1. Wildlife Management and Ecosystem Services
Prof. Dr. Paul J. DuBowy
Ecohydrology Associates, LLC
Lovell, Wyoming USA

2. Outline Ecohydrology as the Ecosystem Driver Restoration Concepts
Ecosystem Services
Case Study–Florida Everglades

3. Aquatic Ecosystems
Aquatic ecosystems are under increasing pressure due to human activities and changing natural phenomena.
Increasing urbanization, intensive agriculture practices and industrialization are some of the factors contributing to water quality degradation and biodiversity loss.
Rivers, estuaries and coastal areas are affected by reservoirs and dams.

4. Aquatic Ecosystems 2
Aquatic ecosystems are very dynamic and are changing fast. Alien species are spreading quickly and threatening biodiversity.
Consistent trend of human migration toward coastal regions increase stress and degradation on estuaries and coastal areas.
Cumulatively, climate changes are affecting hydrologic cycles and will pose in the near future more problems to water quantity and quality, in different world regions.

5. Aquatic Ecosystems 3
Water ecosystems are used as sources and sinks by a large number of similar activities occurring worldwide.
Thus, similar water problems and degradation can be related to similar causes, having similar consequences in different world aquatic ecosystems.
Addressing water quality and quantity issues is a crucial matter for human existence and biodiversity conservation.

6. Natural and Cultural Factors
Natural Template and Processes
Environmental Change
Slow, Large-scale Geology
Climate
Fast, Small-scale Geomorphology Hydrology
Biophysical Feedbacks
AquaticSystems
Ecosystem Goods and Services
Exploitation Management
Conservation Rehabilitation
Social Priorities
Economics
Cultural Histories and Beliefs
Human Perception and Influence
after Naiman et al. 2005

7. Ecohydrology
Using ecosystem properties as a management tool enhances carrying capacity of ecosystems against human impact.
This approach is supported by a profound knowledge of ecosystems functioning, as a basis for twinning the interplay between hydrologic and ecological factors, in order to increase ecosystems robustness and resilience to anthropogenic impacts.

8. Ecohydrology 2
The Ecohydrology approach considers three principles that are expressed in sequential components:
1. Hydrological: The quantification of the hydrological cycle of a basin, should be a template for functional integration of hydrological and biological processes.

9. Ecohydrology 3
2. Ecological: The integrated processes at river basin scale can be steered in such a way as to enhance the basin’s carrying capacity and its ecosystem services.
3. Ecological engineering: The regulation of hydrological and ecological processes, based on an integrative system approach, is thus a new tool for Integrated Water Basin Management and Integrated Costal Management.

10. What is a Wetland Function?
A biological, physical, or chemical process that occurs in a wetland, whether humans are present or not.
Wildlife habitat
Groundwater recharge
Nutrient removal

11. What is a Wetland Value?
A human benefit gained from a wetland system = Ecosystem Service
A value may or may not be the same as a function
Groundwater recharge
Aesthetics
A function may have a negative value
Mosquito habitat

12. Ecosystem Services
Ecologists coined the term “ecosystem services” as a way of conveying the idea that ecological systems provide services, in addition to goods, that underpin human well-being.
Provide value to humanity in both direct and indirect ways. Essentially, value is the difference that something makes to someone; it may be tangible and apparent, like a durable good, or it may be something that people overlook in their day-today activities.

13. Ecosystem Services Four broad categories:
Provisioning services are those that provide goods such as food and water
Regulating services are those that control various processes, such as flood control or suppression of disease outbreaks
Supporting services, such as nutrient recycling, maintain material and energy balances
Cultural services are those that provide spiritual, moral, and aesthetic benefits
Additionally, there are other types of services, such as provision of habitat, or information flow (science and education).

14. Aquatic Services Fish and Wildlife Habitat Endangered Species
Hunting and Fishing
Non-consumptive Recreation
Groundwater Recharge
Flood Control
Storm Abatement

15. Fish and Wildlife Habitat

16. Endangered Species

17. Hunting and Fishing

18. Non-consumptive Recreation

19. Groundwater Recharge

20. Grand Forks, North Dakota

21. Storm Abatement

22. “Nature’s Shock Absorbers”

23. Aquatic Services 2 Subsistence Use Agriculture and Aquaculture Timber
Carbon Sequestration
Water Quality
Navigation
Aesthetics

24. Subsistence Use

25. Agriculture and Aquaculture

26. Timber

27. Carbon Sequestration

28. Wastewater Treatment
                                                               

29. “Nature’s Kidneys”

30. Navigation

31. Aesthetics

32. Property Values

33. Quantifying Wetland Values
Wetlands are multiple-value systems, that is, they may be valuable for many different reasons
The most valuable products of wetlands are public amenities that have no commercial value for the private wetland owner
The relationship between wetland area and marginal value is complex

34. Quantifying Wetland Values
Commercial values are finite, whereas wetlands provide values in perpetuity
Wetland development often irreversible
A comparison of economic short-term gains with wetland value in the long term often is not appropriate
Estimates of values, by their nature, are colored by the personal endowment and biases of individuals and of society