Ecosystem Capital

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Ecosystem Capital

• Use and restoration

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OBJECTIVE

• TLW
• Have an understanding of Earths major ecosystems
• Understand that these ecosystems provide
  resources for food, fuel, wood for paper and
  lumber, medicines, etc
• Understand that it is the exploitation of these
  resources upon which much of the worlds economy
  is dependent
• Understand that a natural area will receive
  protection only if the value a society assigns to
  services provided in its natural state is higher
  than the value the society assigns to converting
  it to a more direct human use.

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Global Perspective on Biological systems
Major systems forests, woodlands grasslands and
savannas, croplands, wetlands and desert lands
and tundra. The oceanic ecosystems can be
categorized as coastal ocean and bays, coral
reefs and open ocean These eight terrestrial and
aquatic systems provide food fuel Lumber Paper
Leather Furs Raw materials for fabrics Oils
and alcohol
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Ecosystems -perform natural services They process
energy and circulate matter repeatedly, year
after year. Scientists have calculated the
value of an acre of natural tidal wetland is more
than 100,000 per year to duplicate the water
purification and fish propagation capacity.
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Ecosystems as Natural Resources
A natural area will receive protection only if
the value of a society assigns to services
provided in its natural state is higher than the
value the society assigns to converting it to a
more direct human use.
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• Natural ecosystems and the biota in them are
  commonly referred to as natural resources.
• Humans commonly understand value in economic
  terms
• If we do this it becomes easy to lose sight of
  their ecological value.
• Private lands the ecosystem is maintained at
  the pleasure of the owner.
• Maine is maintained by private corporations in a
  natural state for lumber and paper manufacturing

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• If Maine experienced a population explosion and
  land became valuable for development then land
  would be cut up for house lots.
• Public lands
• These are federal and state lands, but may be
  subject to economically motivated exploitation.

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Future Pressures

• Population continues to grow
• Pressure for more resources that land will
  provide
• Estimates are that croplands and grazing lands
  would have to expand to at least 18 larger than
  their present area to meet the needs of the human
  population by 2050.

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Questions?

• Give examples of direct use value of a woodland
  ecosystem
• Give examples of regulating and support services
  provided by a wetland.
• Give examples of increased pressures on
  ecosystems as population continues to rise
• Give an example of how an ecosystem in its
  natural state can have less value than
  converting it to direct human use.

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Objectives

• TLW
• Understand that an ecosystem has the capacity to
  renew itself
• Understand that Preservations objective is the
  ensure the continuity of species and ecosystems
  regardless of their potential utility.
• A Second growth forest can be conserved (cut at a
  recoverable rate)
• Old growth forests must be preserved (no harvest)

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• Understand consumptive use use to provide needs
  for food, shelter, tools, fuel and clothing
• Understand productive use exploitation of an
  ecosystem for economic gain
• Understand MSY
• Understand the concept of the Commons

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Conservation, Preservation, Restoration

• Conservation
• Does not imply no use by humans
• Might be necessary for the short term to allow a
  species to recover or renew itself
• The goal is to manage or regulate so that it does
  not exceed the capacity of the species or system
  to renew itself

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• Preservation
• The goal is to ensure the continuity of species
  and ecosystems regardless of their potential
  utility
• May include making use of the species
• It is impossible to maintain old growth forests
  and at the same time harvest the trees.
• A second growth forest can be conserved, allowing
  trees to be harvested but allow the forest to
  recover between harvests.
• Read about the Muriqui monkey

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Patterns of use of Natural Ecosystems

• Consumptive Use Versus productive Use
• Consumptive Use use of a resource for the needs
  of people food, clothing, tools, shelter, fuel
• Usually does not appear in the calculations of
  the market economy of a country
• Consumption of Bush Meat, has led to the
  decimation of 30 endangered species.
  (Chimpanzees)
• Consumption of bush meat has become a commercial
  enterprise. It is now fashionable. Bush meat
  is thought to be the source of Ebola and HIV1 in
  the human population.

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• Productive use
• Exploitation of ecosystem resources for economic
  gain
• Commercial trade in wood products for pulp,
  lumber and fuel.
• Collecting wild species of plants and animals for
  cultivation or domestication.
• If the resource is privately owned, usually
  access is restricted
• Community ownership allows regulated use.
• Unsustainable use leads to the loss of the
  resurces as well as the services provided by the
  natural ecosystem being exploited.

