Valuing Ecosystem Services Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making (2005) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 17-32
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From page 17... ...
Each of these entities is connected to a greater ecological and hydrological landscape that includes adjacent riparian areas, upland terrestrial ecosystems, and underlying groundwater aquifers. As discussed in detail in Chapter 3, the term "aquatic ecosystems" used in this report includes related terrestrial ecosystems and underlying aquifers.
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. Thus, the number and amount of intact functional aquatic ecosystems have been substantially reduced in recent decades.
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However, human activities and rapid population growth (often preferentially in or near aquatic ecosystems) , along with historical and ongoing industrial, commercial, and residential development, have led to increased pollution, adverse modification, and destruction of remaining (especially pristine)
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20 Valuing Ecosystem Services FIGURE 1-2 Groundwater regions in the United States. Note: Shading refers to principal types of water-bearing rocks.
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Chapter 3 reviews some existing definitions of aquatic and related terrestrial ecosystems; describes their associated structures and functions; and introduces their translation to ecosystem goods and services. Chapter 4 provides a review of key existing methods of nonmarket valuation for aquatic ecosystems and issues related to their development and successful application.
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Lastly, Chapter 7 synthesizes the current knowledge regarding ecosystem services valuation and builds on the preceding chapters in order to provide guidelines for policymakers and planners concerned with the management, protection, and restoration of aquatic ecosystems. It also identifies what the committee feels are overarching recommendations for improving the valuation of ecosystem services and related research needs.
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. The translation from ecosystem structure and functions to ecosystem goods and services is given by an ecological production function, and the translation from ecosystem goods and services to value is given by an economic valuation function.
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Where an ecosystem's goods and services can be identified and measured, it will often be possible to assign values to them by employing existing economic valuation methods. Chapter 4 provides a summary of key existing nonmarket valuation methods for (primarily aquatic)
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The emerging desire to measure the environmental costs of human activities, or to assess the benefits of environmental protection and restoration, has challenged the state of the art in environmental evaluation in both the ecological and the social sciences. From an ecological perspective, the challenge is to interpret basic research on ecosystem functions so that service-level information can be communicated to economists.
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agencies, one significant change was made. As a compromise to the USACE's desire to expand the scope of the study to include all ecosystems, it was decided and subsequently agreed by the NRC and all study sponsors to expand the study proposal to include "related terrestrial ecosystems." The original basis for this change in language and study focus was the key 1983 water resources planning report Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies (WRC, 1983)
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This report is about placing values on the goods and services that ecosystems provide to human societies, with its principal focus on the goods and services provided by aquatic and related terrestrial ecosystems. Furthermore, the report focuses on freshwater and estuarine systems, eschewing extensive consideration of marine and groundwater systems.
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From page 28... ...
by economists' estimates of value -- especially by what is called "existence value." The reason economic valuation is more comprehensive than generally recognized is that economists recognize two basic types of value, use and nonuse values (see Chapters 2 and 4 for a more complete discussion)
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The continuance or growth of these types of economic activities is directly related to the extent and health of these natural ecosystems. However, human activities, rapid population growth, and industrial, commercial, and residential development have all led to increased pollution, adverse modification, and destruction of remaining aquatic ecosystems -- despite an increase in federal, state, and local regulations intended to protect, conserve, and restore these natural resources.
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However, based on an assessment of a very large literature on the development and application of various economic valuation methods, the committee concludes that they are relatively mature and capable of providing useful information in support of improved environmental decision-making. Although there has been great progress in ecology in better understanding ecosystem structure and functions, and in economics in developing and applying nonmarket valuation techniques, there remains a gap between the two.
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From page 31... ...
2003b. Science Advisory Board, Economics Advisory Committee, Advisory Panel on the Environmental Economics Research Strategy; Request for Nominations.
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1992. Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems: Science, Technology, and Public Policy.
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