Ecosystems Capital: Use and Restoration

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Environmental Science

• Ecosystems Capital Use and Restoration

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Services of Natural Ecosystems

• Modification of climate
• Maintenance of hydrological cycle
• Erosion control and soil building
• Maintenance of oxygen, phosphorus and nitrogen
  cycles
• Waste treatment
• Pest management
• Primary production maintenance of carbon cycle
• Cultural benefits spiritual, recreational,
  aesthetic

See Fig 1-13, chapter 3
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2 approaches to ecosystem management
Conservation
Preservation
Ensure continuity regardless of potential
utility Can preclude human use in some cases, ex
old growth forests
Manage or regulate use within capacity of
renewal Can be sustainable in long-term
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Preservation John Muir
http//teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/thumbnail26
8.html
John Muir 1838 1914 Studied Yosemite area and
Sierras Discovered sign illegally claiming
private ownership in Kings Canyon, and cutting of
ancient giant sequoia south of present day
Sequoia National Park
Greatest threat to the Yosemite area and the
Sierras was livestock, sheep Introduced bill to
Congress to make Yosemite area into a national
park, modeled after Yellowstone Helped form
organization called the Sierra Club in 1892
Befriended Gifford Pinchot, but that friendship
was ended when Pinchot stated that forests should
be managed for the betterment of mankind,
President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied Muir
on a visit to the Yosemite
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Conservation Gifford Pinchot
1865 1946 1898, head of the Division of
Forestry, later renamed the U.S. Forest Service,
Advocated scientific conservation, planned use
and renewal of the nation's forest reserves
exploited commercial potential by private use in
exchange for modest fees "the art of producing
from the forest whatever it can yield for the
service of man."
Friendship of President Theodore Roosevelt
Preservationists opposed commercialization of
the land In 1907, Congress forbade the
President to create more forest reserves in
Western states Taft elected in 1908, fired
Pinchot for speaking out against policies of
Secretary of the Interior Richard A.
Ballinger Helped lead to split of the Republican
Party
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Current Wise Use Movement
Loose affiliation of free-market
environmentalists, begun in 1988 Multiple Use
Strategy that produced a 25-point Wise Use
Agenda, examples "Immediate wise development
of the petroleum resources of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge." "Passage of the Global
Warming Prevention Act to convert in a systematic
manner all decaying and oxygen using forest
growth on the National Forests into young stands
of oxygen producing, carbon dioxide -absorbing
trees to help ameliorate the rate of global
warming." (Founder, Ron Arnold quoted saying
"There isn't any such thing" as the Greenhouse
effect). Goals are to increase responsible
commercial use of public lands for uses such as
timber, mining, and oil, to open recreational
wilderness areas for easier access by the general
public, and to implement free-market solutions to
environmental problems. Several environmental
advisors to president George W. Bush have been
associated with the wise use movement, including
Interior Secretary Gale Norton.
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http//www.earthfirstjournal.org/efj/primer/differ
ent.html
At the other end Earth First!
Not enough to preserve some remaining wilderness.
We need to preserve it all, and it is time to
recreate vast areas of wilderness in all the
planet's ecosystems identify key areas, close
roads, remove developments, and reintroduce
extirpated wildlife.                            
                         Many environmental
groups are members of the American political
establishment and adopt the anthropocentric
(human-centered) world view of industrial
civilization Developing a new biocentric
paradigm based on the intrinsic value of all
natural things Deep Ecology. Earth First!
believes in wilderness for its own sake Use
confrontation, guerrilla theater, direct action
and civil disobedience to fight for wild places
and life processes, but do not condone or condemn
monkeywrenching or ecotage.
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"We are sick to death of environmentalism and so
we will destroy it. We will not allow our right
to own property and use nature's resources for
the benefit of mankind to be stripped from us by
a bunch of eco-facists. Ron Arnold (a founder
of wise use movement), Boston Globe, January 13,
1992. "New, militant antienvironmentalists fight
to return nature to a back seat."
Would Pinchot support Wise Use? Would Muir
support Earth First!? What should be the balance
between private use and preservation? Who should
decide?
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Impacts of natural resource harvest on ecosystems
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Tragedy of the Commons

• Begins with unregulated access to a resource
  owned by no one.
• Grasslands (mining, grazing)
• Open H20 (mining, fishing, bottling)
• Harvest based on largest amount over the shortest
  period of time.
• Can deplete resource.

