SOIL FERTILITY LIMITS CARBON SEQUESTRATION BY FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN A CO2-ENRICHED ATMOSPHERE. (R828785)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

ANTHROPOGENIC AND CLIMATIC INFLUENCES ON THE EUTROPHICATION OF LARGE ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS. (R828677C001)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

ANNUAL PRIMARY PRODUCTION: PATTERNS AND MECHANISMS OF CHANGE IN A NUTRIENT-RICH TIDAL ECOSYSTEM. (R825433)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

INTRA-AND INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY OF ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES IN SHORTGRASS STEPPE: NEW MODEL, VERIFICATION, SIMULATIONS. (R824993)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

SIMULATION OF WIND-DRIVEN CIRCULATION IN THE SALTON SEA: IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIGENOUS ECOSYSTEMS. (R826552)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

FUZZY COGNITIVE MAPPING AS A TOOL TO DEFINE MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES FOR COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS. (R825150)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Are carrots, corn and cattle really provided by Nature- If not ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

People harbor different perspectives regarding the aspects of agroecosystems or cultivated lands that are or could be considered ecosystem services. The first issues that need to be addressed in this regard are to define agro-ecosystem services and to establish their potential purpose (or use) to human beneficiaries. This early decision provides the foundation for what ecosystem services are, who uses them, and if or how they can be quantified. An important point to consider is that agricultural activities, while performed in and on environments provided by nature, are characterized by human labor and capital originating in the human economy. There are inherent reasons to quantify (i.e., measure) ecosystem services in a relatively standard way across landscapes and even within political units, such as counties or nations. Standard approaches to defining and measuring can underpin a multitude of accounting activities such as assigning value to them using either monetary or non-monetary approaches. The ecosystem services community could benefit by applying an ecosystem services definition that embodies from where in the environment the “service” originates and, equally as important, the user or beneficiary of this service. If we focus on the subset of ecosystem services which are Final Ecosystem Goods and Services by adopting the definition of Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (or FEGS), “components of nature, directly enjoyed, consumed or used to yi

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON ALPINE TUNDRA ECOSYSTEMS IN THE FRONT RANGE OF COLORADO. (R827449)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

FLUVIAL RESPONSE A DECADE AFTER WILDFIRE IN THE NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM: A SPATIALLY EXPLICIT ANALYSIS. (R827638)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

ELEVATED OVARIAN AND THYMIC CELL APOPTOSIS IN WILD COTTON RATS INHABITING PETROCHEMICAL-CONTAMINATED TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS. (R826242)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

COMPENSATION FOR LOST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: THE NEED FOR BENEFIT-BASED TRANSFER RATIOS AND RESTORATION CRITERIA. (R827921)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

CO2 AND WATER VAPOR EXCHANGE BY YOUNG AND OLD PONDEROSA PINE ECOSYSTEMS DURING A DROUGHT YEAR. (R826601)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

CARBON DIOXIDE AND WATER VAPOR EXCHANGE BY YOUNG AND OLD PONDEROSA PINE ECOSYSTEMS DURING A DROUGHT YEAR. (R826601)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

WATER QUALITY AND PHYTOPLANKTON AS INDICATORS OF HURRICANE IMPACTS ON A LARGE ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEM. (R828677C001)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

SYMBIOTIC N2 FIXATION IN ALPINE TUNDRA: ECOSYSTEM INPUT AND VARIATION IN FIXATION RATES AMONG PLANT COMMUNITIES (R823442)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies.

PubMed

Xu, Wei

2014-01-01

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed. Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.

Microbial extracellular enzymes in biogeochemical cycling of ecosystems.

PubMed

Luo, Ling; Meng, Han; Gu, Ji-Dong

2017-07-15

Extracellular enzymes, primarily produced by microorganisms, affect ecosystem processes because of their essential roles in degradation, transformation and mineralization of organic matter. Extracellular enzymes involved in the cycling of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been widely investigated in many different ecosystems, and several enzymes have been recognized as key components in regulating C storage and nutrient cycling. In this review, it was the first time to summarize the specific extracellular enzymes related to C storage and nutrient cycling for better understanding the important role of microbial extracellular enzymes in biogeochemical cycling of ecosystems. Subsequently, ecoenzymatic stoichiometry - the relative ratio of extracellular enzyme, has been reviewed and further provided a new perspective for understanding biogeochemical cycling of ecosystems. Finally, the new insights of using microbial extracellular enzyme in indicating biogeochemical cycling and then protecting ecosystems have been suggested. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN DEPOSITION FROM A REMOTE SOURCE ENRICHES MACROALGAE IN A CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM AT GREEN TURTLE CAY, ABACOS, BAHAMAS. (R830414)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

CARBON EXCHANGE DYNAMICS AND MINERAL WEATHERING IN A TEMPERATE FORESTED WATERSHED (NORTHERN MICHIGAN): LINKS BETWEEN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND GROUNDWATERS (R824979)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

ECOSYSTEM RESPONSES TO INTERNAL AND WATERSHED ORGANIC MATTER LOADING: CONSEQUENCES FOR HYPOXIA IN THE EUTROPHYING NEUSE RIVER ESTUARY, NORTH CAROLINA, USA. (R825243)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Broader Perspective on Ecosystem Sustainability: Consequences for Decision Making

EPA Science Inventory

Although the concept of ecosystem sustainability has a long-term focus, it is often viewed from a static system perspective. Because most ecosystems are dynamic, we explore sustainability assessments from three additional perspectives: resilient systems; systems where tipping poi...

Effects of ionizing radiation upon natural populations and ecosystems. Final report. [Ecological perspectives in land use planning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCormick, J.F.

Accomplishments throughout a 10-year period summarized include: a study of the effects of radiation from a ..gamma.. source on the ecology of the El Verde rain forest in Puerto Rico, with emphasis on the role of secondary succession in the recovery of forest ecosystems following irradiation; the effects of light and temperature on gaseous exchange in trees using /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ as a tracer in Palcourea; the nature of the sensitivity of pine trees to ionizing radiation and the possible synergistic effects of elevated ozone levels on radiosensitivity; the combined effects of radioactive and thermal effluents on plant communities ofmore » a swamp hardwood forest; and the development of a new conceptual approach to the evaluation of environmental quality, with emphasis on ecological perspectives in land use planning. (CH)« less

Managing urban nutrient biogeochemistry for sustainable urbanization.

PubMed

Lin, Tao; Gibson, Valerie; Cui, Shenghui; Yu, Chang-Ping; Chen, Shaohua; Ye, Zhilong; Zhu, Yong-Guan

2014-09-01

Urban ecosystems are unique in the sense that human activities are the major drivers of biogeochemical processes. Along with the demographic movement into cities, nutrients flow towards the urban zone (nutrient urbanization), causing the degradation of environmental quality and ecosystem health. In this paper, we summarize the characteristics of nutrient cycling within the urban ecosystem compared to natural ecosystems. The dynamic process of nutrient urbanization is then explored taking Xiamen city, China, as an example to examine the influence of rapid urbanization on food sourced nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism. Subsequently, the concept of a nutrient footprint and calculation method is introduced from a lifecycle perspective. Finally, we propose three system approaches to mend the broken biogeochemical cycling. Our study will contribute to a holistic solution which achieves synergies between environmental quality and food security, by integrating technologies for nutrient recovery and waste reduction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Living in an oasis: Rapid transformations, resilience, and resistance in the North Water Area societies and ecosystems.

PubMed

Jeppesen, Erik; Appelt, Martin; Hastrup, Kirsten; Grønnow, Bjarne; Mosbech, Anders; Smol, John P; Davidson, Thomas A

2018-04-01

Based on lake sediment data, archaeological findings, and historical records, we describe rapid transformations, resilience and resistance in societies and ecosystems, and their interactions in the past in the North Water area related to changes in climate and historical events. Examples are the formation of the polynya itself and the early arrival of people, ca. 4500 years ago, and later major human immigrations (different societies, cultural encounters, or abandonment) from other regions in the Arctic. While the early immigrations had relatively modest and localised effect on the ecosystem, the later-incoming culture in the early thirteenth century was marked by extensive migrations into and out of the area and abrupt shifts in hunting technologies. This has had long-lasting consequences for the local lake ecosystems. Large natural transformations in the ecosystems have also occurred over relatively short time periods related to changes in the polynya. Finally, we discuss the future perspectives for the North Water area given the many threats, but also opportunities.

Aquatic biodiversity in forests: A weak link in ecosystem services resilience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Penaluna, Brooke E.; Olson, Deanna H.; Flitcroft, Rebecca L; Weber, Matthew A.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Wondzell, Steven M.; Dunham, Jason B.; Johnson, Sherri L.; Reeves, Gordon H.

2017-01-01

The diversity of aquatic ecosystems is being quickly reduced on many continents, warranting a closer examination of the consequences for ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here we describe intermediate and final ecosystem services derived from aquatic biodiversity in forests. We include a summary of the factors framing the assembly of aquatic biodiversity in forests in natural systems and how they change with a variety of natural disturbances and human-derived stressors. We consider forested aquatic ecosystems as a multi-state portfolio, with diverse assemblages and life-history strategies occurring at local scales as a consequence of a mosaic of habitat conditions and past disturbances and stressors. Maintaining this multi-state portfolio of assemblages requires a broad perspective of ecosystem structure, various functions, services, and management implications relative to contemporary stressors. Because aquatic biodiversity provides multiple ecosystem services to forests, activities that compromise aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity could be an issue for maintaining forest ecosystem integrity. We illustrate these concepts with examples of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in forests of northwestern North America, also known as Northeast Pacific Rim. Encouraging management planning at broad as well as local spatial scales to recognize multi-state ecosystem management goals has promise for maintaining valuable ecosystem services. Ultimately, integration of information from socio-ecological ecosystems will be needed to maintain ecosystem services derived directly and indirectly from forest aquatic biota.

Anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest biodiversity: a network structure and ecosystem functioning perspective

PubMed Central

Morris, Rebecca J.

2010-01-01

Huge areas of diverse tropical forest are lost or degraded every year with dramatic consequences for biodiversity. Deforestation and fragmentation, over-exploitation, invasive species and climate change are the main drivers of tropical forest biodiversity loss. Most studies investigating these threats have focused on changes in species richness or species diversity. However, if we are to understand the absolute and long-term effects of anthropogenic impacts on tropical forests, we should also consider the interactions between species, how those species are organized in networks, and the function that those species perform. I discuss our current knowledge of network structure and ecosystem functioning, highlighting empirical examples of their response to anthropogenic impacts. I consider the future prospects for tropical forest biodiversity, focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in secondary forest. Finally, I propose directions for future research to help us better understand the effects of anthropogenic impacts on tropical forest biodiversity. PMID:20980318

Forest restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

PubMed

Aerts, Raf; Honnay, Olivier

2011-11-24

Globally, forests cover nearly one third of the land area and they contain over 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. Both the extent and quality of forest habitat continue to decrease and the associated loss of biodiversity jeopardizes forest ecosystem functioning and the ability of forests to provide ecosystem services. In the light of the increasing population pressure, it is of major importance not only to conserve, but also to restore forest ecosystems. Ecological restoration has recently started to adopt insights from the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) perspective. Central is the focus on restoring the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here we provide an overview of important considerations related to forest restoration that can be inferred from this BEF-perspective. Restoring multiple forest functions requires multiple species. It is highly unlikely that species-poor plantations, which may be optimal for above-ground biomass production, will outperform species diverse assemblages for a combination of functions, including overall carbon storage and control over water and nutrient flows. Restoring stable forest functions also requires multiple species. In particular in the light of global climatic change scenarios, which predict more frequent extreme disturbances and climatic events, it is important to incorporate insights from the relation between biodiversity and stability of ecosystem functioning into forest restoration projects. Rather than focussing on species per se, focussing on functional diversity of tree species assemblages seems appropriate when selecting tree species for restoration. Finally, also plant genetic diversity and above - below-ground linkages should be considered during the restoration process, as these likely have prominent but until now poorly understood effects at the level of the ecosystem. The BEF-approach provides a useful framework to evaluate forest restoration in an ecosystem functioning context, but it also highlights that much remains to be understood, especially regarding the relation between forest functioning on the one side and genetic diversity and above-ground-below-ground species associations on the other. The strong emphasis of the BEF-approach on functional rather than taxonomic diversity may also be the beginning of a paradigm shift in restoration ecology, increasing the tolerance towards allochthonous species.

