Ecosystem Approaches To Conservation

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Ecosystem Approaches To Conservation
Photo from Wikipedia
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Announcements (3/26/09)
BIOL / ENTM 4015 Writing Assignment 2 is due
today (3/26/09)
BIOL 4800 Writing Assignment Final Draft is due
Tuesday (3/31/09)
Turn in your journals in class next
Thursday (4/2/09)
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Ecosystem
A community of organisms interacting among
themselves and with their physical environment
Photo from Wikipedia definition from Groom et
al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
An approach to maintaining or restoring the
composition, structure, and function of natural
and modified ecosystems for the goal of
long-term ecological and human sustainability
It is based on a collaboratively developed vision
of desired future conditions that integrates
ecological, socioeconomic, and institutional
perspectives, applied within a geographic
framework defined primarily by natural
ecological boundaries
entails considering interacting human and
natural systems on large spatial and temporal
scales
From Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Ecological perspective
Biotic factors Abiotic factors
Who are stakeholders?
Socioeconomic (and political) perspective
Stakeholders concerns, needs values
Redrawn modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Stakeholders people who want to or should be
involved in a decision or action because they
have some interest or stake in it
Have a real or perceived interest in a resource
about which decisions are being made its use,
its protection, or its users
Are dependent on a resource
Believe that management decisions will affect them
Are located in or near the areas about which
decisions are being made
Pay for the decision or action
Are in a position of authority to review the
decisions
Modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Ecological perspective
Target for ecosystem approach
Biotic factors Abiotic factors
Institutional perspective
Socioeconomic (and policital) perspective (individ
uals, govt. agencies, academic
institutions, NGOs, etc.)
Laws mandates Staffing funding
Stakeholders concerns, needs values
Redrawn modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
U. S. policies historically have been implemented
in response to crises in a piecemeal fashion,
considering only a single sector, activity, or
threat at a time
The result is a fragmented patchwork of laws
that are interpreted by dozens of federal
agencies
List of U.S. federal agencies
From McLeod Leslie in Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Much of the history of natural resource
management is a history of control and
domination of people, of resources, of other
organizations
Effective ecosystem approaches involve a
willingness to give up some degree of control


etc.
Quotes from Groom et al. (2006) Smokey Bear
image from Wikipedia Rancher photo from NGS
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Key elements
Shared vision for ecosystem condition its uses
(i.e., goals), agreed upon through partnerships
collaboration
Coordinated approaches to achieve maintain
targeted ecosystem condition
Use ecological approaches that restore or
maintain biodiversity ecosystem sustainability
Recognize that ecosystems institutions are
complex dynamic (e.g., there is always
uncertainty risk)
Modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Key elements
Respect ensure private property rights
Support actions that incorporate sustained
economic, socio-cultural, and community goals
Establish baseline conditions, then monitor
changes to help evaluate if goals objectives
are being achieved
Integrate the best science available into the
decision-making process, while continuing
scientific research to improve the knowledge base
Use an adaptive approach to management, to
achieve goals advance an ever-better
understanding of the ecosystem
Modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Adaptive management
Management that is approached as an experiment,
and that responds in creative and innovative
ways to changes
Breaks the chain-of-command top-down model of
resource management
Modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Adaptive management
Clarify mission goals
Develop conceptual model of system
Develop management plan (goals, etc.)
Develop monitoring plan
Adapt learn
Implement management monitoring plans
Analyze data discuss results
Modified from Groom et al. (2006)
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
Adaptive management
E.g., Fire Prescribed burns are important
management tools, since they mimic natural
disturbance processes for many ecosystems and
help reduce risks of catastrophic events to human
property and lives
Getting the fire regime right depends on
adaptive management
Photo from www.fs.fed.us
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
E.g., Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) part of the
Antarctic Treaty System
The aim of the Convention is to conserve marine
life of the Southern Ocean. However this does not
exclude harvesting carried out in a rational
manner.
Logo from www.ccamlr.org
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
E.g., Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
Multiple stakeholders collaborate through this
treaty to manage the fisheries surrounding
Antarctica
Map of member nations from www.ccamlr.org
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
E.g., The Everglades (where a principal resource
is water)
Photo from www.makinglifebetter.com
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
E.g., U.S. Pacific Northwest Forests
Photo from www.millersoap.com
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Ecosystem (or Ecosystem-Based) Management
E.g., Mississippi River Drainage and Delta
Photo from www.panoramio.com