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Executive Summary
Pages 1-16

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From page 1...
... Thus, the term "aquatic ecosystems" in this report includes these related terrestrial ecosystems and underlying aquifers. Aquatic ecosystems perform numerous interrelated environmental functions and provide a wide range of important goods and services.
From page 2...
... . The committee consisted of 11 volunteer experts drawn from the fields of ecology, economics, and philosophy who have professional expertise relating to aquatic ecosystems and to the valuation of ecosystem services.
From page 3...
... Attempts to value ecosystem services without this key link will either fail to have ecological underpinnings or fail to be relevant as valuation studies. Where an ecosystem's services and goods can be identified and measured, it will often be possible to assign values to them by employing existing economic valuation methods.
From page 4...
... The combined challenge is to develop and apply methods to assess the values of human-induced changes in ecosystem functions and services. Finally, this report concerns valuing the goods and services that ecosystems provide to human societies, with principal focus on those provided by aquatic and related terrestrial ecosystems.
From page 5...
... The role of economic valuation in environmental decision-making depends on the specific criteria used to choose among policy alternatives. If policy choices are based primarily on intrinsic values, there is little need for the quantification of values through economic valuation.
From page 6...
... · If the benefits and costs of a policy are evaluated, the benefits and costs associated with changes in ecosystem services should be included along with other impacts to ensure that ecosystem effects are adequately considered in policy evaluation. · Economic valuation of changes in ecosystem services should be based on the comprehensive definition embodied in the TEV framework; both use and nonuse values should be included.
From page 7...
... However, the development of an interdisciplinary terminology and a universally applicable protocol for valuing aquatic ecosystems was ultimately identified by the committee as unnecessary. From an ecological perspective, the value of specific ecosystem functions/services is entirely relative.
From page 8...
... In addition to presenting valuation approaches, the applicability of each method to valuing ecosystem services is discussed. All of this is provided within the context of the committees' implicit objective of assessing the literature in order to facilitate original studies that will develop a closer link between aquatic ecosystem functions, services, and value estimates.
From page 9...
... In contrast, replacement cost and cost of treatment methods should be used with great caution if at all. Although economists have attempted to design strict guidelines for using replacement cost as a last resort "proxy" valuation estimation for an ecological service, in practice estimates employing the replacement cost or cost of treatment approach rarely conform to the conditions outlined by such guidelines.
From page 10...
... · Benefit transfers should be considered a "second-best" method of ecosystem services valuation and should be used with caution and only if appropriate guidelines are followed. · The replacement cost method and estimates of the cost of treatment are not valid approaches to determining benefits and should not be employed to value aquatic ecosystem services.
From page 11...
... Such cases can arise with natural resource damage assessment, where a dollar value estimate of total damages is required, or with ecosystem restoration efforts, and will typically face large gaps in understanding and information in both ecology and economics. Proceeding from single services to entire ecosystems illustrates the range of circumstances and methods for valuing ecosystem goods and services.
From page 12...
... Lastly, the value of ecosystem services depends upon underlying conditions. Ecosystem valuation studies should clearly present assumptions about underlying ecosystem and market conditions and how estimates of value could change with changes in these underlying conditions.
From page 13...
... It is also important that the sources of uncertainty be acknowledged, minimized, and accounted for in ways that ensure that a study's results and related decisions regarding ecosystem valuation are not systematically biased and do not convey a false sense of precision. There are several cases in which investigators must use professional judgment in ecosystem valuation regarding how to frame a valuation study, how to address the methodological judgments that must be made during the study, and how to use peer review to identify and evaluate these judgments.
From page 14...
... It provides a mechanism for learning systematically about the links between human societies and ecosystems, although it is not a tool for ecosystem valuation or a method of valuation per se. Based on these conclusions, the committee makes the following recommendations regarding judgment and uncertainty in ecosystem valuation activities and methods and approaches to effectively and proactively respond to them (Chapter 6)
From page 15...
... · Under conditions of uncertainty, irreversibility, and learning, there should be a clear preference for environmental policy measures that are flexible and minimize the commitment of fixed capital or that can be implemented on a small scale on a pilot or trial basis. ECOSYSTEM VALUATION: SYNTHESIS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS The final chapter of this report seeks to synthesize the current knowledge regarding ecosystem valuation in a way that will be useful to resource managers and policymakers as they incorporate the value of ecosystem services into their decisions.
From page 16...
... These overarching recommendations are based on, and in some cases build on, the more specific recommendations presented at the ends of the previous chapters; they include (1) overarching recommendations for conducting ecosystem valuation and (2)


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