Perspectives on using prescribed fire to achieve desired ecosystem conditions

Treesearch

James M. Vose

2000-01-01

Fire is a potentially powerful tool for achieving desired conditions of forest ecosystems. From an ecological perspective, the use of fire requires affirmative answers to either of the following questions: (1) does it increase ecosystem health and sustainability? and (2) does it preserve or restore unique species or habitats? Health and sustainability can be measured...

The Western South Atlantic Ocean in a High-CO2 World: Current Measurement Capabilities and Perspectives.

PubMed

Kerr, Rodrigo; da Cunha, Letícia C; Kikuchi, Ruy K P; Horta, Paulo A; Ito, Rosane G; Müller, Marius N; Orselli, Iole B M; Lencina-Avila, Jannine M; de Orte, Manoela R; Sordo, Laura; Pinheiro, Bárbara R; Bonou, Frédéric K; Schubert, Nadine; Bergstrom, Ellie; Copertino, Margareth S

2016-03-01

An international multi-disciplinary group of 24 researchers met to discuss ocean acidification (OA) during the Brazilian OA Network/Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere Study (BrOA/SOLAS) Workshop. Fifteen members of the BrOA Network (www.broa.furg.br) authored this review. The group concluded that identifying and evaluating the regional effects of OA is impossible without understanding the natural variability of seawater carbonate systems in marine ecosystems through a series of long-term observations. Here, we show that the western South Atlantic Ocean (WSAO) lacks appropriate observations for determining regional OA effects, including the effects of OA on key sensitive Brazilian ecosystems in this area. The impacts of OA likely affect marine life in coastal and oceanic ecosystems, with further social and economic consequences for Brazil and neighboring countries. Thus, we present (i) the diversity of coastal and open ocean ecosystems in the WSAO and emphasize their roles in the marine carbon cycle and biodiversity and their vulnerabilities to OA effects; (ii) ongoing observational, experimental, and modeling efforts that investigate OA in the WSAO; and (iii) highlights of the knowledge gaps, infrastructure deficiencies, and OA-related issues in the WSAO. Finally, this review outlines long-term actions that should be taken to manage marine ecosystems in this vast and unexplored ocean region.

Crowd-sourcing relative preferences for ecosystem services in ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Analysis of ecosystem service tradeoffs among project scenarios is more reliable when valuation data are available. Empirical valuation data are expensive and difficult to collect. As a possible alternative or supplement to empirical data, we downloaded and classified images from social media sites (SMS) Panoramio (n= 639), Instagram (n=2086), and Flickr (n=6644) for the AOC and 100 m buffer. We classified each image from the perspective of the beneficiary (photographer) according to US EPA’s Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) classification system. After removing images not in the AOC or with bad links, 58 (10%), 361 (24%), and 1035 (16%) of the images from Panoramio, Instagram, and Flickr, respectively, depicted an ecosystem service. The most frequently occurring non ecosystem services depicted were bridges, ships, indoor scenes, and people. Across SMS with repeat images removed, AOC services were percentage ranked as follows: recreational scene viewers, 28%; boaters, 24%, flora and fauna viewers, 20%; other recreation experiencers (e.g., dog walkers, beach goers, bikers, trail and greenspace users), 15%; angling, 7%; learners, 1%, inspirational/sacred experiencers, 1%. Across SMS, recreational services were ranked as follows: scene viewing, 28%; boating, 24%, birding, 16%; fauna and flora viewing, 8%; trail and greenspace use, 7%; angling 7%; dog walking, 3%; swimming, beach and ice use, 3%; biking, 1%; excursion rail, 1%. Potential biases include S

Ecosystem services

Treesearch

Trista Patterson

2014-01-01

Since its inception, the ecosystem service approach has stimulated interest from numerous planning, management, and partnership perspectives. To date, however, research that quantifies ecosystem services in the study area (in the form of explicit ecosystem service studies) has been limited. This chapter reviews and synthesizes the concept of ecosystem services,...

Spatial Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Functions and Services using Human Relating Factors for SDG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, C.; Lee, W. K.; Jeon, S. W.; Kim, T.; Lim, C. H.

2015-12-01

Application of ecosystem service concept in environmental related decision making could be numerical and objective standard for policy maker between preserving and developing perspective of environment. However, pursuing maximum benefit from natural capital through ecosystem services caused failure by losing ecosystem functions through its trade-offs. Therefore, difference between ecosystem functions and services were demonstrated and would apply human relating perspectives. Assessment results of ecosystem functions and services can be divided 3 parts. Tree growth per year set as the ecosystem function factor and indicated through so called pure function map. After that, relating functions can be driven such as water conservation, air pollutant purification, climate change regulation, and timber production. Overall process and amount are numerically quantified. These functional results can be transferred to ecosystem services by multiplying economic unit value, so function reflecting service maps can be generated. On the other hand, above services, to implement more reliable human demand, human reflecting service maps are also be developed. As the validation, quantified ecosystem functions are compared with former results through pixel based analysis. Three maps are compared, and through comparing difference between ecosystem function and services and inversed trends in function based and human based service are analysed. In this study, we could find differences in PF, FRS, and HRS in relation to based ecosystem conditions. This study suggests that the differences in PF, FRS, and HRS should be understood in the decision making process for sustainable management of ecosystem services. Although the analysis is based on in sort existing process separation, it is important to consider the possibility of different usage of ecosystem function assessment results and ecosystem service assessment results in SDG policy making. Furthermore, process based functional approach can suggest environmental information which is reflected the other kinds of perspective.

New challenges for grizzly bear management in Yellowstone National Park

USGS Publications Warehouse

van Manen, Frank T.; Gunther, Kerry A.

2016-01-01

A key factor contributing to the success of grizzly bear Ursus arctos conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been the existence of a large protected area, Yellowstone National Park. We provide an overview of recovery efforts, how demographic parameters changed as the population increased, and how the bear management program in Yellowstone National Park has evolved to address new management challenges over time. Finally, using the management experiences in Yellowstone National Park, we present comparisons and perspectives regarding brown bear management in Shiretoko National Park.

The inclusive workplace: an ecosystems approach to diversity management.

PubMed

Barak, M E

2000-07-01

This article's main argument is that organizations need to expand their notion of diversity to include not only the organization itself, but also the larger systems that constitute its environment. The concept of "the inclusive workplace," introduced here, refers to a work organization that is not only accepting and using the diversity of its own work force, but also is active in the community, participates in state and federal programs to include working poor people, and collaborates across cultural and national boundaries with a focus on global mutual interests. Using an ecosystems perspective, the article outlines a value-based model and a practice-based model of the inclusive workplace as they pertain to the different organizational levels, from the micro to the macro. Finally, implications for the social work profession are drawn with specific case examples for each system level.

An ecological perspective on U.S. industrial poultry production: the role of anthropogenic ecosystems on the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria from agricultural environments.

PubMed

Davis, Meghan F; Price, Lance B; Liu, Cindy Meng-Hsin; Silbergeld, Ellen K

2011-06-01

The industrialization of food animal production, specifically the widespread use of antimicrobials, not only increased pressure on microbial populations, but also changed the ecosystems in which antimicrobials and bacteria interact. In this review, we argue that industrial food animal production (IFAP) is appropriately defined as an anthropogenic ecosystem. This paper uses an ecosystem perspective to frame an examination of these changes in the context of U.S. broiler chicken production. This perspective emphasizes multiple modes by which IFAP has altered microbiomes and also suggests a means of generating hypotheses for understanding and predicting the ecological impacts of IFAP in terms of the resistome and the flow of resistance within and between microbiomes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Harmonizing Operas Voices. an Investigation of Different Perspectives on the Ecosystem Services Concept and Implications for Research and Practice.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hermelingmeier, V.

2014-12-01

Over the past 150 years, humans have altered the planet at a rapid pace. In this new era, the Anthropocene, environmental degradation has come to a state where sustainable ecosystem management has developed into an urgent quest for humans to maintain their own life-support system. The ecosystem services (ES) concept, initially introduced as potential facilitator to manage this quest, has been criticized for its vagueness to pose a barrier to the concept's application in practice. Therefore, the focus of this paper is on this vagueness as potential barrier to successful collaboration in the research community (interdisicplinarity) as a precondition to the concept's application for sustainable ecosystem management (transdisicplinarity). Focusing on the European research project Operational Potential for Ecosystem Research Applications (OPERAs), the objective is to serve the research community with the identification of differences in conceptual perspectives on ES (differentiation), in order to recommend an effective way of handling these differences (clarification) as a basis for interdisciplinary integration (synthesis). With an emphasis on differentiation and clarification, the research process concentrates on the derivation of a typology of perspectives from the literature (RQ 1), on the basis of which perspectives in OPERAs are assessed with the help of Q methodology (RQ 2) in order to derive implications for how to handle the concept in the future (RQ 3). The main findings suggest clear differences between three foundational perspectives but a more nuanced variety of viewpoints in OPERAs that can be summarized under five main perspectives. Whereas the notion of interdisciplinarity has often steered the focus towards disciplinary worldviews as the cause for different perspectives, the results point to the insight that perspectives on the ES concept are influenced by a more complex interplay of paradigmatic assumptions. Therefore, clarification is suggested to encompass more than the standardization of discipline-induced worldviews and to require open dialogue on underlying values and ethical stances. In synthesis, the question is not only how to use the ES concept effectively but also to what extent the concept can suffice sustainable ecosystem management in the long-term.

Broader perspective on ecosystem sustainability: consequences for decision making.

PubMed

Sidle, Roy C; Benson, William H; Carriger, John F; Kamai, Toshitaka

2013-06-04

Although the concept of ecosystem sustainability has a long-term focus, it is often viewed from a static system perspective. Because most ecosystems are dynamic, we explore sustainability assessments from three additional perspectives: resilient systems; systems where tipping points occur; and systems subject to episodic resetting. Whereas foundations of ecosystem resilience originated in ecology, recent discussions have focused on geophysical attributes, and it is recognized that dynamic system components may not return to their former state following perturbations. Tipping points emerge when chronic changes (typically anthropogenic, but sometimes natural) push ecosystems to thresholds that cause collapse of process and function and may become permanent. Ecosystem resetting occurs when episodic natural disasters breach thresholds with little or no warning, resulting in long-term changes to environmental attributes or ecosystem function. An example of sustainability assessment of ecosystem goods and services along the Gulf Coast (USA) demonstrates the need to include both the resilient and dynamic nature of biogeomorphic components. Mountain road development in northwest Yunnan, China, makes rivers and related habitat vulnerable to tipping points. Ecosystems reset by natural disasters are also presented, emphasizing the need to understand the magnitude frequency and interrelationships among major disturbances, as shown by (i) the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami, including how unsustainable urban development exacerbates geodisaster propagation, and (ii) repeated major earthquakes and associated geomorphic and vegetation disturbances in Papua New Guinea. Although all of these ecosystem perturbations and shifts are individually recognized, they are not embraced in contemporary sustainable decision making.

