Integrating non-use biodiversity-mediated ecosystem service benefits into ecosystem accounting: A discrete choice experiment and condition-dependent simulated exchange value approach

This paper proposes and empirically illustrates a valuation framework that integrates social differentiated demand for ecosystem services into exchange-value based ecosystem accounting while preserving accounting coherence. The framework combines a discrete choice experiment, a latent class model of preference heterogeneity, and a simulated exchange value anchored to observed biophysical supply of services. Ecosystem service changes are framed as transitional processes, expressed as relative distances from locally defined ecological potentials, enabling a direct linkage between stated preferences, ecosystem condition accounts, and accounting time conventions. Condition-dependent marginal willingness to pay is approximated using quadratic utility specifications and reformulated into accounting-consistent monetary indicators. The framework is applied to five biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services provided by urban parks in Brescia, Italy, using survey data from 468 residents. The results reveal substantial and systematic heterogeneity in preferences across social groups and show that social differentiation and condition dependence materially affect accounting-consistent exchange values. The absolute monetary scale of the simulated exchange value is sensitive across the functional forms of demand. The study contributes to the ecosystem accounting and stated preference literature by providing a transparent and operational pathway for incorporating socially differentiated demand into exchange-value based ecosystem accounts, while explicitly acknowledging the conceptual and empirical limitations associated with monetizing indirect and non-use ecosystem services in urban environments.