@phdthesis{Roy2025, author = {Roy, Ashley Comma}, title = {Economic analysis of invasive alien species management : a case study of ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜บ๐˜ด in Germany}, doi = {10.26127/BTUOpen-7170}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-71703}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Invasive alien species (IAS) are major drivers of biodiversity loss and impose rising economic costs. Global trade and climate change facilitate their spread and establishment, threatening agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Despite recognition of these risks, economic consequences are often underestimated, delaying effective responses. IAS management requires balancing ecological, economic, and social considerations. This study addresses two objectives: (1) to quantify the economic costs of invasive alien species under current and projected climate scenarios, and (2) to evaluate public preferences for IAS management, focusing on the trade-offs between chemical and biological control strategies through a case study of the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) invasion in German apple orchards. To address the first objective, the study combined a logistic spread model based on climate suitability projections for 2022-2050 with an economic model to estimate invasion costs under four management scenarios: no control, chemical control, biological control, and integrated pest management (IPM). Results show that even early infestations can cause significant economic losses if unmanaged. By 2050, as more areas become suitable for pest establishment, invasion costs rise sharply, demonstrating that delayed intervention greatly increases both damages and resources needed to control the invasion. For the second objective, a discrete choice experiment was employed to understand the public preference for managing IAS using no control, chemical control, and biological control. Respondents strongly favored biological control, even with risks of invasiveness, and rejected no control as an option. Willingness to pay reached โ‚ฌ2.32/kg for biological control, while chemical control received moderate support, mainly due to production concerns. Socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, education, income, political orientation, ecological involvement, and risk-taking shaped preferences. Political orientation proved significant: conservative and liberal respondents leaned toward chemical control, while ecologically oriented individuals preferred no intervention. Information framing also mattered: generalized descriptions increased support for biological control, while quantitative details revealed greater heterogeneity. These findings highlight the urgency of early IAS intervention and the need to integrate public preferences into policy. The study provides evidence for developing effective strategies to manage Halyomorpha halys and outlines avenues for future research.}, subject = {Invasion cost; Discrete choice experiment; Halyomorpha halys; German apple orchards; Invasive alien species; Invasionskosten; Discrete-Choice-Experiment; Deutsche Apfelplantagen; Invasive Arte; Deutschland; Obstanlage; Invasive Art; Baumwanzen; Kosten; Kontrolle; Diskrete Entscheidung}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Manhique2025, author = {Manhique, Henrique Andr{\ยดe}}, title = {Economic analysis of multifunctional fruit production landscapes to promote biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services}, doi = {10.26127/BTUOpen-7166}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-71664}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2025}, abstract = {Anthropogenic activities, such as economic development and population growth, drive the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural land and intensify existing fields, causing biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services (ES) vital to agriculture and society. Integrating natural and semi-natural habitats (landscape features) within agricultural landscapes can mitigate these impacts by promoting biodiversity and enhancing ES like pest control and pollination, which reduce pesticide use and bee-hive rental costs, benefiting both farmers and the environment. Despite strong ecological evidence, economic studies on landscape features are scarce but vital for assessing their costs and benefits to farmers and society, thus informing governance and public support for funding implementations. This thesis addresses this gap by economically evaluating specific landscape features and governance structures for biodiversity conservation and ES provision in orchards in a developing country (South Africa) and a developed country (Germany). The first case study uses a discrete choice experiment (DCE) survey to elicit preferences for biodiversity and ES enhancement measures and fund management organisations in South Africa's Cape Floristic Region. The second case study employs a DCE to explore preferences for ES measures and governance enforcement in German apple orchards. The third case study analyses costs and benefits of landscape features under conventional and organic management in German commercial apple orchards. Findings indicate support for biodiversity and ES promotion in both contexts. South African respondents prefer landscape features conserving endangered species over ES provision, while German respondents favour features delivering cultural alongside provisioning and regulating ES. Governance preferences reveal support for private institutions managing biodiversity funds in South Africa, and for multi-actor governance enforcing compliance in Germany. Cost-benefit analysis shows a wide gap between private and social net benefits, with significant societal gains but limited or negative private returns depending on management, highlighting the need for incentives like agri-environment schemes. Policy recommendations focus on designing such incentives, emphasising governance and targeted biodiversity and ES measures to bridge private-social interests and support landscape feature adoption.}, subject = {Flower strips; Hedgerows; Institutional distrust; Net present value; Political orientation; Bl{\"u}hstreifen; Hecken; Institutionelles Missvertrauen; Kapitalwert; Politische Orientierung; Deutschland; S{\"u}dafrika; Biodiversit{\"a}t; {\"O}kosystemdienstleistung; Obstanlage; Organisationsmodell; Anreizsystem}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Acquah2025, author = {Acquah, Michael}, title = {Tracking electricity access for sustainable rural electrification management : the case of mini-grid experience in Pediatorkope Island, Ghana}, doi = {10.26127/BTUOpen-7282}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-72822}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2025}, abstract = {The principal aim of the study was to develop people-centered strategies for sustainable management of rural electrification that is based on the experience of a rural livelihood in Ghana. The concurrent mixed methods were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data through interviews with sector experts, key informants and community members regarding the delivery, management and usage of electricity. The hybrid mini-grid electricity supply in Pediatorkope, an Island community in Ghana, was adopted as a case of rural electrification for this study. Seven experts (including heads of institutions, agencies and departments), seven community participants and 120 heads of households were surveyed through the administration of semi-structured questionnaire to retrieve the requisite data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically with 2019 NVivo. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data in this study. Analysis such as central tendency including mean, median, maximum, minimum and percentiles were covered. Multi-dimensional analysis, principal component analysis, bivariate analysis standard deviations and frequency analysis were also carried out to ascertain the details of tiers of access to electricity, demographic characteristics of participants and attributes of electricity supply. The results reveal four level of institutional engagement and five stages of policy and regulatory growth from the colonial past to the sustainable era that have shaped the development of rural electrification in Ghana. Two categories of uses of electricity were identified as basic and regular services. Furthermore, exchange value, use value and sign values were identified as important value strands for application in rural electrification. Even though the mini-grid system was designed to allow Tier 5 of electricity access, the quantitative results revealed that the highest experience of access in the community was Tier 4 with the overall access rate of 35\%. Supply side attributes such as capacity of supply, availability of supply and reliability affected access and usage of electricity in the community. Demand side issues identified were misuse of appliance and tariffs misapplication due to non-management of energy culture transition and characteristic additive nature of electricity demand and usage. The various findings based on the experience of electricity usage were consolidated in a proposed model known as multi-value mini-grid to address the identified challenges associated with the use of electricity services from the mini-grid. The multi-value mini-grid, as the name suggests, provides more than one value in a simplified model to meet the different energy needs of higher population of end-users with multiple streams of revenue generation, which enhances the financial feasibility of mini-grids and the livelihoods of the people.}, subject = {Rural electrification; Mini-grid; Sustainable livelihoods; Nationally determined contributions; Pediatorkope Island; L{\"a}ndliche Elektrifizierung; Mini-Grid; Nachhaltige Lebensgrundlagen; National festgelegte Beitr{\"a}ge; Ghana; Ghana; L{\"a}ndliche Entwicklung; Elektrifizierung; Nachhaltigkeit}, language = {en} }