Broader perspective on ecosystem sustainability: Consequences for decision making

PubMed Central

Sidle, Roy C.; Benson, William H.; Carriger, John F.; Kamai, Toshitaka

2013-01-01

Although the concept of ecosystem sustainability has a long-term focus, it is often viewed from a static system perspective. Because most ecosystems are dynamic, we explore sustainability assessments from three additional perspectives: resilient systems; systems where tipping points occur; and systems subject to episodic resetting. Whereas foundations of ecosystem resilience originated in ecology, recent discussions have focused on geophysical attributes, and it is recognized that dynamic system components may not return to their former state following perturbations. Tipping points emerge when chronic changes (typically anthropogenic, but sometimes natural) push ecosystems to thresholds that cause collapse of process and function and may become permanent. Ecosystem resetting occurs when episodic natural disasters breach thresholds with little or no warning, resulting in long-term changes to environmental attributes or ecosystem function. An example of sustainability assessment of ecosystem goods and services along the Gulf Coast (USA) demonstrates the need to include both the resilient and dynamic nature of biogeomorphic components. Mountain road development in northwest Yunnan, China, makes rivers and related habitat vulnerable to tipping points. Ecosystems reset by natural disasters are also presented, emphasizing the need to understand the magnitude frequency and interrelationships among major disturbances, as shown by (i) the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami, including how unsustainable urban development exacerbates geodisaster propagation, and (ii) repeated major earthquakes and associated geomorphic and vegetation disturbances in Papua New Guinea. Although all of these ecosystem perturbations and shifts are individually recognized, they are not embraced in contemporary sustainable decision making. PMID:23686583

Anthropogenic Litter in Urban Freshwater Ecosystems: Distribution and Microbial Interactions

PubMed Central

Hoellein, Timothy; Rojas, Miguel; Pink, Adam; Gasior, Joseph; Kelly, John

2014-01-01

Accumulation of anthropogenic litter (i.e. garbage; AL) and its ecosystem effects in marine environments are well documented. Rivers receive AL from terrestrial habitats and represent a major source of AL to marine environments, but AL is rarely studied within freshwater ecosystems. Our objectives were to 1) quantify AL density in urban freshwaters, 2) compare AL abundance among freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems, and 3) characterize the activity and composition of AL biofilms in freshwater habitats. We quantified AL from the Chicago River and Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline, and found that AL abundance in Chicago freshwater ecosystems was comparable to previously reported data for marine and terrestrial ecosystems, although AL density and composition differed among habitats. To assess microbial interactions with AL, we incubated AL and natural substrates in 3 freshwater ecosystems, quantified biofilm metabolism as gross primary production (GPP) and community respiration (CR), and characterized biofilm bacterial community composition via high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The main driver of biofilm community composition was incubation location (e.g., river vs pond), but there were some significant differences in biofilm composition and metabolism among substrates. For example, biofilms on organic substrates (cardboard and leaves) had lower GPP than hard substrates (glass, plastic, aluminum and tiles). In addition, bacterial communities on organic substrates were distinct in composition from those on hard substrates, with higher relative abundances of bacteria associated with cellulose decomposition. Finally, we used our results to develop a conceptual diagram designed to unite the study of AL in terrestrial and freshwater environments with the well-established field of marine debris research. We suggest this broad perspective will be useful for future studies which synthesize AL sources, ecosystem effects, and fate across multiple ecosystem types, and will benefit management and reduction of global AL accumulations. PMID:24955768

Anthropogenic litter in urban freshwater ecosystems: distribution and microbial interactions.

PubMed

Hoellein, Timothy; Rojas, Miguel; Pink, Adam; Gasior, Joseph; Kelly, John

2014-01-01

Accumulation of anthropogenic litter (i.e. garbage; AL) and its ecosystem effects in marine environments are well documented. Rivers receive AL from terrestrial habitats and represent a major source of AL to marine environments, but AL is rarely studied within freshwater ecosystems. Our objectives were to 1) quantify AL density in urban freshwaters, 2) compare AL abundance among freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems, and 3) characterize the activity and composition of AL biofilms in freshwater habitats. We quantified AL from the Chicago River and Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline, and found that AL abundance in Chicago freshwater ecosystems was comparable to previously reported data for marine and terrestrial ecosystems, although AL density and composition differed among habitats. To assess microbial interactions with AL, we incubated AL and natural substrates in 3 freshwater ecosystems, quantified biofilm metabolism as gross primary production (GPP) and community respiration (CR), and characterized biofilm bacterial community composition via high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The main driver of biofilm community composition was incubation location (e.g., river vs pond), but there were some significant differences in biofilm composition and metabolism among substrates. For example, biofilms on organic substrates (cardboard and leaves) had lower GPP than hard substrates (glass, plastic, aluminum and tiles). In addition, bacterial communities on organic substrates were distinct in composition from those on hard substrates, with higher relative abundances of bacteria associated with cellulose decomposition. Finally, we used our results to develop a conceptual diagram designed to unite the study of AL in terrestrial and freshwater environments with the well-established field of marine debris research. We suggest this broad perspective will be useful for future studies which synthesize AL sources, ecosystem effects, and fate across multiple ecosystem types, and will benefit management and reduction of global AL accumulations.

Ecosystem management in the Madrean Archipelago: a 10-year historical perspective

Treesearch

Leonard F. DeBano; Peter F. Ffolliott

2005-01-01

The USDA Forest Service implemented a more holistic form of ecosystem management than previously practiced in the early 1990s through several ecosystem programs implemented in the Western United States. The ecosystem program that concerns this conference was a collaboration on “Achieving Ecosystem Management in the Borderlands of the Southwestern United States through...

43 CFR 10005.13 - Geographic and ecological context for the plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... evaluated, from a state-wide perspective and that, within the state, an ecosystem-based approach is appropriate. There is no one correct way to define an ecosystem or to approach ecosystem planning. The...

43 CFR 10005.13 - Geographic and ecological context for the plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... evaluated, from a state-wide perspective and that, within the state, an ecosystem-based approach is appropriate. There is no one correct way to define an ecosystem or to approach ecosystem planning. The...

43 CFR 10005.13 - Geographic and ecological context for the plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... evaluated, from a state-wide perspective and that, within the state, an ecosystem-based approach is appropriate. There is no one correct way to define an ecosystem or to approach ecosystem planning. The...

The History of New Perspectives and Ecosystem Management

Treesearch

F. Dale Robertson

2004-01-01

Abstract - Arkansas occupies a unique and important place in the history of New Perspectives and Ecosystem Management. An historic visit to the Ouachita National Forest by Senator David Pryor (D-Arkansas) in August 1990, thereafter called the walk in the woods, served as an opportunity to shift the Ouachita’s style of management in a manner that has...

2014 Future Earth Young Scientists Conference on Integrated Science and Knowledge Co-Production for Ecosystems and Human Well-Being †

PubMed Central

Shiue, Ivy; Samberg, Leah; Kulohoma, Benard; Dogaru, Diana; Wyborn, Carina; Hamel, Perrine; Jørgensen, Peter Søgaard; Lussier, Paul; Sundaram, Bharath; Lim, Michelle; Tironi, Antonio

2014-01-01

Effective integration in science and knowledge co-production is a challenge that crosses research boundaries, climate regions, languages and cultures. Early career scientists are crucial in the identification of, and engagement with, obstacles and opportunities in the development of innovative solutions to complex and interconnected problems. On 25–31 May 2014, International Council for Science and International Social Science Council, in collaboration with the International Network of Next-Generation Ecologists and Institute for New Economic Thinking: Young Scholars Initiative, assembled a group of early career researchers with diverse backgrounds and research perspectives to reflect on and debate relevant issues around ecosystems and human wellbeing in the transition towards green economy, funded by the German Research Foundation, at Villa Vigoni, Italy. As a group of young scientists, we have come to a consensus that collaboration and communication among a diverse group of peers from different geographic regions could break down the barriers to multi-disciplinary research designed to solve complex global-scale problems. We also propose to establish a global systematic thinking to monitor global socio-ecological systems and to develop criteria for a “good” anthropocene. Finally, we aim to bridge gaps among research, the media, and education from a governance perspective linking with “sustainable development goals”. PMID:25390795

Practical Strategies for Integrating Final Ecosystem Goods and Services into Community Decision-Making.

EPA Science Inventory

The concept of Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) explicitly connects ecosystem services to the people that benefit from them. This report presents a number of practical strategies for incorporating FEGS, and more broadly ecosystem services, into the decision-making proces...

Ecosystem services science, practice, and policy: Perspectives from ACES, A Community on Ecosystem Services

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shapiro, Carl D.; Arthaud, Greg; Casey, Frank; Hogan, Dianna M.

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services are at a crossroad. The natural capital needed to produce them is diminishing (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). At the same time, the science relating to their identification, production, and valuation is advancing. Examples of ecosystem services applications are abundant in the literature. In addition, the concept of ecosystem services and its applications are attracting attention and are becoming more visible. The concept of ecosystem services, however, is still not routinely applied to many natural resource management decisions.

Impacts of forestry on boreal forests: An ecosystem services perspective.

PubMed

Pohjanmies, Tähti; Triviño, María; Le Tortorec, Eric; Mazziotta, Adriano; Snäll, Tord; Mönkkönen, Mikko

2017-11-01

Forests are widely recognized as major providers of ecosystem services, including timber, other forest products, recreation, regulation of water, soil and air quality, and climate change mitigation. Extensive tracts of boreal forests are actively managed for timber production, but actions aimed at increasing timber yields also affect other forest functions and services. Here, we present an overview of the environmental impacts of forest management from the perspective of ecosystem services. We show how prevailing forestry practices may have substantial but diverse effects on the various ecosystem services provided by boreal forests. Several aspects of these processes remain poorly known and warrant a greater role in future studies, including the role of community structure. Conflicts among different interests related to boreal forests are most likely to occur, but the concept of ecosystem services may provide a useful framework for identifying and resolving these conflicts.

Mercury concentrations in salmonids from western U.S. National Parks and relationships with age and macrophage aggregates

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schwindt, A.R.; Fournie, J.W.; Landers, D.H.; Schreck, C.B.; Kent, M.L.

2008-01-01

Mercury accumulation in aquatic foodwebs and its effects on aquatic biota are of growing concern both for the health of the fish and the piscivores that prey upon them. This is of particular concern for western U.S. National Parks because it is known that mountainous and Arctic areas are sinks for some contaminants. The Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project seeks, in part, to ascertain mercury concentrations and evaluate effects of contaminants on biota in 14 lakes from 8 National Parks or Preserves. In this paper we report that mercury has accumulated to concentrations in trout that may negatively impact some piscivorous wildlife, indicating potential terrestrial ecosystem effects. Additionally, we show that mercury concentrations increase with age in 4 species of trout, providing evidence of bioaccumulation. Finally, we demonstrate that mercury is associated with tissue damage in the kidney and spleen, as indicated by increases in macrophage aggregates. This finding suggests that mercury, and possibly other contaminants, are negatively affecting the trout that inhabit these remote and protected ecosystems. Our results indicate that mercury is indeed a concern for the U.S. National Parks, from an organismic and potentially an ecosystem perspective. ?? 2008 American Chemical Society.

