Grasslands provide a variety of goods and services that benefit humans, but only a few have a market value. Despite the benefits provided, native grasslands continue to be degraded. Lack of a proper valuation, including a monetary value of grassland nonmarket goods and services, has become one of the factors contributing to the degradation trend. The objective of this research was to quantify the cost of increasing the provision of ecosystem services from grassland ecosystems in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks (GCPO) Landscape Conservation Cooperative geographic area of the U.S. A contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to estimate landowner willingness to accept (WTA) monetary compensation in exchange for implementing management practices preserving grassland ecosystems. The mean WTA compensation was $290.10 per acre per year for a 10-year contract. Required compensation increased with landowner income, frequency of contacts with state wildlife agencies, and percentage change in grassland area. Landowner age and proximity to the nearest local park were negatively associated with WTA. The total cost of preserving ecosystem services, estimated based on WTA, was US$3 billion per year and 57 times larger than the 2016 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) allocation for this purpose in the amount US$50 million. However, the preservation cost varied from US$1.7 million to 1.1 billion depending upon the number of ecological attributes to be preserved and corresponding levels of ecosystem services. Results will be helpful in quantifying future funding levels necessary for implementation of coordinated conservation activities in grasslands and other ecosystems, prioritizing ecosystem services for restoration, and developing conservation programs in the U.S. and other countries.

草原提供了多种造福人类的商品和服务，但只有少数具有市场价值。尽管提供了这些好处，但原生草原继续退化。缺乏适当的估值，包括草原非市场商品和服务的货币价值，已成为导致退化趋势的因素之一。本研究的目的是量化增加墨西哥湾沿岸平原和奥沙克群岛 (GCPO) 景观保护合作社地理区域的草地生态系统服务提供的成本 使用条件估值法 (CVM) 估计土地所有者愿意接受（WTA）货币补偿以换取实施保护草原生态系统的管理措施。WTA 的平均补偿为 290 美元。10 年期合同，每年每英亩 10 元。所需的补偿随着土地所有者收入、与国家野生动物机构​​接触的频率以及草原面积的百分比变化而增加。土地所有者的年龄和距离最近的当地公园的距离与 WTA 呈负相关。根据 WTA 估算，保护生态系统服务的总成本为每年 30 亿美元，是 2016 年保护储备计划 (CRP) 为此目的拨款 5000 万美元的 57 倍。然而，保护成本从 170 万美元到 11 亿美元不等，取决于要保护的生态属性的数量和相应的生态系统服务水平。