While environmentalists and scientists have discussed the idea of ecosystem services for several decades, it only gained attention after an official announcement of its concept, by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in 2005. As a new field in ecology, I realized that there is much more research needed to be done in terms of management and sustainable development of ecosystem services. Many environmentalists have brought up new ideas and methods to improve ecosystem services and have created programs to promote their sustainability. Despite these efforts, however, the resulting outcomes have not been so successful than expected and ecosystem services still remain under threat. This leads us to question the effectiveness—the validity and reliability—of these programs and how they are managed. My goal in this paper is to analyze the efficiency of current ecosystem service management systems and present my thoughts and ideas on how we can improve them from an environmental, social, and economic perspective.
Ecosystem services are goods and services provided by ecosystems that benefit, sustain and support the well-being of people. They can be grouped into four main categories: regulating , provisioning , supporting , and cultural services. These services, which are key to well-being, including security, sufficient nutritious food, health, and good social relations, can only be maintained if ecosystems—which provide these services—are maintained. Ecosystems are currently
An ecosystem is a community of interacting organisms and their environment. If one of the organisms is disturbed, it can change the trophic cascade which is a sequence of impacts down the food chain. Hannibal supports this statement by writing “keeping these connections going ensures healthy, functioning ecosystems, which in turn support human life.”(578) An example of this is if all of the beavers died the other organisms would go somewhere else or die due because they no longer will have dams to support their ideal habitat.
Ecosystems can be restored by retaining and restoring the ecological sustainability of watersheds, forests, and rangelands for present and future generations.
Ecosystems is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment that work together to form a functional unit and they are constantly changing due to the fluctuating equilibrium from natural stress and human action which has had adversarial impacts on ecosystems. This is evident in Minnamurra rainforest as human induced modifications and environmental stresses had resulted in a vulnerable ecosystem. Furthermore, the removal of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of an ecosystem is important as it affect the functioning of the ecosystem as processes are accelerated, biodiversity is decreased which greatly affects humans. Despite the negative effects caused by humans, they have discovered that ecosystems are susceptible from harm caused by natural environmental factors or human impacts and realised the importance of protecting and managing ecosystems therefore have implemented management strategies that are supposed to prevent further detriment and as a consequence may induce resiliency.
Ecology is the branch of biology that studies the interactions of organisms with each other, and with their physical and chemical environments. Another main topic discussed in this chapter is ecosystems. Ecosystems are habitats or areas that consists of two basic components. Ecosystems include such things as biotic and abiotic components. Biotic components are living organisms within an ecosystem and abiotic components are things like sunlight, temperature, and rainfall. Within an ecosystem are producer and autotrophs. Producers and autotrophs consist of plants, algae, and bacteria. These two organisms obtain food from inorganic materials and light energy. As to where consumer and heterotrophs obtain energy by eating plants or the animals that eat the plants. An ecosystem is made up of several different parts. Each part of an ecosystem is different from the other. None of these parts within the ecosystem rely on the other. They are all interdependent being either predators or
With twin goals of conserving biodiversity and reducing humanity's Ecological Footprint, the organization is drawing on the combined strength and expertise of its global network to create innovative partnerships that integrate
In order for an ecosystem to stay an ecosystem there are three aspects that interact with each other:
In the piece “Selling out on nature” (McCauley, 2006), Douglas J. McCauley describes how conservation efforts are fueled by the economic advantages it possesses and are carried out solely for the purpose of benefiting our economic markets. McCauley states that ecosystem services are “economic benefits provided by natural ecosystems” (27), arguing that the only incentive for mankind to save nature depends on how profitable nature can be. He emphasizes that our attention should not be put forth in commodifying nature but rather, inculcating respect and love for it so that we can preserve it for many years to come. I oppose McCauley’s argument because it’s impractical and unachievable. Humanity will
Chapin, F.S., Carpenter, S.R., Kofinas, G.P., Folke, C., Abel, N., Clark, W.C., …& Swanson, F.J (2010). Ecosystem stewardship: sustainability strategies for a rapid change planet.
The potential for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) has been debated and explored for over ten years. Despite this, apart from agri-environment schemes, most funding has been for short term projects.
An ecosystem is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment as a functional unit. Ecosystems are systems through which incoming solar energy is captured and channelled through a hierarchy of life forms. Each ecosystem has its own characteristic plant and animal community.
UVM, specifically Vermont, is the perfect place for sustainability and going “green.” UVM has taken many steps in becoming a top school for not only environmental education but a top school for sustainability as well. UVM is continuing to strive for climate neutrality and these efforts will continue well into the future. UVM’s efforts are inspirational to the community, students and the future of sustainability.
This decline in wetlands should be of concern to ____ as wetlands provide a variety of ecosystem services to the general populace. They provide provisioning services by the providing habitats to different marine organisms such as shellfish, finfish, and waterfowl, some of which provide humans eat They provide supporting services, such as nutrient cycling (Teal 1986,
As a set of interacting species found in the same place and functioning together, this enabling life to persist. That is essentially the definition we used earlier. A problem with this term and definition is that it is often difficult in practice to know the entire set of interacting species. A resource, in ecological terms, is something such as food, water, habitat, and sunlight, prey that is required by an organism to perform a vital function such as grow or reproduce. A consumer is an organism that consumes a resource such as predators and herbivores (Botkin, 2015). Ecosystems are collections of plants, animals, and micro-organisms interacting among themselves and with their habitat. While most ecosystems are hard to define and draw rigid boundaries around, scientists characterize them by their rock and soil types, by water features such as streams and ponds, and by the common plant and animal species which make their homes within these areas. This, most interactions between animals involve one or more competitor species competing for a resource. Ecosystem management also recognizes the influence of natural disturbances such as fire and windstorms, accepting that natural ecosystems are dynamic and change over time. Biological production is the capture of usable energy from the environment to produce
Integration of ecological, social, and economic goals and recognition of humans as key components of the ecosystem………………………………………………………..............3
In order to reduce the ecological impact of Macquarie University’s Arts Department the ecological footprinting tool is used to highlight problem areas and provide clear information on usage. By using this footprinting tool and related academic literature seven potential strategies have been identified.