Quantitative account of social interactions in a mental health care ecosystem: cooperation, trust and collective action.

PubMed

Cigarini, Anna; Vicens, Julián; Duch, Jordi; Sánchez, Angel; Perelló, Josep

2018-02-28

Mental disorders have an enormous impact in our society, both in personal terms and in the economic costs associated with their treatment. In order to scale up services and bring down costs, administrations are starting to promote social interactions as key to care provision. We analyze quantitatively the importance of communities for effective mental health care, considering all community members involved. By means of citizen science practices, we have designed a suite of games that allow to probe into different behavioral traits of the role groups of the ecosystem. The evidence reinforces the idea of community social capital, with caregivers and professionals playing a leading role. Yet, the cost of collective action is mainly supported by individuals with a mental condition - which unveils their vulnerability. The results are in general agreement with previous findings but, since we broaden the perspective of previous studies, we are also able to find marked differences in the social behavior of certain groups of mental disorders. We finally point to the conditions under which cooperation among members of the ecosystem is better sustained, suggesting how virtuous cycles of inclusion and participation can be promoted in a 'care in the community' framework.

Ecosystem Restoration: A Manager's Perspective

Treesearch

James G. Kenna; Gilpin R., Jr. Robinson; Bill Pell; Michael A. Thompson; Joe McNeel

1999-01-01

Elements of ecological restoration underlie much of what we think of as ecosystem management, and restoration projects on federal lands represent some of the most exciting, challenging, and convincing demonstrations of applied ecosystem management. The Society for Ecological Restoration defined restoration as "the process of reestablishing to the extent possible...

Remote Sensing of Drought: Progress and Opportunities for Improving Drought Monitoring and Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

AghaKouchak, A.; Huning, L. S.; Love, C. A.; Farahmand, A.

2017-12-01

This presentation surveys current and emerging drought monitoring approaches using satellite remote sensing observations from climatological and ecosystem perspectives. Satellite observations that are not currently used for operational drought monitoring, such as near-surface air relative humidity and water vapor, provide opportunities to improve early drought warning. Current and future satellite missions offer opportunities to develop composite and multi-indicator drought models. This presentation describes how different satellite observations can be combined for overall drought development and impact assessment. Finally, we provide an overview of the research gaps and challenges that are facing us ahead in the remote sensing of drought.

Forest health from different perspectives

Treesearch

T. E. Kolb; M. R. Wagner; W. W. Covington

1995-01-01

Forest health is an increasingly important concept in natural resource management. However, definition of forest health is difficult and dependent on human perspective. From a utilitarian perspective, forest health has been defined by the production of forest conditions which directly satisfy human needs. From an ecosystem-centered perspective, forest health has been...

Ecosystem services altered by human changes in the nitrogen cycle: A new perspective for assessment

EPA Science Inventory

Human alteration of the nitrogen (N) cycle has produced benefits for health and well-being, but excess N has altered many ecosystems and degraded air and water quality. US regulations mandate protection of the environment in terms that directly connect to ecosystem services. Here...

Habitat restoration from an ecosystem goods and services perspective: Application of a spatially explicit individual-based model

EPA Science Inventory

Estuarine ecosystems provide many services to humans, but these ecosystems are also under pressure from human development, which has led to large investments in habitat protection and restoration. Restoration in estuaries is typically focused on emergent and submerged vegetation ...

A Practical Decision-Analysis Process for Forest Ecosystem Management

Treesearch

H. Michael Rauscher; F. Thomas Lloyd; David L. Loftis; Mark J. Twery

2000-01-01

Many authors have pointed out the need to firm up the 'fuzzy' ecosystem management paradigm and develop operationally practical processes to allow forest managers to accommodate more effectively the continuing rapid change in societal perspectives and goals. There are three spatial scales where clear, precise, practical ecosystem management processes are...

Remote sensing of ecosystem health: opportunities, challenges, and future perspectives.

PubMed

Li, Zhaoqin; Xu, Dandan; Guo, Xulin

2014-11-07

Maintaining a healthy ecosystem is essential for maximizing sustainable ecological services of the best quality to human beings. Ecological and conservation research has provided a strong scientific background on identifying ecological health indicators and correspondingly making effective conservation plans. At the same time, ecologists have asserted a strong need for spatially explicit and temporally effective ecosystem health assessments based on remote sensing data. Currently, remote sensing of ecosystem health is only based on one ecosystem attribute: vigor, organization, or resilience. However, an effective ecosystem health assessment should be a comprehensive and dynamic measurement of the three attributes. This paper reviews opportunities of remote sensing, including optical, radar, and LiDAR, for directly estimating indicators of the three ecosystem attributes, discusses the main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system, and provides some future perspectives. The main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system are: (1) scale issue; (2) transportability issue; (3) data availability; and (4) uncertainties in health indicators estimated from remote sensing data. However, the Radarsat-2 constellation, upcoming new optical sensors on Worldview-3 and Sentinel-2 satellites, and improved technologies for the acquisition and processing of hyperspectral, multi-angle optical, radar, and LiDAR data and multi-sensoral data fusion may partly address the current challenges.

Volume II: Ecosystem management: principles and applications.

Treesearch

M.E. Jensen; P.S. Bourgeron

1994-01-01

This document provides land managers with practical suggestions for implementing ecosystem management. It contains 28 papers organized into five sections: historical perspectives, ecological principles, sampling design, case studies, and implementation strategies.

Nitrogen dynamics in managed boreal forests: Recent advances and future research directions.

PubMed

Sponseller, Ryan A; Gundale, Michael J; Futter, Martyn; Ring, Eva; Nordin, Annika; Näsholm, Torgny; Laudon, Hjalmar

2016-02-01

Nitrogen (N) availability plays multiple roles in the boreal landscape, as a limiting nutrient to forest growth, determinant of terrestrial biodiversity, and agent of eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems. We review existing research on forest N dynamics in northern landscapes and address the effects of management and environmental change on internal cycling and export. Current research foci include resolving the nutritional importance of different N forms to trees and establishing how tree-mycorrhizal relationships influence N limitation. In addition, understanding how forest responses to external N inputs are mediated by above- and belowground ecosystem compartments remains an important challenge. Finally, forestry generates a mosaic of successional patches in managed forest landscapes, with differing levels of N input, biological demand, and hydrological loss. The balance among these processes influences the temporal patterns of stream water chemistry and the long-term viability of forest growth. Ultimately, managing forests to keep pace with increasing demands for biomass production, while minimizing environmental degradation, will require multi-scale and interdisciplinary perspectives on landscape N dynamics.

Assessing the consequences of nonnative trout in headwater ecosystems in western North America

Treesearch

Jason B. Dunham; David S. Pilliod; Michael K. Young

2004-01-01

Intentional introductions of nonnative trout into headwater lakes and streams can have numerous effects on the receiving ecosystems, potentially threatening native species and disrupting key ecological processes. In this perspective, we focus on seven key issues for assessing the biological and economic consequences of nonnative trout in headwater ecosystems: (1)...

Caring for our natural assets: an ecosystem services perspective.

Treesearch

2007-01-01

Global attention to climate change has advanced an awareness of human impacts on the environment. Progressing more slowly is recognition of the critical link between forest ecosystems and human welfare. Forests provide a number of societal benefits or ecosystem services, such as water purification, climate and flood regulation, recreational opportunities, and spiritual...

Ecological history vs. social expectations: managing aquatic ecosystems.

Treesearch

Gordon H. Reeves; Sally L. Duncan

2009-01-01

The emerging perspective of ecosystems as both non-equilibrium and dynamic fits aquatic ecosystems as well as terrestrial systems. It is increasingly recognized that watersheds historically passed through different conditions over time. Habitat conditions varied in quantity and quality, primarily as a function of the time since the last major disturbance and the legacy...

Decision Support for Ecosystem Management (Chapter 28)

Treesearch

Keith Reynolds; Jennifer Bjork; Rachel Riemann Hershey; Dan Schmoldt; John Payne; Susan King; Lee DeCola; Mark J. Twery; Pat Cunningham

1999-01-01

This chapter presents a management perspective on decision support for ecosystem management.The Introduction provides a brief historical overview of decision support technology as it has been used in natural resource management, discusses the role of decision support in ecosystem management as we see it, and summarizes the current state of the technology.

Petroleum hydrocarbon contamination in boreal forest soils: a mycorrhizal ecosystems perspective.

PubMed

Robertson, Susan J; McGill, William B; Massicotte, Hugues B; Rutherford, P Michael

2007-05-01

The importance of developing multi-disciplinary approaches to solving problems relating to anthropogenic pollution is now clearly appreciated by the scientific community, and this is especially evident in boreal ecosystems exposed to escalating threats of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contamination through expanded natural resource extraction activities. This review aims to synthesize information regarding the fate and behaviour of PHCs in boreal forest soils in both ecological and sustainable management contexts. From this, we hope to evaluate potential management strategies, identify gaps in knowledge and guide future research. Our central premise is that mycorrhizal systems, the ubiquitous root symbiotic fungi and associated food-web communities, occupy the structural and functional interface between decomposition and primary production in northern forest ecosystems (i.e. underpin survival and productivity of the ecosystem as a whole), and, as such, are an appropriate focal point for such a synthesis. We provide pertinent basic information about mycorrhizas, followed by insights into the ecology of ecto- and ericoid mycorrhizal systems. Next, we review the fate and behaviour of PHCs in forest soils, with an emphasis on interactions with mycorrhizal fungi and associated bacteria. Finally, we summarize implications for ecosystem management. Although we have gained tremendous insights into understanding linkages between ecosystem functions and the various aspects of mycorrhizal diversity, very little is known regarding rhizosphere communities in PHC-contaminated soils. This makes it difficult to translate ecological knowledge into environmental management strategies. Further research is required to determine which fungal symbionts are likely to survive and compete in various ecosystems, whether certain fungal - plant associations gain in ecological importance following contamination events, and how PHC contamination may interfere with processes of nutrient acquisition and exchange and metabolic processes. Research is also needed to assess whether the metabolic capacity for intrinsic decomposition exists in these ecosystems, taking into account ecological variables such as presence of other organisms (and their involvement in syntrophic biodegradation), bioavailability and toxicity of mixtures of PHCs, and physical changes to the soil environment.

Death of an ecosystem: perspectives on western white pine ecosystems of North America at the end of the twentieth century

Treesearch

Alan E. Harvey; James W. Byler; Geral I. McDonald; Leon F. Neuenschwander; Jonalea R. Tonn

2008-01-01

The effective loss of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl.) in the white pine ecosystem has far-reaching effects on the sustainability of local forests and both regional and global forestry issues. Continuing trends in management of this forest type has the potential to put western white pine, as well as the ecosystem it once dominated, at very...

Patients as Patches: Ecology and Epidemiology in Healthcare Environments.