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Preventing a Tragedy of the Commons

• Private ownership
• Regulated access mutual coercion mutually agreed
  upon (G. Hardin)
• Sustained benefits
• Fairness in access rights
• Common consent of the regulated

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Ecosystem restoration Ex. Florida Everglades
http//fssr.home.comcast.net/news.htm
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The book
The movie Adaptation
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Biomes Under Pressure

• Forests and woodlands
• Tropical forests
• Oceans
• Coral reefs and mangroves

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World Wood Consumption
16
United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) 2001 report on forest resources
http//www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file
/docrep/003/y0900e/y0900e05.htm
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• United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization
  (FAO) 2001 report on forest resources major
  findings
• More forest area than in 1995, partly because
  industrialized nations switched definition of
  forest from 20 canopy coverage to 10 coverage
• Deforestation still occurring, mostly in
  developing countries, often for conversion to
  pasture land
• Drought years, ex. 1998 caused large burning of
  forests
• 10 of forests are protected world wide
• Role of forests in climate change acknowledged
• Release CO2 when burned
• Indicators of climate change
• Renewable energy
• Healthy forests store CO2

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Types of forest harvest
Clear cutting removing all trees, not a good
idea Selective cutting harvest only mature
trees Shelter-wood cutting cut mature trees
only over long time period, some big trees always
present to provide shade and seeds
Require more skill Do not require replanting More
functional ecosystem
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Sustainable Forest Management
-Sustainable wood yield or -Maintain other
ecosystem functions Meet present needs without
compromising needs of future generations
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Tropical forests
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-Wood harvest -Clearing for agricultural land
(plantations (tree farms) or other
crops) -Usually involves cutting and burning
(1997 Indonesian fires)
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Factors effecting loss of Tropical Rainforests

• Huge national debts
• Fast food chains and cheap hamburger

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Alternatives to clearing and plantations
Shade Grown Coffee Coffee is a shade-loving
shrub full-sun hybrids 25 years ago to increase
yield Maintains biodiversity, especially bird
habitat Differs from organic and fair trade- but
sometimes all together More expensive (lower
yield, small market) Sometimes carried by
Starbucks
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Other conservation strategies

• Ecotourism
• Management by indigenous people
• Plantations may be better than crop
  agriculture
• Sustainable logging

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Eco-valentines
Plantations Arriba gourmet chocolate. Grown in
the shade of the Ecuadorian rainforest, and in
harmony with the ocelots, parrots and howler
monkeys that call the rainforest home, this
first-ever Rainforest Alliance Certified
chocolate does as much good for the environment
and cocoa-producing communities as it does for
the people who savor its rich flavor.
http//www.rainforest-alliance.org/valentine/index
.html
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How can non-tropical residents influence the loss
of tropical forests? Is it any of our
business? Are you willing to vote with your
wallet?
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Federal Lands (40) In The U.S.
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Wilderness Act of 1964

• Provides for permanent protection of undeveloped
  and unexploited areas so that natural ecological
  processes can operate freely.
• 5 of land area in U.S.
• Preservation not conservation

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National Parks and Wildlife Refuges
Protection public access Can be in conflict
off road vehicles car traffic
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National Forests multiple use grazing, logging
mining, and recreation

• Only 5 of the original U.S. Forests are left
• Most U.S. Forests are second growth

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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge controversy
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(No Transcript)
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Pros -Need domestic oil -National
security Cons -Amount not significant compared
to consumption (180 day supply) -No oil for 10
years -Sensitive coastal habitat spp.