Understanding the Connections Between Coastal Waters and Ocean Ecosystem Services and Human Health Workshop Summary (2014) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Conceptual Issues
2 Conceptual Issues
Pages 5-22
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From page 5... ...
The second presentation describes broad efforts to protect ecosystem services, using the Puget Sound and Gulf of Mexico as examples, and the need to develop indicators to assess the health of coastal and ocean environments and the services they provide to humans. The presentations are followed by a summary of the discussion that ensued.
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From page 6... ...
Biosphere 2's initial experiments failed to sustain human life in a closed and independent biosphere system as hoped. The biosphere experienced a broad range of negative impacts: oxygen levels plummeted, carbon dioxide levels skyrocketed, nitrous oxide rose to levels that impair brain function, and water purification failed.
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From page 7... ...
significant losses of coastal habitat reduces flood protection and increases the risk of floods. The latter describes the loss of ecosystem services.
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From page 8... ...
The usee of two ecosyystem servicess in particular -- r -- capture fisheries annd freshwater -- -- are now weell beyond levvels that can be sustainned at currentt demands, mu uch less futurre levels, Olannder said. An n aspect of th he MEA that needs n to be hiighlighted, Olander noted,, is the efffort to build linkages l betw ween the servvices and hum man well-beinng.
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From page 9... ...
However, the promotion of shrimp farming in these areas has raised concerns about the potential ecological and economic impact of clearing mangroves for shrimp farming. Researchers studying the value of mangrove conservation showed that while financial cost-benefit analysis demonstrates that it is financially worthwhile for an individual to convert mangrove forests into commercial shrimp farms, once other factors are taken into account, such as the water pollution from shrimp ponds and restoring the mangrove after the shrimp pond is abandoned, shrimp farming is no longer as economically beneficial to society (Sathirathai and Barbier, 2001)
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From page 10... ...
Olander also described another framework commonly used by researchers, published by de Groot and colleagues (2010) , which is useful for linking ecosystem services to human well-being in a way that facilitates quantification of impact.
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From page 11... ...
FIGURE F 2-2 Ecosyytem services manaagement effects maatrix applied to a marsh m scenario. 11 SOURCE: S Personal communication, Peete Caligiuri, The Nature N Conservancyy, September 11, 20013.
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From page 12... ...
. In summary, Olander O high hlighted that the conceptt of ecosysteem servicees is a logicall thought proccess which caan be used inn quantitative or qualitaative assessmment of impliications and trade-offs.
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From page 13... ...
However, he added th hat a way to evaluate its eeffectiveness is needed y to measure any increase in the servicces produced bby d, particularly Puget Sound, as its protection an nd restorationn have provedd very costly. Co gure from thee World Healtth Organization ollier then refferenced a fig (WHO O)
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From page 14... ...
Though there is a lot of information about stressors and how they affect our ecosystems, Collier noted that there was not very much known about how altered ecosystems actually affect humans. Puget Sound Partnership Christine Gregoire, governor of Washington state, created the new state agency, the Puget Sound Partnership, in 2007, to work toward a "swimmable, fishable, diggable Puget Sound by 2020." Collier noted that this defined the political view of ecosystem services for the Partnership; however, in order to put together the policies and write the legislation to create a new state agency, more specific detail was needed.
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From page 15... ...
in whole-body chinook salmon along the West Coast found much higher levels in Puget Sound specimens than those to the north or south. These high levels of contaminants have led to fish consumption advisories, limiting Puget Sound salmon consumption.
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From page 16... ...
The point to consider here, Collier noted, is that most agree that marine fish consumption confers certain health benefits to humans -- for example, better cardiovascular health, better development of fetal brains, and perhaps even longer life. So, when a fishery is shut down for an oil spill or for levels of PCBs (as in the Puget Sound fish example above)
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From page 17... ...
Collier stressed that while the Puget Sound Partnership is cleaning up stormwater and reducing toxic and nutrient inputs -- and thus improving the health of the biota, improving the safety of swimming beaches, and reducing harmful algal blooms -- they should also be demonstrably improving human health by making access to safe seafood more reliable. Seafood should be regarded by the community as safe and beneficial for both recreational and commercial purposes.
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From page 18... ...
Also, the Puget Sound Partnership has not been successful in building robust indices that could measure quality of life or sound behavior (two of the indicators in the "Human Quality of Life" section) and has not been able to find good data for recreational fishing permits and commercial fishing harvests (the two other indicators in this section)
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From page 19... ...
Vital siigns wheel cennter photo creddit: CE: Puget Soun Flickr/D Diana K Co ollier concludded his presen ntation by strressing that bbetter indicatoors to link k coastal and d marine conddition to eco system servicces and hum man health and well-beeing are need ded, and askked for any suggestions to furtherr this goal.
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From page 20... ...
He mentioned there is work ongoing in Japan and Finland to develop measures for the value of forests, including values that are more difficult to measure. Researchers in these countries have been looking at the restorative functions or therapeutic services provided by forests and at measures such as a reduction in cortisol levels or an increase in serotonin levels.
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From page 21... ...
2012. Puget Sound vital signs.
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