1. Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future Richard T. Wright
Chapter 11
Ecosystem Capital: Use and Restoration
PPT by Clark E. Adams

2. Ecosystem Capital: Use and Restoration
Global perspective on biological systems
Conservation, preservation, restoration
Biomes and ecosystems under pressure
Public and private lands in the United States

3. What We Need to Know about Ecosystems
How they sustain human life and economies
Positive and negative effects of ecosystem conversions
Sustainable approaches to ecosystem management

5. Natural Ecosystems on Earth’s Surface: Table 11-1
Total land area: 57.6 million square miles
Total ocean area: million square miles – mostly open ocean

6. Services of Natural Ecosystems (see Table 3-2)
Modification of climate
Maintenance of hydrological cycle
Erosion control and soil building

7. Services of Natural Ecosystems (see Table 3-2)
Maintenance of oxygen and nitrogen cycles
Waste treatment
Pest management
Carbon storage and maintenance of carbon cycle

8. Wetland Services
Valued at $100,000 per acre per year
Water purification and fish propagation

9. Conservation, Preservation, Restoration
Conservation versus preservation
Patterns of use of natural ecosystems
Restoration

10. Conservation versus Preservation
Conservation: managing or regulating use so that it does not exceed the capacity of the species or system to renew itself
Preservation: ensure species or ecosystem continuity regardless of their potential utility

11. Patterns of Use of Natural Ecosystems

12. Patterns of Human Use of Natural Resources (True or False)
Greed
Ignorance
Desperation
Sustainability
Mining the resource
Managing the resource
Unregulated access to resource

13. Tragedy of the Commons
Begins with unregulated access to a resource owned by no one. Examples?
Harvest based on largest amount over the shortest period of time.
No thought given to sustainable harvests.
Usually ends with no resource for anyone.

14. Preventing a Tragedy of the Commons
Private ownership
Regulated access
Sustained benefits
Fairness in access rights
Common consent of the regulated

15. Principles Incorporated into Public Policies to Protect Natural Resources (Table 11-2)
Natural resources cannot be treated as an open commons.
Sound science needed to assess health and level of resource use.
Precautionary principle should be used in setting limits for exploitation.

16. Principles Incorporated into Public Policies to Protect Natural Resources (Table 11-2)
Regulations should be enforced.
Economic incentives that encourage the violation of regulations should be eliminated.
Subsidies that support exploitation should be removed.

17. Principles Incorporated into Public Policies to Protect Natural Resources (Table 11-2)
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.

18. Restoration
The intent of ecosystem restoration is to repair the damage to specific land and waters so that normal ecosystem integrity, resilience, and productivity returns.

19. Biomes and Ecosystems under Pressure
Forest biomes
Ocean ecosystems
Coral reefs and mangroves

20. Forest Biomes Conserve biodiversity Moderate regional climates
Prevent erosion
Store carbon and nutrients
Provide recreational opportunities
Provide a number of vital goods

21. World Forest Biomes

22. Causes of Deforestation
Conversion into pastures and agricultural lands
Consequences? (next slide)

23. Consequences of Deforestation
Productivity
Nutrient recycling
Biodiversity
Soil erosion
Transpiration
Air pollution
More
Deforestation or
Less

24. Silviculture: Forest Management with Harvest Goals
Even-aged management
Clear-cutting: no tree left behind
Uneven-aged management
Selective cutting

25. Causes of the Loss of Tropical Rain Forests
Colonization: consolidation of agricultural lands
Huge national debts
Fast food chains and cheap hamburger

26. Conserving Tropical Rain Forests
Ecotourism
Extractive reserves
Management by indigenous people
Rubber plantations
Sustainable logging

27. Sustainable Forest Management
Manage for sustainable outcomes
Teach others
Protect the health of the forest
Recognize and protect unique forest ecosystems
Strive to be better forest managers

28. Ocean Ecosystems
75% of the Earth’s
surface
An international
commons?

29. Global Fish Harvests
139 million metric tons by
2001

30. Fisheries in Distress: Cod Landings from Georges Bank, 1982–2000

31. Fisheries Problems: Bottom Trawling
Too many boats
High technology
Too few fish

32. The Magnuson Conservation Act of 1976
Gave federal government authority to manage fisheries
Claimed the area between 3 and 200 miles offshore as the “Exclusive Economic Zone”

33. The Magnuson Conservation Act of 1976
Designed to eliminate foreign fishing
Designed to restore and conserve fish

34. Sustainable Fisheries Act
The 1996 reauthorization of the Magnuson Act
Mandates that fish stocks be rebuilt
Management plans and yields be based on scientific data
Steps be taken to minimize bycatch

36. Factors That Restored Whale Populations (True or False)
International Whaling Commission
The Red Data Book
Whale watching
Japan’s scientific research
Stellwagen bank

37. Mangroves Protects coasts from storm damage and erosion
Forms rich refuge and nursery for marine fish

38. Coral Reefs Important food sources for local people
Wave erosion control
Great diversity of marine vertebrates and invertebrates

39. Sources of Damage to Coral Reefs
Warm water
Eutrophication
Islander poverty
Logging
Shrimp aquaculture
Coastal development

40. Public and Private Lands in the United States
National parks and national wildlife refuges
National forests
Protecting nonfederal lands
Conclusion

41. Federal Lands (40%) in the U.S.

42. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition

43. Wilderness Act of 1964
Provides for permanent protection of undeveloped and unexploited areas so that natural ecological processes can operate freely
5% of land area in U.S.
Preservation, not conservation

44. National Forests Only 5% of the original U.S. forests are left
Most U.S. forests are second growth

45. Environmental
Concerns
Reagan
Clinton
Post WW II
Housing Boom

46. New Forestry = Ecosystem Management
Cut trees less frequently
Leave wider buffer zones along waterways
Leave dead logs and debris
Protect broader landscapes
Build no new roads until damage to old ones is addressed

47. Protecting Nonfederal Lands
Land Trust Alliance
Nature Conservancy
Trustees of Reservations in Massachusetts

48. Conclusions?
We are plundering our children’s heritage to pay for our present unsustainable practices.
We need a new ethic of stewardship.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan

49. End of Chapter 11