Land use impacts on biodiversity from kiwifruit production in New Zealand assessed with global and national datasets

Purpose: Habitat loss is a significant cause of\ua0biodiversity\ua0loss, but while its importance is widely recognized, there is no generally accepted method on how to include\ua0impacts\ua0on\ua0biodiversity\ua0from\ua0land\ua0use and\ua0land\ua0use changes\ua0in\ua0cycle assessment (LCA), and existing methods are suffering from data gaps. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the\ua0impact\ua0of\ua0land\ua0use on\ua0biodiversity\ua0using ecological structures as opposed to information on number of species. Methods: Two forms of the model (global\ua0and local scales) were used to assess environmental quality, combining ecosystem scarcity, vulnerability, and conditions for maintaining\ua0biodiversity. A case study for\ua0New\ua0Zealand\ua0kiwifruit\ua0production\ua0is presented. As part of the sensitivity analysis, model parameters (area and vulnerability) were altered and\ua0New\ua0Zealand\ua0datasets\ua0were also used. Results and discussion: When the\ua0biodiversity\ua0assessment was implemented using a\ua0global\ua0dataset, the importance of productivity values was shown to depend on the area the results were normalized against. While the area parameter played an important role\ua0in\ua0the results, the proposed alternative vulnerability scale had little influence on the final outcome. Conclusions: Overall, the paper successfully implements a model to assess\ua0biodiversity\ua0impacts\ua0in\ua0LCA using easily accessible, free-of-charge data and software. Comparing the model using\ua0global\ua0vs.\ua0national\ua0datasets\ua0showed that there is a potential loss of regional significance when using the generalized model with the\ua0global\ua0dataset. However, as a guide to assessing\ua0biodiversity\ua0impact, the model allows for consistent comparison of product systems on an international basis