Ecosystem Services. NREM 301 Bart Battista (Previous TA)

Transcription

1 Ecosystem Services NREM 301 Bart Battista (Previous TA)

2 Objectives Basic understanding of ecosystem goods and services (ES) Know why Ecosystem Services are Important How are ES used? How are they valued? Ecosystem Service Trends

3 Ecosystems Creighton, 2010

4 Ecosystems Goods & Services Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

5 Categorization Ecosystem goods = items given monetary value in the marketplace Goods: Food Construction materials Medicinal plants Wild genes for domestic plants and animals Tourism and recreation Services from ecosystems are valued, but are rarely bought or sold.

6 Categorization

7 Ecosystem Services Examples Loss of an ES Colony Collapse Disorder Not enough bees to pollinate harvests 2.5 million bee hives needed to pollinate agriculture system Only 1.5 million bee hives in U.S. Exceed ES Capacity Nutrient Retention Along the Mississippi Channelization Conversion of wetlands Dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico (Hypoxia)

8 ES Human Health

9 Quality Of Life

10 How Are ES Used? ES Management Management systems that: Sustain ecosystems Meet ecosystem/human needs ES Valuation ES values are not captured in commercial markets Gives ES less weight in human decisions (e.g. policy decisions)

11 Ecosystem Service Management Sustainable Systems = Greater Value Challenges Changing paradigms UN Environmental Program encourages countries to adopt ES Management ES Management is at the heart of adaptive management

12 Incorporating ES Value Into Policy Many ecosystem goods already incorporated into policy decisions Economic valuation methods used for non-market ecosystem services Often non-market services much more valuable than market ecosystem goods How would you value a non-market service?

13 Value of Non-Market ES Willingness to pay Hedonic Property Values Travel Cost Stated Preference How much would it cost to engineer a solution? Incorporate externalities into costs

14 Ecosystems Beyond $ Values Land with high $ natural services Land value in production for humans

15 Value of Earth s ES by Land Cover Landcover Type $ per ha-yr Total Value peryr ($Billion) Estuaries ~$22,800 ~$4,100 Seagrass/Algae beds ~$19,000 ~$3,800 Coral Reefs ~$6,000 ~$375 Tropical Forest ~$2000 ~$3,800 Temperate Forests ~$302 ~$900 Grass/Rangelands ~$232 ~$900 Wetlands (Tidal Marsh/ ~$10,000 ~$1,600 Mangrove) Wetlands (Swamps/ ~19,500 ~$3,200 Floodplains) Lakes/Rivers ~$8,500 ~$1,700 Cropland ~$90 ~$128 Urban - -

16 ES Valuation Avg Value of Earths ES: US $33 trillion/year Costanza et al 1997 Global GNP: US $18 trillion per year.

17 Payments for Ecosystem Services Not a transfer of wealth, but a payment for services. Problems: Displacement. Restrictive on traditional exploitations of ecosystems. Attack on cultures. Ganges Delta. Stolen from tradezone.com

18 U.N.-R.E.D.D. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries FAO/UNDP/UNEP measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of carbon emissions and flows, ensuring that forests continue to provide multiple benefits for livelihoods and the environment, and supporting the engagement of Indigenous Peoples and Civil Society at all stages of the design and implementation of REDD+ strategies. Support to national programs so far: Bolivia, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ecuador, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zambia Norway continues to be the UN-REDD Programme s first and largest donor.

19 Ecosystem Services Trends ES service use is growing rapidly (MEA, 2005) 15 of 24 ES used unsustainably 20 of 24 ES use is increasing Positive Correlation between biodiversity and ES

20 Conclusion Categories of ES services Supporting, Provisioning, Regulating, and Cultural Understanding ES enable ecosystem management systems Valuing ES enable them to be incorporated into policy decisions We are using most ES unsustainably and expected losses in biodiversity and population increase will increase ES demand