PubMed

Lofgren, Eric T; Egizi, Andrea M; Fefferman, Nina H

2016-12-01

The modern healthcare system involves complex interactions among microbes, patients, providers, and the built environment. It represents a unique and challenging setting for control of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. We examine an extension of the perspectives and methods from ecology (and especially urban ecology) to address these unique issues, and we outline 3 examples: (1) viewing patients as individual microbial ecosystems; (2) the altered ecology of infectious diseases specifically within hospitals; and (3) ecosystem management perspectives for infection surveillance and control. In each of these cases, we explore the accuracy and relevance of analogies to existing urban ecological perspectives, and we demonstrate a few of the potential direct uses of this perspective for altering research into the control of healthcare-associated infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2016;1507-1512.

Remote Sensing of Ecosystem Health: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

PubMed Central

Li, Zhaoqin; Xu, Dandan; Guo, Xulin

2014-01-01

Maintaining a healthy ecosystem is essential for maximizing sustainable ecological services of the best quality to human beings. Ecological and conservation research has provided a strong scientific background on identifying ecological health indicators and correspondingly making effective conservation plans. At the same time, ecologists have asserted a strong need for spatially explicit and temporally effective ecosystem health assessments based on remote sensing data. Currently, remote sensing of ecosystem health is only based on one ecosystem attribute: vigor, organization, or resilience. However, an effective ecosystem health assessment should be a comprehensive and dynamic measurement of the three attributes. This paper reviews opportunities of remote sensing, including optical, radar, and LiDAR, for directly estimating indicators of the three ecosystem attributes, discusses the main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system, and provides some future perspectives. The main challenges to develop a remote sensing-based spatially-explicit comprehensive ecosystem health system are: (1) scale issue; (2) transportability issue; (3) data availability; and (4) uncertainties in health indicators estimated from remote sensing data. However, the Radarsat-2 constellation, upcoming new optical sensors on Worldview-3 and Sentinel-2 satellites, and improved technologies for the acquisition and processing of hyperspectral, multi-angle optical, radar, and LiDAR data and multi-sensoral data fusion may partly address the current challenges. PMID:25386759

Ecosystem services altered by human changes in the nitrogen cycle: a new perspective for US decision making Ecology Letters

EPA Science Inventory

The human alteration of the nitrogen (N) cycle has yielded many benefits, but also has altered ecosystems and degraded air and water quality in many areas. Here we explore the science available to connect the effects of increasing N on ecosystem structure and function to ecosyst...

The nexus between climate change, ecosystem services and human health: Towards a conceptual framework.

PubMed

Chiabai, Aline; Quiroga, Sonia; Martinez-Juarez, Pablo; Higgins, Sahran; Taylor, Tim

2018-09-01

This paper addresses the impact that changes in natural ecosystems can have on health and wellbeing focusing on the potential co-benefits that green spaces could provide when introduced as climate change adaptation measures. Ignoring such benefits could lead to sub-optimal planning and decision-making. A conceptual framework, building on the ecosystem-enriched Driver, Pressure, State, Exposure, Effect, Action model (eDPSEEA), is presented to aid in clarifying the relational structure between green spaces and human health, taking climate change as the key driver. The study has the double intention of (i) summarising the literature with a special emphasis on the ecosystem and health perspectives, as well as the main theories behind these impacts, and (ii) modelling these findings into a framework that allows for multidisciplinary approaches to the underlying relations between human health and green spaces. The paper shows that while the literature based on the ecosystem perspective presents a well-documented association between climate, health and green spaces, the literature using a health-based perspective presents mixed evidence in some cases. The role of contextual factors and the exposure mechanism are rarely addressed. The proposed framework could serve as a multidisciplinary knowledge platform for multi-perspecitve analysis and discussion among experts and stakeholders, as well as to support the operationalization of quantitative assessment and modelling exercises. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Ecosystem Perspective On Asset Management Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metso, Lasse; Kans, Mirka

2017-09-01

Big Data and Internet of Things will increase the amount of data on asset management exceedingly. Data sharing with an increased number of partners in the area of asset management is important when developing business opportunities and new ecosystems. An asset management ecosystem is a complex set of relationships between parties taking part in asset management actions. In this paper, the current barriers and benefits of data sharing are identified based on the results of an interview study. The main benefits are transparency, access to data and reuse of data. New services can be created by taking advantage of data sharing. The main barriers to sharing data are an unclear view of the data sharing process and difficulties to recognize the benefits of data sharing. For overcoming the barriers in data sharing, this paper applies the ecosystem perspective on asset management information. The approach is explained by using the Swedish railway industry as an example.

Long term records of lake clarity as an indicator for final ecosystem goods and services of lakes

EPA Science Inventory

We reviewed available long-term records of lake clarity (via secchi disc readings) as an indicator of final ecosystem goods and services of lakes. Lake water quality assessments are often based on biophysical indicators not explicitly or quantifiably linked to the ecosystem servi...

New multi-scale perspectives on the stromatolites of Shark Bay, Western Australia.

PubMed

Suosaari, E P; Reid, R P; Playford, P E; Foster, J S; Stolz, J F; Casaburi, G; Hagan, P D; Chirayath, V; Macintyre, I G; Planavsky, N J; Eberli, G P

2016-02-03

A recent field-intensive program in Shark Bay, Western Australia provides new multi-scale perspectives on the world's most extensive modern stromatolite system. Mapping revealed a unique geographic distribution of morphologically distinct stromatolite structures, many of them previously undocumented. These distinctive structures combined with characteristic shelf physiography define eight 'Stromatolite Provinces'. Morphological and molecular studies of microbial mat composition resulted in a revised growth model where coccoid cyanobacteria predominate in mat communities forming lithified discrete stromatolite buildups. This contradicts traditional views that stromatolites with the best lamination in Hamelin Pool are formed by filamentous cyanobacterial mats. Finally, analysis of internal fabrics of stromatolites revealed pervasive precipitation of microcrystalline carbonate (i.e. micrite) in microbial mats forming framework and cement that may be analogous to the micritic microstructures typical of Precambrian stromatolites. These discoveries represent fundamental advances in our knowledge of the Shark Bay microbial system, laying a foundation for detailed studies of stromatolite morphogenesis that will advance our understanding of benthic ecosystems on the early Earth.

Safeguarding the provision of ecosystem services in catchment systems.

PubMed

Everard, Mark

2013-04-01

A narrow technocentric focus on a few favored ecosystem services (generally provisioning services) has led to ecosystem degradation globally, including catchment systems and their capacities to support human well-being. Increasing recognition of the multiple benefits provided by ecosystems is slowly being translated into policy and some areas of practice, although there remains a significant shortfall in the incorporation of a systemic perspective into operation management and decision-making tools. Nevertheless, a range of ecosystem-based solutions to issues as diverse as flooding and green space provision in the urban environment offers hope for improving habitat and optimization of beneficial services. The value of catchment ecosystem processes and their associated services is also being increasingly recognized and internalized by the water industry, improving water quality and quantity through catchment land management rather than at greater expense in the treatment costs of contaminated water abstracted lower in catchments. Parallel recognition of the value of working with natural processes, rather than "defending" built assets when catchment hydrology is adversely affected by unsympathetic upstream development, is being progressively incorporated into flood risk management policy. This focus on wider catchment processes also yields a range of cobenefits for fishery, wildlife, amenity, flood risk, and other interests, which may be optimized if multiple stakeholders and their diverse value systems are included in decision-making processes. Ecosystem services, particularly implemented as a central element of the ecosystem approach, provide an integrated framework for building in these different perspectives and values, many of them formerly excluded, into commercial and resource management decision-making processes, thereby making tractable the integrative aspirations of sustainable development. This can help redress deeply entrenched inherited assumptions, habits, and vested interests, replacing them in many management situations with wider recognition of the multiple values of ecosystems and their services. Global interest in taking an ecosystem approach is promoting novel scientific and policy thinking, yet there is a shortfall in its translation into practical management tools. Professional associations may have key roles to play in breaking down barriers to the "mainstreaming" of systemic perspectives into common practice, particularly through joining u different sectors of society essential to their implementation and ongoing adaptive management. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

Rivers and streams: Ecosystem dynamics and integrating paradigms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cummins, K.W.; Wilzbach, M.A.

2008-01-01

Full understanding of running waters requires an ecosystem perspective, which encompasses the physical and chemical setting in interaction with dependent biological communities. Several conceptual models or paradigms of river and stream ecosystems that capture critical components of lotic ecosystems have been developed, including the ‘river continuum concept’, to describe fluxes of matter and energy within the stream or river channel together with exchanges between the channel and its terrestrial setting. A complete ecosystem perspective includes consideration of hierarchical spatial scales in a temporal context. Flow of energy in lotic ecosystems is driven by two alternative energy sources: sunlight regulating in-stream photosynthesis and plant litter derived from the stream-side riparian corridor or floodplain. Energy transfers within the ecosystem pass through micro- and macroproducers (algae and vascular hydrophytes) and micro- and macroconsumers (microorganisms, invertebrates, and vertebrates). Material fluxes encompass the cycling of key nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, and the transport, storage, and metabolism of dissolved (DOM) and particulate (POM) organic matter (OM). Growth of lotic periphyton (algae and associated microbes, microzoans, and detritus) and coarse (CPOM) and fine (FPOM) particulate organic matter constitute the food resources of nonpredaceous running-water invertebrates (e.g., shredders that consume CPOM and collectors that feed on FPOM and associated microbes of both).

Using USEPA'S Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) Classification With EnviroAtlas As The Basic Framework To Describe Natures Benefits and Beneficiaries

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem Services have received increasing scientific focus for a decade, yet the natural and social scientists working on mainstreaming these concepts are still struggling with the task. FEGS (Final Ecosystem Goods and Services) are an informative and useful concept as they emb...

Intervention for the collaborative use of Geographic Information Systems by private forest landowners: a meaning-centered perspective

Treesearch

Kirk D. Sinclair; Barbara A. Knuth

2001-01-01

Private forest landowners support the stewardship objectives that can be achieved through ecosystems-based management. However, ecosystems-based management is a data intensive approach that focuses upon the broad forest landscape. Intervention by forestry agents or agencies could help neighboring landowners to collaborate with an ecosystems-based approach in pursuit of...

Turbulence and Fluid Flow: Perspectives. Physical Processes in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems, Transport Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simpson, James R.

This module is part of a series on Physical Processes in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems. The materials were designed to be used by life science students for instruction in the application of physical theory to ecosystem operation. Most modules contain computer programs which are built around a particular application of a physical process.…

An Operational Structure for Clarity in Ecosystem Service Values

EPA Science Inventory

Analyses used to value ecosystem services often confuse final ecosystem services with ecological functions that provide only indirect benefit. Extant categorizations of ecosystem services, such as that developed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, do not ameliorate these cha...

