Renewable Resources: Forest Ecosystems Original Today Frontier

Which seems the poorest choice? Choices D Which seems the poorest choice? B A C http://www.cwbiodiesel.com/biodiesel/palm_oil.html

Time Appropriate Questions What do forest ecosystems provide? What is important or valuable? How do we conserve what is valuable? What approaches are available for defining what is important? What approaches are available for conserving? Are we kidding ourselves?

Forest ecosystems: Goods & Services Fiber - paper and products Fuel - cooking & heating Water - quantity and quality Nutrient cycling Ecosystem energetics (food chain) Air - CO2 uptake, O2 release, pollutant removal Climate stability Biodiversity/habitat: plant and animal (wildlife) Medicine and food products Recreation/mental & social health Reference: Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods (2006)

Ecosystem: A Human Construct Definition: An ecological system composed of living organisms (plants, animals, & microbes) and their nonliving environment. Ecosystems are characterized by: Structure & function Complexity Interaction of the components Change over time (e.g., disturbances), “young, mature, old.” Today, these functions must be spatially and temporally coordinated.

Ecosystem threats? Loss of habitat: Land-use change and irreversible conversion (fragmentation) Disruption of biogeochemical cycles (N,C,P) Invasive or introduced exotic organisms Toxins, pollutants, human wastes Climate change

Ensuring Ecosystem Goods & Services: Approaches Examine three different approaches First, we identify specific species we want in our ecosystem (e.g., wolves, spotted owl, whitebark pine, etc.). Second, we identify a process we want to maintain (e.g., carbon fixation). Third: A more comprehensive or systems approach. Two examples that use this third approach NCSSF - small scale, small perspective MEA - small to large scale, many perspectives

Whitebark Pine Approach 1. Save a species!

Distribution & Importance of Whitebark Pine High elevation pine Large seed Special relationship with a bird Important for other animals Keystone species in the Rockies Pinus albicaulis

Whitebark Pine: Ecological Importance Hardy subalpine conifer, tolerates poor soils, steep slopes, windy exposures. Often the tree line species Keystone species (Rocky Mountain Region) Food source - birds, small mammals & bears Often colonizes a site, facilitates succession & promotes diversity Regulates runoff, reduces soil erosion Picture: C.J. Earle

Decline of Whitebark Pine White pine blister rust: Cronartium ribicola, is a rust fungus with two hosts. All North American 5- needled pines In addition, it infects all species of the genus Ribes spp., its alternate host. European & Russian species resistant Problems today Fire suppression Global climate change Mountain pine beetle

Situation Whitebark pine is likely to disappear. What are our choices? Do nothing (its “natural”) Remove the Ribes Breed for resistance Introduce resistant European/Russian species Selection and genetic engineering of the endophyte. 2. Ensure a function!

Manage for Carbon Dioxide Uptake Monitor Experiment Two goals: • Understand where the hidden sink for carbon dioxide is? • Use forest systems to take up CO2. Approach taken by Canada - Kyoto Protocol

Methods of Study Difficulties • Issues of scale (quality of info vs. extent of info) • Monitoring • Unknowns (soil carbon) • Searchinger, T. et al. 2008. Science Express • Fargione, J. et al. 2008. Sci. Express

Lessons from first 2 approaches Managing single components or processes: Hard Determination of what to measure, at what scale, how often, etc. Techniques to measure (e.g., what is there now & how is it changing) are expensive Monitoring - expensive, takes time Understanding of interactions (e.g., cascading effects) Regulatory environment may define Nature changes (e.g., forest fire, bard owl)

Work on maintaining “properly” functioning ecosystems Third Approach Work on maintaining “properly” functioning ecosystems Key: Remember all the functions?