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Maximum Sustainable Yield

• How can the resource be used without undercutting
  the capacity of the species. (MSY)
• Understand the carrying capacity of the ecosystem
• Once the carrying capacity is reached, production
  can be increased by thinning the population
• The MSY cannot be obtained when the population is
  at the carrying capacity
• Theoretically the optimal population is just half
  the population at the carrying capacity

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• It is much more complicated than this. This is
  because the carrying capacity may vary from year
  to year (weather). Replacement may vary. Human
  impacts may alter habitats or adversely affect
  reproductive rates, recruitment, carrying
  capacity and, as a result, sustainable yields.
• MSY is very difficult to manage

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• Precautionary Principle
• Use the estimated MSY to set a fixed quota
• In fishing, the total allowable catch (TAC)
• This can be overestimated if data on population
  and recruitment are wrong.
• The precautionary principle says that where there
  is uncertainty, resource managers must favor the
  protection of the living resource. Exploitation
  limits must be set well enough below the MSY to
  allow for uncertainties.

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• Using the Commons
• Sustainability requires that common pool
  resources be maintained so as to continue to
  yield benefits, not just for the present but also
  for the future.
• Limiting Freedom
• one arrangement that can mitigate the tragedy is
  private ownership.
• When a renewable resource is privately owned
  access to it is restricted guaranteeing a
  continued harvest for its owner.
• This concept does not hold true when an owner
  maximizes immediate profit and then moves on.

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• Another alternative is to regulate access to the
  commons
• Regulation should allow for protection
• Fairness in access rights
• Mutual consent of the regulated.
• This regulation can be the responsibility of the
  state or may be local community control

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• Clamming in New England
• Access to the clams is limited to town residents
  and policed by the local clam warden.
• There can be overharvesting but if an individual
  curtails their own takes they diminish their
  profits.. Competitors may feel the same way and
  the clams are overharvested.
• Shortages continue to make the digging profitable.

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• The clam warden might close a number of flats to
  allow them to recover. He or she has the power
  to make a difference between a full-blown tragedy
  of the commons and a sustainable harvest.

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Public Policies

• It is important to understand the concept and
  limitations of the MSY and the social and
  economic factors causing overuse and other forms
  of environmental degradation that diminish the
  sustainable yield.

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Policies that Protect Natural Resources

• Natural resources cannot be treated as open
  commons. Habitat and species should be put under
  an authority that is responsible for their
  sustainability and that can regulate their use.
• Sound science should be employed to assess the
  health of the resource and to set sustainable
  limits on its use.
• To accommodate uncertainty, the precautionary
  principle should be used in setting limits for
  exploitation
• Regulations should be enforced.

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• Economic incentives that encourage the violation
  of regulations should be eliminated
• Subsidies that support exploitation of the
  resource should be removed
• Suitable habitats for the resource should be
  preserved and protected from pollution
• The sustenance needs of people living close to
  the resource should be met.

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Restoration Ecology

• This type of service has been spurred by federal
  and state programs
• Demands a thorough knowledge of ecosystem and
  species ecology
• Amelioration of soil erosion
• Surface strip mining
• Draining wetlands
• Coastal damage
• Agricultural use
• Deforestation
• Overgrazing
• Desertification and
• Eutrophication of lakes

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• http//atsnursery.com/native_plants.php

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• Currently restoration of the Everglades is
  underway
• Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
• Expected to take 36 years
• 7.8 billion
• Florida will provide half the funds, Federal gov
  the other half
• Managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers
• This was the unit that make the restoration
  necessary

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• Everglades is a network of wetland landscapes
• Now reduced to half its original size through
  development and wetlands draining
• Home to 16 Wildlife refuges and four national
  parks
• Once viewed as unproductive
• The water flow was brought under human control
  with levees, locks, dams, and spillways.
• Cities, suburban sprawl

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• Lots of agriculture created (sugar)
• Water is used for irrigation and for municipal
  water
• Water is now in short supply in the winter, too
  little for the natural systems
• In the rainy season, too much is diverted to the
  Everglades.
• Water quality is degrade b/c of P from
  agricultural runoff
• Changed nutrients promotes the growth of invasive
  species and a decline in natural vegetation

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Biomes and Ecosystems under Pressure

• Forest Biomes
• A forest ecosystem has adequate rainfall to
  sustain tree growth
• The most productive systems the land can support
• They conserve biodiversity
• Modify regional climate
• Prevent erosion
• Store carbon and nutrients
• Provide vital goods
• Employment for 60 million people
• Forest goods and services 5.4 trillion a year.
• They are being destroyed

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Questions

• Differentiate between consumptive use and
  productive use. Give examples
• What does MSY mean? What factors complicate its
  application
• Give an example of a common pool resource and how
  it can be mistreated.

