Author: pswarren

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Additional background on ecosystem services

Here are some additional resources on the topic of ecosystem services.

The “go to” references include:

Costanza, R., R. d’Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farber, M. Grasso, B. Hannon, K. Limburg, S. Naeem, R. V. O’Neill, J. Paruelo, R. G. Raskin, P. Sutton, and M. van den Belt. 1997. The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253

Daily, G. (ed.) 1997. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems Island Press, Washington, DC.

More recently, the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment’s framework for classifying ecosystem services has become the standard for the field. See their website, and click on the link for the “Overall Synthesis” report. The framework is outlined on page iv.

http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx

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Reading for 11/26 – Ecosystem Services: selling out nature?

Jennifer Seavey will lead discussion this week, with assistance from Sandy Haire on the topic of ecosystem services and conservation. They have chosen two articles and a series of short replies in Nature. Jenn and Sandy recommend reading the articles in the following order:

Tallis, H.M. and P. Kareiva 2005. Ecosystem services. Current Biology 15(18): R746-758.

McCauley, D. J. 2006. Selling out on nature. Nature 443:27-28.

Reid, W. V., H. A. Mooney, D. Capistrano, S. R. Carpenter, K. Chopra, A. Cropper, P. Dasgupta, R. Hassan, R. Leemans, R. M. May, P. Pingali, C. Samper, R. Scholes, R. T. Watson, A. H. Zakri, and S. D. Zhao. 2006. Nature: the many benefits of ecosystem services. Nature 443:749-749.

Costanza, R. 2006. Nature: ecosystems without commodifying them. Nature 443:749-749.

Marvier, M., J. Grant, and P. Kareiva. 2006. Nature: poorest may see it as their economic rival. Nature 443:749-750.

Links to these articles are:

http://www.nature.org/partners/files/tallis_and_kareiva_ecosystem_services1.pdf

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7107/abs/443027a.html

Three replies and McCauley’s response can all be accessed by “downloading PDF” at:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7113/full/443749a.html

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Reading for 11/19 – food webs and fragmentation

Annie Paradis will lead discussion for this week. The paper will be:

Valladares, G., A. Salvo, and L. Cagnolo. 2006. Habitat fragmentation effects on trophic processes of insect-plant food webs. Conservation Biology 20:212-217

The paper can be accessed by the link below, and a paper copy will be posted in the mailroom in Holdsworth.

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00337.x

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Big Ideas in Conservation

A recurring theme of the discussions this semester is the “grand vision” for conservation. It first arose in our discussion of the Pleistocene re-wilding controversy. The advocates of re-wilding propose it as a progressive vision, moving beyond a triage approach to conservation. Some of us found these authors’ particular vision exciting or refreshing, and others found it absurd or even dangerous. But we all seemed in agreement that some kind of progressive vision is needed in conservation biology.

Sandy Haire proposed that each weeks’ discussion address this big picture in relation to the reading. Please read her comment:

https://websites.umass.edu/pswarren/2007/11/01/readings-105-another-controversy/

In the meantime, here’s a link to The Nature Conservancy’s take on this question. Six experts were asked about the “next big ideas” in conservation:

http://www.nature.org/tncscience/bigideas/