What is the value of agrobiodiversity in southern Europe?

This study investigates how agrobiodiversity—measured by crop richness (number of crop types) and evenness (distribution of crop types)—at local (5 km radius) and regional (NUTS3 regions) scales affects farmland values across five Mediterranean EU countries: France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Using a cross-sectional Ricardian model that controls for climate, soil, elevation, subsidies, and market access, the research finds significant non-linear relationships and substitution effects between local and regional agrobiodiversity. Specifically, regional evenness exhibits a U-shaped impact on farmland value, with high values occurring at both low and high evenness levels, while local evenness tends to substitute for regional evenness, sometimes negatively affecting land value. The study highlights that richness generally has positive but diminishing returns on farmland value at both scales, and emphasizes the importance of tailoring biodiversity policies to regional contexts to optimize agricultural resilience and profitability.