Abstract

We provide a cartography of 319 bioeconomic models applied to terrestrial habitats by combining a quantitative analysis of methodological criteria and the narratives underlying the equations. Based on a multiple correspondence analysis and clustering techniques, our cartography is organized in four groups. Two of them adopt a conservation perspective: while the first one focuses on how to efficiently preserve species given a limited budget through a cost-effectiveness approach without any biodiversity monetarization, the second one stands for a second generation of models tackling habitat-based conservation measures with specific applications in agriculture and forestry. The last two groups are concerned with the notion of harvesting. Biodiversity is here monetized and the problem is framed as the maximization of the utility of agents derived from the flow of the biodiversity variable raising thus a cost–benefit problem. While the notion of harvesting is mostly applied to endangered species and invasive species in one group, a specific interest for forestry characterizes the second one. The temporal analysis of the database shows that bioeconomic models applied to terrestrial social–ecological systems exhibit an overall recent and ongoing decline. We discuss this result regarding the neighboring methods, especially the correlative and data-driven models. Since a diversity of modeling frameworks is needed to investigate the management of social–ecological systems, especially to embrace different understandings and decrease uncertainty, we provide some challenges for the future of mathematically based bioeconomic models.