Soil and water related forest ecosystem services and resilience of social ecological system in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tekalign, Meron; Muys, Bart; Nyssen, Jan; Poesen, Jean

2014-05-01

In the central highlands of Ethiopia, deforestation and forest degradation are occurring and accelerating during the last century. The high population pressure is the most repeatedly mentioned reason. However, in the past 30 years researchers agreed that the absence of institutions, which could define the access rights to particular forest resources, is another underlying cause of forest depletion and loss. Changing forest areas into different land use types is affecting the biodiversity, which is manifested through not proper functioning of ecosystem services. Menagesha Suba forest, the focus of this study has been explored from various perspectives. However the social dimension and its interaction with the ecology have been addressed rarely. This research uses a combined theoretical framework of Ecosystem Services and that of Resilience thinking for understanding the complex social-ecological interactions in the forest and its influence on ecosystem services. For understanding the history and extent of land use land cover changes, in-depth literature review and a GIS and remote sensing analysis will be made. The effect of forest conversion into plantation and agricultural lands on soil and above ground carbon sequestration, fuel wood and timber products delivery will be analyzed with the accounting of the services on five land use types. The four ecosystem services to be considered are Supporting, Provisioning, Regulating, and Cultural services as set by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. A resilience based participatory framework approach will be used to analyze how the social and ecological systems responded towards the drivers of change that occurred in the past. The framework also will be applied to predict future uncertainties. Finally this study will focus on the possible interventions that could contribute to the sustainable management and conservation of the forest. An ecosystem services trade-off analysis and an environmental valuation of the water regulation and soil erosion control services will be made to propose solutions for increasing the social-ecological system resilience of Menagesha Suba forest.

The Beneficiary Perspective - Benefits and Beyond

EPA Science Inventory

In this chapter of the Handbook on Ecosystem Services, we first explore distinctions between nature’s benefits and human beneficiaries of nature, and how seemingly slight differences in the definition of ecosystem services can lead to vastly different outcomes. We adopt a ...

Documenting Public Values for River Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

The value to society of environmental changes is difficult to assess, and thus challenging to include in environmental management decisions. This presentation will first provide an overview of how framing these values in an ecosystem services perspective can facilitate the proces...

Treating powerless minorities through an ecosystem approach.

PubMed

Chung, W S; Pardeck, J T

1997-01-01

An ecological approach to social work practice for a minority based on an ecosystem-oriented assessment-intervention model is presented. Strengths and limitations of the ecological perspective for practice are emphasized (in the context of power dynamics). A case study is presented.

Development of resource shed delineation in aquatic ecosystems

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental issues in aquatic ecosystems of high management priority involve spatially explicit phenomena that occur over vast areas. A "landscape" perspective is thus necessary, including an understanding of how ecological phenomena at a local scale are affected by physical fo...

FEGS at the inflection point: How linking Ecosystem Services to Human Benefit improves management of coastal ecosystems.

EPA Science Inventory

Final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) are the connection between the ecosystem resources and human stakeholders that benefit from natural capital. The FEGS concept is an extension of the ecosystem services (ES) concept (e.g., Millennium Ecosystem Assessment) and results from...

Perspectives on bay-delta science and policy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healey, Michael; Dettinger, Michael; Norgaard, Richard

2016-01-01

The State of Bay–Delta Science 2008 highlighted seven emerging perspectives on science and management of the Delta. These perspectives had important effects on policy and legislation concerning management of the Delta ecosystem and water exports. From the collection of papers that make up the State of Bay–Delta Science 2016, we derive another seven perspectives that augment those published in 2008. The new perspectives address nutrient and contaminant concentrations in Delta waters, the failure of the Delta food web to support native species, the role of multiple stressors in driving species toward extinction, and the emerging importance of extreme events in driving change in the ecosystem and the water supply. The scientific advances that underpin these new perspectives were made possible by new measurement and analytic tools. We briefly discuss some of these, including miniaturized acoustic fish tags, sensors for monitoring of water quality, analytic techniques for disaggregating complex contaminant mixtures, remote sensing to assess levee vulnerability, and multidimensional hydrodynamic modeling. Despite these new tools and scientific insights, species conservation objectives for the Delta are not being met. We believe that this lack of progress stems in part from the fact that science and policy do not incorporate sufficiently long-term perspectives. Looking forward half a century was central to the Delta Visioning process, but science and policy have not embraced this conceptual breadth. We are also concerned that protection and enhancement of the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place, as required by the Delta Reform Act, has received no critical study and analysis. Adopting wider and longer science and policy perspectives immediately encourages recognition of the need for evaluation, analysis, and public discourse on novel conservation approaches. These longer and wider perspectives also encourage more attention to the opportunities provided by heavily invaded ecosystems. It is past time to turn scientific and policy attention to these issues.

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy.

PubMed

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. © 2014 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy

PubMed Central

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. PMID:25394857

Medical device innovation: prospective solutions for an ecosystem in crisis. Adding a professional society perspective.

PubMed

Krucoff, Mitchell W; Brindis, Ralph G; Hodgson, Patricia K; Mack, Michael J; Holmes, David R

2012-07-01

Barriers to medical device innovation compromise timelines and costs from bench to bedside. Fragmented strategies by individual competitors are no longer sustainable. Pragmatically focused pre-competitive collaboration across stakeholders approaches innovation as an ecosystem. Desiloing experience and expertise encourages high-impact infrastructure efficiencies unique to pre-competitive constructs. Alignment of processes and objectives across the regulatory, reimbursement, clinical research, and clinical practice enterprises, with particular attention to the total product life cycle and continuous accrual of safety information, promotes more predictable equipoise for speed of access relative to residual safety concerns. Professional societies are well positioned to convene pre-competitive dialogue, facilitate alignment, and add perspective to equipoise within the innovation ecosystem. Copyright © 2012 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Final Ecosystem Goods and Services in Streams and their Linkages to Human Values: Identification of Metrics and the Gap Between What we Measure and What We Want to Know

EPA Science Inventory

We've been examining how to practically link ecosystems to human values. We have found that the concept "Final Ecosystem Goods and Services" (FEGS) is a useful way to make this linkage. FEGS are defined as ecological features people perceive as being directly relevant to their ...

An applied hydropedological perspective on the rendering of ecosystem services from urban soils

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem services are benefits to human populations derived from natural capitals like soil. When a soil is urbanized during infrastructure and superstructure development, the related processes modulate the state and quality of natural resources, along with the form and function...

[Ecosystem services valuation of Qinghai Lake].

PubMed

Jiang, Bo; Zhang, Lu; Ouyang, Zhi-yun

2015-10-01

Qinghai Lake is the largest inland and salt water lake in China, and provides important ecosystem services to beneficiaries. Economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services from Qinghai Lake can reveal the direct contribution of lake ecosystems to beneficiaries using economic data, which can advance the incorporation of wetland protection of Qinghai Lake into economic tradeoffs and decision analyses. In this paper, we established a final ecosystem services valuation system based on the underlying ecological mechanisms and regional socio-economic conditions. We then evaluated the eco-economic value provided by the wetlands at Qinghai Lake to beneficiaries in 2012 using the market value method, replacement cost method, zonal travel cost method, and contingent valuation method. According to the valuation result, the total economic values of the final ecosystem services provided by the wetlands at Qinghai Lake were estimated to be 6749.08 x 10(8) yuan RMB in 2012, among which the value of water storage service and climate regulation service were 4797.57 x 10(8) and 1929.34 x 10(8) yuan RMB, accounting for 71.1% and 28.6% of the total value, respectively. The economic value of the 8 final ecosystem services was ranked from greatest to lowest as: water storage service > climate regulation service > recreation and tourism service > non-use value > oxygen release service > raw material production service > carbon sequestration service > food production service. The evaluation result of this paper reflects the substantial value that the wetlands of Qinghai Lake provide to beneficiaries using monetary values, which has the potential to help increase wetland protection awareness among the public and decision-makers, and inform managers about ways to create ecological compensation incentives. The final ecosystem service evaluation system presented in this paper will offer guidance on separating intermediate services and final services, and establishing monitoring programs for dynamic ecosystem services valuation with the aim of helping improve management outcomes.

Parasites, ecosystems and sustainability: an ecological and complex systems perspective.

PubMed

Horwitz, Pierre; Wilcox, Bruce A

2005-06-01

Host-parasite relationships can be conceptualised either narrowly, where the parasite is metabolically dependent on the host, or more broadly, as suggested by an ecological-evolutionary and complex systems perspective. In this view Host-parasite relationships are part of a larger set of ecological and co-evolutionary interdependencies and a complex adaptive system. These interdependencies affect not just the hosts, vectors, parasites, the immediate agents, but also those indirectly or consequentially affected by the relationship. Host-parasite relationships also can be viewed as systems embedded within larger systems represented by ecological communities and ecosystems. So defined, it can be argued that Host-parasite relationships may often benefit their hosts and contribute significantly to the structuring of ecological communities. The broader, complex adaptive system view also contributes to understanding the phenomenon of disease emergence, the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms involved, and the role of parasitology in research and management of ecosystems in light of the apparently growing problem of emerging infectious diseases in wildlife and humans. An expanded set of principles for integrated parasite management is suggested by this perspective.

Development activities, challenges and prospects for the hydropower sector in Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Beatrice; Hauer, Christoph; Habersack, Helmut

2017-04-01

This contribution intends to give an overview of hydropower development activities in Austria and deepen the knowledge on actual strategies and planning documents. Thereby, the focus is on a climate and energy policy based perspective, also analyzing economic trends at the hydropower sector due to energy market changes in the last years. This includes a comparison with other political strategies and programs dealing with hydropower exploitation based on selected countries. With respect to technology developments, a concise review on technological innovations, such as hydrokinetic energy conversion systems, and new constructive designs of conventional hydropower plants in Austria will be given. Moreover, potential impacts on environment and aquatic ecosystems are described. Finally, key challenges and prospects will be identified and discussed.

Placing Ecosystem Sustainability Within the Context of Dynamic Earth Systems

EPA Science Inventory

Because the concept of ecosystem sustainability and the practice of sustainable land management both have long-term foci, it is necessary to view these from the perspective of dynamic rather than static systems. In addition to the typical static system approach for assessing ecos...

The benefits of harvesting wetland invaders for cellulosic biofuel: an ecosystem services perspective

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The growing interest in cellulosic biofuel production has led the call for alternative cropping systems that maximize production along with the accompanying regulating, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services. We evaluate the potential for biomass harvested from invaded wetlands to achieve thes...

Discussing Wetlands, Agriculture, and Ecosystem Services: Perspectives from Two Countries

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A Symposia titled "Wetland Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Landscapes – Comparing Approaches in USA and New Zealand." was held at this year's SWS Annual Conference in Madison. The symposium reviewed the science of wetlands and the role wetlands can play in ensuring the environmental sustainabilit...

Quantity and quality: unifying food web and ecosystem perspectives on the role of resource subsidies in freshwaters.

PubMed

Marcarelli, Amy M; Baxter, Colden V; Mineau, Madeleine M; Hall, Robert O

2011-06-01

Although the study of resource subsidies has emerged as a key topic in both ecosystem and food web ecology, the dialogue over their role has been limited by separate approaches that emphasize either subsidy quantity or quality. Considering quantity and quality together may provide a simple, but previously unexplored, framework for identifying the mechanisms that govern the importance of subsidies for recipient food webs and ecosystems. Using a literature review of > 90 studies of open-water metabolism in lakes and streams, we show that high-flux, low-quality subsidies can drive freshwater ecosystem dynamics. Because most of these ecosystems are net heterotrophic, allochthonous inputs must subsidize respiration. Second, using a literature review of subsidy quality and use, we demonstrate that animals select for high-quality food resources in proportions greater than would be predicted based on food quantity, and regardless of allochthonous or autochthonous origin. This finding suggests that low-flux, high-quality subsidies may be selected for by animals, and in turn may disproportionately affect food web and ecosystem processes (e.g., animal production, trophic energy or organic matter flow, trophic cascades). We then synthesize and review approaches that evaluate the role of subsidies and explicitly merge ecosystem and food web perspectives by placing food web measurements in the context of ecosystem budgets, by comparing trophic and ecosystem production and fluxes, and by constructing flow food webs. These tools can and should be used to address future questions about subsidies, such as the relative importance of subsidies to different trophic levels and how subsidies may maintain or disrupt ecosystem stability and food web interactions.