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Objective

• TLW
• Understand the immense pressure on the forest
  biomes
• Understand types of Forest Management
• Clear cutting
• Selective cutting
• Shelter wood cutting
• Sustainable forest management

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• In 2000 the world forest cover was 9.53 billion
  acres
• Deforestation continues to occur mostly in
  developing countries. Deforestation removes the
  trees and converts the land to another use
• The late 1990s saw severe drought due to El
  Nino. Many millions of hectares of forests
  burned
• 10 of forests are protected as national parks or
  reserves world wide.
• In 2001, at the Kyoto Protocol in Morocco, the
  role of forests in climate change was
  acknowledged.
• A source of CO2 when burned or degraded
• A sensitive indicator of changing climate
• A renewable energy fuel
• A carbon sink

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• Most of the deforestation has replace forests
  with grasslands.
• Grasslands have short food changes
• They support large herbivores and can be
  converted to cultivation
• Clearing forests has the following consequences
• Overall productivity of the area is reduced
• The standing stock of nutrients and biomass is
  reduced
• Biodiversity is diminished

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• Soil is more prone to erosion and drying
• Hydrologic cycle is changed b/c water drains off
  the land instead of being released through
  transpiration or stored as ground water
• Major CO2 sink is lost
• Land no longer yields forest products
• People who depend on forest products for a living
  lose their livelihood

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Types of Forest Management

• Silviculture
• Normal process is rotation, as trees take 25 to
  100 years to mature
• Even age management all trees in an area are
  managed to the point of harvest , cut down and
  replanted.
• Clear cutting creates a fragmented landscape,
  serious impacts on biodiversity efficient at
  time of harvest
• Uneven age management
• Results in a more diverse forest
• Different harvesting strategies.
• Selective cutting of mature trees replanting
  usually unnecessary, as the remaining trees
  provide trees
• Shelter wood cutting
• Leaves a functional ecosystem standing

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• Shelterwood cutting leaves mature trees to give
  shelter to growing seedling.

In Canada, clear cutting leaves a stand of trees
of the same age making them much more susceptible
to infestation by pine beetles
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Selective cutting
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Sustainable Forestry

• Just as with other types of ecosystem management,
  sustained yield is one objective of forest
  management
• Another goal is Sustainable forest management
  this goal maintains the biodiversity and function
  of the ecosystem and is the primary objective

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Sustainable Forestry Initiative

• Integrates the managing of the reforesteration
  growing, nuturing nd harvesting of trees along
  with conservation of soil, air and water qality,
  wildlife and fish habitats
• Uses responsible practices
• Forest health and productivity is a major goal
• Special sites that are biologically, geologically
  or historically significant are protected
• Forest management is continuously improved

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Tropical Forests

• These are the habitat of vast numbers of plant
  and animal species, many of which areunidentified
• They are also crucial as a sink for carbon and
  restraining the buildup of CO2
• Huge losses annually
• The major reason for deforestation is conversion
  to pastures and agriculture
• There is a trade in forest products. Often the
  beneficiaries of these funds are multinational
  companies
• Often people are too impoverished to use this
  resource wisely.
• Read about encouraging trends in the developing
  world p. 303, 304

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• Forest Stewardship Council
• An alliance of nongovernmental organizations
  certify forest products for the consumer market
• Global awareness of the importance of the
  tropical forests has reached that of serious
  concern.
• The demand for tropical wood has not diminished
• Economic rewards of exploitation will undoubtedly
  continue

