550,000 in total agricultural-related industrial output, $447-$3,100,000 in total value added, $310-$2,400,000 in total labor income, and up to 42 jobs. Few studies have incorporated spatial optimization of conservation practice placement and also determined the overall economic impacts of alternative landscape configuration. Our study demonstrates a methodology that can be incorporated into planning tools to inform cost-effective multi-objective conservation action.
| Table Name | Column Name | Data Type | Units | Column Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | contour buffer strip enterprise budget pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | cost activities or items | string | NA | The activity or item that is accruing cost. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | mean price per acre | string | NA | The average cost of the activity in US dollars per acre. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | notes | string | NA | Extra information for each activity. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | range of costs units | string | NA | The range of costs/unit of each activity. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | year cost incurred | string | NA | The year the cost is expected to accrue. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | contour buffer strip impact summary pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | employment | float | number | The number of jobs the addition of nutrient retention wetlands creates. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | impact type | string | NA | The type of economic impact (e.g., direct, indirect, etc). |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | labor income | float | NA | The income generated from establishing the best management practice. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | output | float | NA | This is what is produced annually in the industries being evaluated. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_impact_summary | total value added | float | NA | Value added is composed of wages and salaries to workers, returns to management to sole proprietors, incomes from properties and other investments, and indirect tax payments that are part of the industrial production processes. Value added is the same thing as Gross Regional Product. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_species_list | contour buffer strip species list pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_species_list | species | string | NA | The species present in the best management practice. |
| data.contour_buffer_strip_species_list | type | string | NA | Broad functional group of plant species. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | category | string | NA | The Healthy Farm Index category of the measure. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | healthy farm index target and weight values pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | measure | string | NA | The type of ecosystem measurement. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | target | float | NA | The target value for each measure. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | weight1 | float | NA | How much weight for each measure in first HFI calculation. Weights should sum to 1.0. |
| data.healthy_farm_index_target_and_weight_values | weight2 | float | NA | How much weight for each measure in second HFI calculation. Numbers should sum to 1.0. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | cost activities or items | string | NA | The activity or item that is accruing cost. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | data source | string | NA | The source of the cost information. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | mean price per acre | string | NA | The average cost of the activity in US dollars per acre. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | notes | string | NA | Extra information for each activity. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | nutrient retention wetland enterprise budget pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | range of costs units | string | NA | The range of costs of the activity in US dollars per acre. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_enterprise_budget | year cost incurred | string | NA | The year the cost is expected to accrue. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | employment | float | number | The number of jobs the addition of nutrient retention wetlands creates. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | impact type | string | NA | The type of economic impact (e.g., direct, indirect, etc). |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | labor income | float | NA | The income generated from establishing the best management practice. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | nutrient retention wetland impact summary pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | output | float | NA | This is what is produced annually in the industries being evaluated. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_impact_summary | total value added | float | NA | Composed of wages and salaries to workers, returns to management to sole proprietors, incomes from properties and other investments, and indirect tax payments that are part of the industrial production processes. Value added is the same thing as Gross Regional Product |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_species_list | nutrient retention wetland species list pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_species_list | species | string | NA | The species present in the best management practice. |
| data.nutrient_retention_wetland_species_list | type | string | NA | Type of species (e.g., forb, grass). |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | cost activities or items | string | NA | The activity or item that is accruing cost. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | data source | string | NA | The source of the cost information. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | mean price per acre | string | NA | The average cost of the activity in US dollars per acre. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | notes | string | NA | Extra information for each activity. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | range of costs units | string | NA | The range of costs/unit of each activity. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | riparian buffer strip enterprise budget pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_enterprise_budget | year cost incurred | string | NA | The year the cost is expected to accrue. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | employment | float | number | The number of jobs the addition of the riparian buffer strip creates. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | impact type | string | NA | The type of economic impact (e.g., direct, indirect, etc). |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | labor income | float | NA | The income generated from establishing the best management practice. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | output | float | NA | This is what is produced annually in the industries being evaluated. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | riparian buffer strip impact summary pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_impact_summary | total value added | float | NA | Value added is composed of wages and salaries to workers, returns to management to sole proprietors, incomes from properties and other investments, and indirect tax payments that are part of the industrial production processes. Value added is the same thing as Gross Regional Product. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_species_list | riparian buffer strip species list pkey | float | number | A unique primary key for this table. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_species_list | species | string | NA | The species present in the best management practice. |
| data.riparian_buffer_strip_species_list | type | string | NA | Type of species (e.g., forb, grass). |