A community genetics perspective: opportunities for the coming decade.

PubMed

Crutsinger, Gregory M

2016-04-01

Community genetics was originally proposed as a novel approach to identifying links between genes and ecosystems, and merging ecological and evolutional perspectives. The dozen years since the birth of community genetics have seen many empirical studies and common garden experiments, as well as the rise of eco-evolutionary dynamics research and a general shift in ecology to incorporate intraspecific variation. So what have we learned from community genetics? Can individual genes affect entire ecosystems? Are there interesting questions left to be answered, or has community genetics run its course? This perspective makes a series of key points about the general patterns that have emerged and calls attention to gaps in our understanding to be addressed in the coming years. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Brief communication: the ecosystem perspective in ecotoxicology as a way forward for the ecological risk assessment of chemicals.

PubMed

De Laender, Frederik; Janssen, Colin R

2013-07-01

One of the objectives of the European Union (EU) ecological risk assessment of chemicals (ERA) is to derive maximum environmental concentrations that are not expected to cause adverse ecological effects. To this end, related EU directives list protection goals as well as guidelines that should be used to reach these goals. It is generally accepted that the individual-level endpoints on which these guidelines are based do not correspond to the listed population- and ecosystem-level protection goals. In this article, we identify 5 research topics that are key to bridging this gap: 1) the refinement of population-level effects and recovery rates by explicitly taking into account competition and 2) predation, 3) the assessment of chemical effects on biodiversity, 4) the assessment of chemical stress on ecosystem functions and services, and 5) the quantification of the effects of chemical mixtures. In addition, we illustrate why an ecosystem perspective is needed to address these topics and to inform the risk assessment process. We propose the use of existing ecotoxicological community, food web, and ecosystem models to tackle these issues and discuss why new models are needed to predict chemical effects on biodiversity. Copyright © 2013 SETAC.

Salvage logging, ecosystem processes, and biodiversity conservation.

PubMed

Lindenmayer, D B; Noss, R F

2006-08-01

We summarize the documented and potential impacts of salvage logging--a form of logging that removes trees and other biological material from sites after natural disturbance. Such operations may reduce or eliminate biological legacies, modify rare postdisturbance habitats, influence populations, alter community composition, impair natural vegetation recovery, facilitate the colonization of invasive species, alter soil properties and nutrient levels, increase erosion, modify hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems, and alter patterns of landscape heterogeneity These impacts can be assigned to three broad and interrelated effects: (1) altered stand structural complexity; (2) altered ecosystem processes and functions; and (3) altered populations of species and community composition. Some impacts may be different from or additional to the effects of traditional logging that is not preceded by a large natural disturbance because the conditions before, during, and after salvage logging may differ from those that characterize traditional timber harvesting. The potential impacts of salvage logging often have been overlooked, partly because the processes of ecosystem recovery after natural disturbance are still poorly understood and partly because potential cumulative effects of natural and human disturbance have not been well documented. Ecologically informed policies regarding salvage logging are needed prior to major natural disturbances so that when they occur ad hoc and crisis-mode decision making can be avoided. These policies should lead to salvage-exemption zones and limits on the amounts of disturbance-derived biological legacies (e.g., burned trees, logs) that are removed where salvage logging takes place. Finally, we believe new terminology is needed. The word salvage implies that something is being saved or recovered, whereas from an ecological perspective this is rarely the case.

Trekking Back to Mainstream for Inclusive Education, Is It There?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalenga, Rosemary Chimbala; Fourie, Elsa

2012-01-01

This paper explores the ecosystemic management strategies for inclusive schools due to challenges faced by the schools in the mainstream school where learners from the specialised institutions are referred back to mainstream for inclusive education. Ecosystemic perspective on inclusive education, ecological theories and systems theories underpin…

Spatial perspectives in state-and-transition models: A missing link to land management?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Conceptual models of alternative states and thresholds are based largely on observations of ecosystem processes at a few points in space. Because the distribution of alternative states in spatially-structured ecosystems is the result of variations in pattern-process interactions at different scales,...

FINAL ECOSYSTEM GOODS AND SERVICES CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (FEGS-CS)

EPA Science Inventory

This document defines and classifies 338 Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS), each defined and uniquely numbered by a combination of environmental class or sub-class and a beneficiary category or sub-category. The introductory section provides the rationale and conceptual ...

Placing ecosystem sustainability within the context of dynamic earth systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidle, R. C.

2013-12-01

Because the concept of ecosystem sustainability and the practice of sustainable land management both have long-term foci, it is necessary to view these from the perspective of dynamic rather than static systems. In addition to the typical static system approach for assessing ecosystem sustainability, three additional perspectives are presented. These are resilient systems, systems where tipping points occur, and systems subject to episodic geophysical resetting. Ecosystem resilience accommodates both natural and anthropogenic stressors and should be considered to properly frame many ecosystem assessments. A more complex problem emerges when stressors push systems to tipping points, causing a regime shift. Both chronic anthropogenic activities (e.g., over-grazing, forest conversion, poor irrigation practices) and natural changes (e.g., climate anomalies, geochemical weathering, tectonic uplift, vegetative succession) can exhaust ecosystem resilience leading to a rapid change in state. Anthropogenic perturbations can also lower the initiation threshold and increase the magnitude and frequency of certain natural disasters, increasing the likelihood of ecosystem change. Furthermore, when major episodic geophysical events (e.g., large earthquakes, tsunami, and floods; widespread volcanic activity and landslides) exceed thresholds of ecosystem resilience they may reset the attributes of entire systems or landscapes. Large disasters can initiate a cascade of linked events, as in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, where tsunami, fires, landslides, artificial fillslope collapses, radioactive releases, and associated health effects occurred. Understanding the potential for natural change (both chronic and episodic) in ecosystems is essential not only to the environmental aspect of sustainability but also to economic and social aspects. Examples are presented for: (1) ecosystems vulnerable to tipping points (Yunnan, China) and (2) ecosystems reset by earthquakes and tsunami (Papua New Guinea and eastern Japan). While these geophysical perturbations and shifts in ecosystems are individually recognized, they are not fully embraced by contemporary sustainability thinking or decision management.

Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor Vulnerability Assessments (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Change: The Challenges of conducting Multi-Stressor Global Change Vulnerability Assessments. This report investigates the issues and challenges associated with identifying, calculating, and ...

A Binary Approach to Define and Classify Final Ecosystem Goods and Services

EPA Science Inventory

The ecosystem services literature decries the lack of consistency and standards in the application of ecosystem services as well as the inability of current approaches to explicitly link ecosystem services to human well-being. Recently, SEEA and CICES have conceptually identifie...

A systematic approach for quantifying final ecosystems services at regional and national scales

EPA Science Inventory

Since the development of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), there have been a myriad of proposals regarding how to apply ecosystem services concepts in routine, systematic ways to support standards, markets and assessments of ecosystems services. The key question being ...

Machine metaphors and ethics in synthetic biology.

PubMed

Boldt, Joachim

2018-06-04

The extent to which machine metaphors are used in synthetic biology is striking. These metaphors contain a specific perspective on organisms as well as on scientific and technological progress. Expressions such as "genetically engineered machine", "genetic circuit", and "platform organism", taken from the realms of electronic engineering, car manufacturing, and information technology, highlight specific aspects of the functioning of living beings while at the same time hiding others, such as evolutionary change and interdependencies in ecosystems. Since these latter aspects are relevant for, for example, risk evaluation of uncontained uses of synthetic organisms, it is ethically imperative to resist the thrust of machine metaphors in this respect. In addition, from the perspective of the machine metaphor viewing an entity as a moral agent or patient becomes dubious. If one were to regard living beings, including humans, as machines, it becomes difficult to justify ascriptions of moral status. Finally, the machine metaphor reinforces beliefs in the potential of synthetic biology to play a decisive role in solving societal problems, and downplays the role of alternative technological, and social and political measures.

A social-ecological analysis of ecosystem services supply and trade-offs in European wood-pastures.

PubMed

Torralba, Mario; Fagerholm, Nora; Hartel, Tibor; Moreno, Gerardo; Plieninger, Tobias

2018-05-01

Wood-pastures are complex social-ecological systems (SES), which are the product of long-term interaction between society and its surrounding landscape. Traditionally characterized by multifunctional low-intensity management that enhanced a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), current farm management has shifted toward more intensive farm models. This study assesses the supply of ES in four study areas dominated by managed wood-pastures in Spain, Sweden, and Romania. On the basis of 144 farm surveys and the use of multivariate techniques, we characterize farm management and structure in the study areas and identify the trade-offs in ES supply associated with this management. We link these trade-offs to multiple factors that characterize the landholding: economic, social, environmental, technological, and governance. Finally, we analyze how landholders' values and perspectives have an effect on management decisions. Results show a differentiated pattern of ES supply in the four study areas. We identified four types of trade-offs in ES supply that appear depending on what is being promoted by the farm management and that are associated with different dimensions of wood-pasture management: productivity-related trade-offs, crop production-related trade-offs, multifunctionality-related trade-offs, and farm accessibility-related trade-offs. These trade-offs are influenced by complex interactions between the properties of the SES, which have a direct influence on landholders' perspectives and motivations. The findings of this paper advance the understanding of the dynamics between agroecosystems and society and can inform system-based agricultural and conservation policies.

A social-ecological analysis of ecosystem services supply and trade-offs in European wood-pastures

PubMed Central

Hartel, Tibor

2018-01-01

Wood-pastures are complex social-ecological systems (SES), which are the product of long-term interaction between society and its surrounding landscape. Traditionally characterized by multifunctional low-intensity management that enhanced a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), current farm management has shifted toward more intensive farm models. This study assesses the supply of ES in four study areas dominated by managed wood-pastures in Spain, Sweden, and Romania. On the basis of 144 farm surveys and the use of multivariate techniques, we characterize farm management and structure in the study areas and identify the trade-offs in ES supply associated with this management. We link these trade-offs to multiple factors that characterize the landholding: economic, social, environmental, technological, and governance. Finally, we analyze how landholders’ values and perspectives have an effect on management decisions. Results show a differentiated pattern of ES supply in the four study areas. We identified four types of trade-offs in ES supply that appear depending on what is being promoted by the farm management and that are associated with different dimensions of wood-pasture management: productivity-related trade-offs, crop production–related trade-offs, multifunctionality-related trade-offs, and farm accessibility–related trade-offs. These trade-offs are influenced by complex interactions between the properties of the SES, which have a direct influence on landholders’ perspectives and motivations. The findings of this paper advance the understanding of the dynamics between agroecosystems and society and can inform system-based agricultural and conservation policies. PMID:29732404

A HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING CLIMATE INDUCED CHANGES IN COASTAL FINAL ECOSYSTEM GOODS AND SERVICES

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding how climate change will alter the availability of coastal final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS; such as food provisioning from fisheries, property protection, and recreation) has significant implications for coastal planning and the development of adaptive manag...

Socio-Ecohydrologic Agents And Services: Integrating Human And Natural Components To Address Coupled System Resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavao-zuckerman, M.; Pope, A.; Chan, D.; Curl, K.; Gimblett, H. R.; Hough, M.; House-Peters, L.; Lee, R.; Scott, C. A.