Two examples • National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF) • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program (MEA)

Or: Is your land ‘good’, changing, & changing in what direction? Mission: to advance the science and practice of biodiversity conservation and forest sustainability Critical Question: How does an owner or manager of forest land tell whether biodiversity and sustainability are being positively, negatively or neutrally affected by management practices and decisions? Or: Is your land ‘good’, changing, & changing in what direction? http://www.ncseonline.org/NCSSF/page.cfm?FID=1426

What’s needed? Early warning assessment system that is Rapid & cost effective And that is based on Stand level sustainability (condition): Development of functional indicators (of ecosystem services) & associated benchmarks These indicators/benchmarks should represent best available information/science.

Does it works in practice Functions, variables and benchmark levels can be defined A sampling scheme has been designed & tested Evaluation is then a comparison of values and changes in values. Subsequent decisions are then based on goals and objectives set by land owner.

Does it work? Perhaps (actually data from urban to rural land Weakness: Assumes that the indicators are correct and respond in a measurable & timely way Assumes that we can react fast enough. Does not link objectives over large areas of land. Clearly better than nothing

Yangjuan Village • Apparently intensive use of the land • Is the use sustainable? And how does land use reflect and affect the inhabitants? • Idea of eco-political tsunamis

Yangjuan Land use Firewood Traditional Buckwheat Livestock Conversion from local land race of corn to new hybrid corn

Ecosystem Goods and Services: Example 2 Definition of Ecosystem Goods and Services Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Program Example

Older definition of Ecosystem goods and services Ecosystem goods: Biophysical elements that are directly, or indirectly, consumed by humans Ecosystem services: processes that produce, or support the production of, ecosystem goods (most involve some biogeochemical cycle).

Which is not an ecosystem service? Provisioning Regulating Cultural Interventions Supporting Answer Now!

Newer definition of Ecosystem goods and services Provisional services (e.g., food, fiber, fuelwood, biochemicals, genetic resources, and water) Cultural services (e.g., recreational, ecotourism, educational, sense of place, cultural heritage, spiritual, religious and other nonmaterial benefits). Supporting services (e.g., primary production, soil formation & nutrient cycling) Regulating services (e.g., water regulation [floods, irrigation], water purification, climate regulation, land degradation, and disease regulation)

Example of an Ecosystem Service Soil provides the following ecosystem services Significant regulator of the hydrological cycle Shelters seeds, provides medium for plant growth, provides physical support Retains, delivers & derives nutrients Significant role in decomposition Contributes to cycling, retention & regulation of major element cycles (N, P, C, S) Carbon storage & cycle Role as a purifier (water, nutrients, etc.)

MEA Conceptual Framework Global Regional Local Human well-being & poverty reduction Life on Earth: Biodiversity Ecosystem Services Indirect Drivers of Change • Demographic • Economic • Sociopolitical • Science & technology • Cultural & religious Direct Drivers of Change • Changes in land use & land cover • Species removal or introductions • Technology • Climate change • Natural physical & biological drivers • External inputs

MEA Goals Identify options that can better achieve core human development and sustainability goals. Recognize & meet growing demands for food, clean water, health, and employment. Balance economic growth and social development with environmental conservation. Better understand trade-offs involved—across stakeholders—in decisions concerning the environment. Rather than issue by issue, use a multi-sectoral approach Match response options with appropriate level of governance

Well-Being Defined (MEA) Security: Ability to a. live in an environmentally clean and safe shelter b. reduce vulnerability to ecological shocks & stress. Basic material for a good life: Ability to access resources to earn income and gain a livelihood Health: Clean water, air, adequate nourishment, adequate energy for temperature regulation, good health Good social relations Freedom & Choice

MEA: Assessments & Publications December 2005

Pressures on Goals of MEA Population Growth Economy, consumption Combined demand on natural resources Land degradation & conversion Invasive organisms Climate change Public Health (e.g., HIV, malaria, nutrition) Template for evaluation Political acceptance & will (and consistency)

Conclusion: Difficulties Setting limits and distributing responsibility Scale & variable (s) Measurement Monitoring Assessment Regulation Outcomes and Feedback Choices Political will = f (human will)