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Ocean Ecosystems

• Marine fisheries account for more than 15 of
  the human consumption of protein
• The 12 mile limit was considered international
  commons until the end of the 1960s. Numerous
  areas were being depleted of many species by
  factory ships and modern fish finding technology.
  Now nations extended their limits of jurisdiction
  to 200 miles offshore
• As a result some fishing areas recovered

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• Many species and areas are still overfished.
  These areas are much less productive than they
  once were
• These fisheries can recover but it will take
  eliminating many species for catch and greatly
  reducing the catch of others.
• Georges Bank home for groundfish
• Poorly managed
• Plans were made by the NEFMC to set TAC quotas

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• Fishers claimed that the quotas were too low and
  argues the use of nets with openings that allowed
  smaller fish to escape.
• In 10 years, the number of boats doubled
• The result was disasterous

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• Too many boats
• Too much high technology
• Chasing too few fish

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Sustainable Fisheries Act

• Depleted fish stocks must be rebuilt and
  maintained at biologically sustainable levels.
• Buy out fishing boats
• Scientific information is employed in setting
  yields
• Other issues that deplete fish
• The demand for shark fin soup. Only the fin is
  removed
• Make tuna fishing dolphin safe
• Shrimp so that sea turtles are not
  drowned

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Whaling

• IWC decided to regulate whaling to the principle
  of MSY whenever a species of whale dropped
  below the optimum population, the IWC instituted
  a ban on hunting that species
• Because of difficulties in obtaining reliable
  data and enforcing catch limits whaling banned
  in 1986. Some limited whaling by Japan and
  Norway continues. Indigenous people in Canada
  Alaska and Greenland still hunt whales.

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• Japan and Norway want very much for the IWC to
  reopen whaling. In 1993 Norway resumed whaling
  for minkes
• Scientists claim that the data for minkes is
  still unsure.
• The IWC reuses to set limits on minke
• Japan and Norway catch 500 minkes per year. The
  Japanese claim it is for scientific purposes.
• One Japanese rationale is that whales eat too
  many fish that humans should be catching.-

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• Whale watching is now an important tourist
  enterprise
• Whale watching is also of scientific value

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Coral Reefs and Mangroves

• From 30 N to 30 S, coral reefs inhabit coastal
  areas
• They build and protect the land
• Found only in water shallower than 75 m
• The coral polyp lives in a symbiotic relationship
  with zooxanthellae
• The reefs attract a great variety of fish and
  shellfish
• They are showing signs of decline

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Coral Bleaching

• Bleaching is due to high temperature. They lose
  their symbiotic algae
• Now happening in unprecedented scope
• Another source of coral damage stems from poverty
  and greed
• Some driven by tropical fish trade
• Use of fishing with dynamite and cyanide

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Mangroves

• These trees can grow in shallow marine sediments
• Protect coasts from storm damage and erosion
• Refuge and nursery for many marine fish
• Under assault from coastal development logging
  and shrimp aquaculture

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Public and Private Lands in the US

• The last resort for many species is protection by
  law
• National parks
• Wildlife refuges
• Reserves
• Even more restrictive are biosphere reserves
• Many are given lip service, exploitation
  continues

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• Wilderness
• This land is given the greatest protection
• Wilderness Act of 1964
• Several presidents have proposed to increase
  these holdings to5 million acres.
• No perm structures, roads, motor vehicles
• No timber harvesting
• Some livestock grazing
• Hiking allowed

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National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges

• Protects areas of great scenic or unique
  ecological significance
• Protect important wildlife species
• Public access fro recreation
• Draw many visitors
• Usually results in parking problems and habitat
  destruction
• Snowmobiles
• Off road vehicles

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National Forests

• Very important for habitat for wild species
• Supply natural services and products
• Drforestation isnt a problem in the US
• More trees in the US than there were in 1920
• Some for multiple use
• Allow a combination of extracting resources
• Grazing, logging, mining

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• Must protect watershed
• Includes prairies, deserts, forests, wetlands,
  mountains, tundra
• Harvesting timber is closely regulated

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Protecting Nonfederal Lands

• 22 states voted in November 2002 to protect land
  for open space and parks
• Land trusts
• Nonprofit organizations that accept outright
  gifts of lands or easements (landowner gives up
  development rights in the future but retains
  ownership of the land
• 429 Land Tursts in the US in 1980, 1220 in 2000

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• Land trusts
• Vital link in the preservation of ecosystems

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