Week 2 notes.docx

2.1 Ecological Economics and Ecosystem Services: Accounting for Nature’s Value  Define ecosystem services (ES); the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; externalities, Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and methods for valuing nature (stated preference valuation, revealed preference valuation, replacement cost valuation). Use examples for each. The MA is a tool in which we can evauluate the human impact on the environment. Published in 2005, it analyzed the degradation of the worlds resources and quantified the level of depleted resources as well as threatened ones. Ecosystem services (ES) are the varying contributions to the humanity. It is comprised of all types of eco systems (forest, oceanic/aquatic, desert, agriculture, climate, air, etc) Payments for ecosystem Services (PES) Those who manage or use natural resources such as forestry departments or farmland` agriculture receive a monetary reimbursement if they manage their land, watershed and resources on their land. Some examples would be a lumber company planting trees after cutting, farmers leaving natural barriers in between crops or managing water usage. -Stated preference Valuation: Evaluating the value of a resource by asking people what they feel the value is for the resource or the services rendered by a resource. -Revealed preference valuation: Finding out the value of an item by monitoring usage of a resource or services from the resource to determine demand and ultimate value. -Replacement Cost Valuation: the Actual cost of an item in todays market. Sometimes valuation may be assessed by comparing the cost of a resource from the past and comparing it to the cost of the resource today.  Identify the four categories of ES, with an example of each.

Provisioning- Wood, fiber, biomass, fuel, freshwater, natural medicines Regulating- Air Quality, climate, water, runoff, erosion, natural hazards, pollination Cultural-Ethical Values, Existence Values, Recreation and Ecotourism Supporting Services- Nutrient cycling, water cycling, soil fermentation photosynthesis  Explain the pros and cons of ecosystem service valuation as a method of nature conservation (i.e. putting a price on nature). Destruction of the environment is usually done with economic gain. Cutting trees, open pit mining, commercial fishing, etc. Harms to people who are victims and had no say in the matter are called Negative externalities. Putting a price on economic values could make people more aware and have a more sustainable use of the environment.  Evaluate the relationship between ecosystem services and biodiversity (e.g. species richness). ES shouldn’t be seen as method for seeing the value in resources, it is better used to establish the methods in which the resources gain from nature itself. This can be done by understanding how damaged ecosystems no longer function to their potential and what species receive the harm.

Identify ecosystem services that have improved over the last 50 years.  Describe the importance of the saturating (flat) part of the Tilman 1997 curve (pg 77, K & M) on the graph that describes the relationship between the number of species in an ecosystem (x-axis) and plant biomass (as a measure of ecosystem function, on the y-axis). The biomass (or total quantity of living things) in the plot shoots up to a peak where the holding potential for the ecosystem levels off. This outlines that diversity (richness) is required to support biomass, but that with the holding capacity of an ecosystem, only so many species can be maintained before extinction or some level of mortality kicks in. 2.2 Policy Responses to Biodiversity Loss and Ecosystem Degradation  Explain the important role of hunters and hunting in the historical roots of US conservation policy.

 Recall the following about the US Endangered Species Act (ESA): o Date the US ESA was passed (and who was the president who authorized it). December 28 th 1973, signed into law by President Nixon. ALL species had value and deserve protection. o Agencies in charge of enforcing the ESA. -The Dept. of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service -Primary responsibility for all species -Department of Commerce National Marine Fisheries Service -Primary responsibility for marine species (whales, salmon) o Key distinguishing features of Section 4, 7, and 9 of the ESA. Section 4: Listing critical habitat, recovery and delisting and monitoring. The most extensive, identifies how species are selected and prioritized, what needs to be done to restore species and habitat and process of reaching those recovery goals that allow for removal from list. Section 6: Cooperation with states and territories Section 7: Federal Agency and Consultations. Authorities must carry out conservation programs to benefit threatened/endangered species. These programs must not threaten or endanger any other species.

Section 9: Prohibited acts. Taking (killing or capturing) of threatened or endangered species is unlawful Section 10 Permits (and other exceptions to prohibited acts) to take limited numbers of species o Key differences between the US Endangered Species List and the IUCN Red List. o Taxonomic bias on the US Endangered Species List. In the case of the wolves, undesieredable predators would be delisted for management, while desirable species like birds and other docile mammals are maintained with preferred bias. o Relative size of conservation expenditures by taxa (e.g. how much of US annual funding for conservation is spent on salmon?). o Approximate number of species (and percentage of those listed) saved from extinction by the US ESA. What are some examples of some species whose populations were helped by the ESA?  Define Habitat Conservation Plan; Safe Harbor Agreement; tradable development rights, and conservation banking in relation to the history of the ESA and private landowners.

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