Proposal of a unified biodiversity impact assessment method.

Abstract

The LCA community is moving forward in developing methods to address biodiversity in impact assessments and the required inventory data. However, biodiversity is a notoriously fuzzy topic. Underlying preferences and perspectives on biodiversity vary considerably among stakeholders. The method presented herein allows for both broad-brush and detailed assessments of critical processes. The goal is to enable LCA users to generate product-related biodiversity impact information and manage biodiversity along value chains. The method represents the impact category “biodiversity” in the UNEP-SETAC land use impact assessment framework. It is inspired by the method proposed by Michelsen (2008) in that it employs region-specific characterization models yet allows aggregation across regions. Preliminary results for a western European ecoregion show that landscape structure and pesticide use contribute to the biodiversity impact. Fertilizer input is relevant, but a low dose is tolerable.