2012-12-01

Riparian corridors in arid regions are highly valued for their relative scarcity, and because healthy riparian systems support high levels of biodiversity, can meet human demand for water and water-related resources and functions. Our team is taking a transdiciplinary social-ecological systems approach to assessing riparian corridor resilience in two watersheds (the San Pedro River in USA and Mexico, and the Rio San Miguel in Mexico) through a project funded by the NSF CNH program ("Strengthening Resilience of Arid Region Riparian Corridors"). Multiple perspectives are integrated in the project, including hydrology, ecology, institutional dynamics, and decision making (at the level of both policy and individual choice), as well as the perspectives of various stakeholder groups and individuals in the watersheds. Here we discuss initial findings that center around linking changes in ecohydrology and livelihoods related to decisions in response to climatic, ecological, and social change. The research team is implementing two approaches to integrate the disparate disciplines participating in the research (and the varied perspectives among the stakeholders in this binational riparian context): (1) ecosystem service assessment, and (2) agent based model simulation. We are developing an ecosystem service perspective that provides a bridge between ecological dynamics in the landscape and varied stakeholder perspectives on the implications of ecohydrology for well-being (economic, cultural, ecological). Services are linked on one hand to the spatial patterns of traits of individuals within species (allowing a more predictive application of ecosystem services as they vary with community change in time), and to stakeholder perspectives (facilitating integration of ecosystem services into our understanding of decision making processes) in a case study in the San Pedro River National Conservation Area. The agent- based model (ABM) approach incorporates the influence of human decision-making on spatially-explicit landscapes in a mechanistic way, taking into account social interaction, adaptation, and decision-making at different levels, allowing individual stakeholders to make decisions based on their unique perceptions of their environment, be it economic, social, or ecological awareness. Initial parameterization of the ABM proceeds from a case study centered in the town of Rayón, Sonora, Mexico, where semi-structured interviews were used to elicit perceptions by water resource users of CNH function, change, and solutions relating to livelihood changes in response to several drivers. In both case studies, we see the potential and limitations for an approach to adaptive management and decision support related to water resources that links ecosystem services and agent-based modeling. Methodologically, synthetic approaches such as these may allow coupling of systems for improved assessment and analysis, while at the same time lack a connection to the perspectives of water users and managers on the ground. There is thus potential for a either a loss of system resilience in the face of external change, or an opportunity to increase system resilience by building off perspectives already in place within these coupled socio-ecohydrologic systems.

Human dimensions in ecosystem management: a USDA Forest Service perspective

Treesearch

Deborah S. Carr

1995-01-01

For many decades, the natural resource profession has approached the management of public lands as exclusively a natural science endeavor requiring purely technical solutions. With the adoption of an ecosystem management philosophy, the USDA Forest Service has acknowledged the centrality of people in land management policy and decision-making. This paper explores the...

Integrating forest products with ecosystem services: a global perspective

Treesearch

Robert L. Deal; Rachel White

2012-01-01

Around the world forests provide a broad range of vital ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management and forest products play an important role in global carbon management, but one of the major forestry concerns worldwide is reducing the loss of forestland from development. Currently, deforestation accounts for approximately 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions....

Ecosystem Management Research in the Ouachita Mountains: Pretreatment Conditions and Preliminary Findings

Treesearch

James B. Baker

1994-01-01

In August 1990, USDA Forest Service researchers from the Southern Forest Experiment Station and resource managers from the Ouachita and Ozark National Forests embarked on a major ecosystem management (then called New Perspectives) research program aimed at formulating, implementing, and evaluating partial cutting methods in shortleaf pine-hardwood stands as...

Global Family Concerns and the Role of Family Life Education: An Ecosystemic Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darling, Carol A.; Turkki, Kaija

2009-01-01

We surveyed colleagues from 4 international professional organizations involved with families in order to examine global family concerns and the role of family life education from an ecosystemic perspective. Our sample represented 6 continents and 50 countries. Survey results indicated that family education and related coursework were available in…

Research applications of ecosystem patterns

Treesearch

Robert G. Bailey

2009-01-01

This article discusses the origins of natural ecosystem patterns from global to local scales. It describes how understanding these patterns can help scientists and managers in two ways. First, the local systems are shown within the context of larger systems. This perspective can be applied in assessing the connections between action at one scale and effect at another,...

A framework for simulating map error in ecosystem models

Treesearch

Sean P. Healey; Shawn P. Urbanski; Paul L. Patterson; Chris Garrard

2014-01-01

The temporal depth and spatial breadth of observations from platforms such as Landsat provide unique perspective on ecosystem dynamics, but the integration of these observations into formal decision support will rely upon improved uncertainty accounting. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations offer a practical, empirical method of accounting for potential map errors in broader...

Influence of Valley Floor Landforms on Stream Ecosystems

Treesearch

Stanley V. Gregory; Gary A. Lamberti; Kelly M. S. Moore

1989-01-01

A hierarchical perspective of relationships between valley floor landforms, riparian plant communities, and aquatic ecosystems has been developed, based on studies of two fifth-order basins in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Retention of dissolved nitrogen and leaves were approximately 2-3 times greater in unconstrained reaches than in constrained reaches. Both valley...

Unexpected Levels of Biological Activity during the Polar Night Offer New Perspectives on a Warming Arctic.

PubMed

Berge, Jørgen; Daase, Malin; Renaud, Paul E; Ambrose, William G; Darnis, Gerald; Last, Kim S; Leu, Eva; Cohen, Jonathan H; Johnsen, Geir; Moline, Mark A; Cottier, Finlo; Varpe, Øystein; Shunatova, Natalia; Bałazy, Piotr; Morata, Nathalie; Massabuau, Jean-Charles; Falk-Petersen, Stig; Kosobokova, Ksenia; Hoppe, Clara J M; Węsławski, Jan Marcin; Kukliński, Piotr; Legeżyńska, Joanna; Nikishina, Daria; Cusa, Marine; Kędra, Monika; Włodarska-Kowalczuk, Maria; Vogedes, Daniel; Camus, Lionel; Tran, Damien; Michaud, Emma; Gabrielsen, Tove M; Granovitch, Andrei; Gonchar, Anya; Krapp, Rupert; Callesen, Trine A

2015-10-05

The current understanding of Arctic ecosystems is deeply rooted in the classical view of a bottom-up controlled system with strong physical forcing and seasonality in primary-production regimes. Consequently, the Arctic polar night is commonly disregarded as a time of year when biological activities are reduced to a minimum due to a reduced food supply. Here, based upon a multidisciplinary ecosystem-scale study from the polar night at 79°N, we present an entirely different view. Instead of an ecosystem that has entered a resting state, we document a system with high activity levels and biological interactions across most trophic levels. In some habitats, biological diversity and presence of juvenile stages were elevated in winter months compared to the more productive and sunlit periods. Ultimately, our results suggest a different perspective regarding ecosystem function that will be of importance for future environmental management and decision making, especially at a time when Arctic regions are experiencing accelerated environmental change [1]. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parental "Intrapreneurship" in Action: Theoretical Elaboration through the Israeli Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yemini, Miri; Ramot, Rony; Sagie, Netta

2016-01-01

Parents are widely acknowledged as prominent actors in schools' success; consequently, school-parent interactions are heavily investigated from sociological, psychological, political, and cultural perspectives. By applying the "open system" perspective to schools as an eco-system, this study addresses parents as integrative stakeholders…

Aquatic microphylla Azolla: a perspective paradigm for sustainable agriculture, environment and global climate change.

PubMed

Kollah, Bharati; Patra, Ashok Kumar; Mohanty, Santosh Ranjan

2016-03-01

This review addresses the perspectives of Azolla as a multifaceted aquatic resource to ensure ecosystem sustainability. Nitrogen fixing potential of cyanobacterial symbiont varies between 30 and 60 kg N ha(-1) which designates Azolla as an important biological N source for agriculture and animal industry. Azolla exhibits high bioremediation potential for Cd, Cr, Cu, and Zn. Azolla mitigates greenhouse gas emission from agriculture. In flooded rice ecosystem, Azolla dual cropping decreased CH4 emission by 40 % than did urea alone and also stimulated CH4 oxidation. This review highlighted integrated approach using Azolla that offers enormous public health, environmental, and cost benefits.

Approaches to determining Final Ecosystem Goods and Services: Benefits and Beneficiaries

EPA Science Inventory

By nature, the concept of ‘Final’ Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) poses the question; to what or to whom are these goods and services final? We identify two main approaches theoreticians and practitioners are using to define and perceive FEGS (note: we recognize t...

Regime shifts and resilience in China's coastal ecosystems.

PubMed

Zhang, Ke

2016-02-01

Regime shift often results in large, abrupt, and persistent changes in the provision of ecosystem services and can therefore have significant impacts on human wellbeing. Understanding regime shifts has profound implications for ecosystem recovery and management. China's coastal ecosystems have experienced substantial deterioration within the past decades, at a scale and speed the world has never seen before. Yet, information about this coastal ecosystem change from a dynamics perspective is quite limited. In this review, I synthesize existing information on coastal ecosystem regime shifts in China and discuss their interactions and cascading effects. The accumulation of regime shifts in China's coastal ecosystems suggests that the desired system resilience has been profoundly eroded, increasing the potential of abrupt shifts to undesirable states at a larger scale, especially given multiple escalating pressures. Policy and management strategies need to incorporate resilience approaches in order to cope with future challenges and avoid major losses in China's coastal ecosystem services.

Construction of Industrial Ecosystem of an Electric Company under Ecological Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Zhang, Yuan; Wu, Han

2018-01-01

Be confronted with more and more fierce competition environment, only by constantly integrating, constructing and restructuring internal and external resources as well as capabilities can enterprises adapt themselves to the rapidly changing environment and maintain the advantages of sustained competition. Business competition has changed from product competition of single enterprise to competition of bussiness ecosystem. Therefore, how to build a business system is the key to win competition. This paper draws lessons from business ecosystem and industrial ecosystem concept and takes the subordinate industry company of a large enterprise as the research object. On the the basis of combing its characteristics and organizational structure, an industrial ecosystem is tired to constructed.

Arsenic in the evolution of earth and extraterrestrial ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oremland, R.S.; Saltikov, C.W.; Wolfe-Simon, Felisa; Stolz, J.F.

2009-01-01

If you were asked to speculate about the form extra-terrestrial life on Mars might take, which geomicrobial phenomenon might you select as a model system, assuming that life on Mars would be 'primitive'? Give your reasons. At the end of my senior year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968, I took Professor Ehrlich's final for his Geomicrobiology course. The above question beckoned to me like the Sirens to Odysseus, for if I answered, it would take so much time and thought that I would never get around to the exam's other essay questions and consequently, would be "shipwrecked" by flunking the course. So, I passed it up. With this 41-year perspective in mind, this manuscript is now submitted to Professor Ehrlich for (belated) "extra-credit." R.S. Oremland ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Gut metabolome meets microbiome: A methodological perspective to understand the relationship between host and microbe.

PubMed

Lamichhane, Santosh; Sen, Partho; Dickens, Alex M; Orešič, Matej; Bertram, Hanne Christine

2018-04-30

It is well established that gut microbes and their metabolic products regulate host metabolism. The interactions between the host and its gut microbiota are highly dynamic and complex. In this review we present and discuss the metabolomic strategies to study the gut microbial ecosystem. We highlight the metabolic profiling approaches to study faecal samples aimed at deciphering the metabolic product derived from gut microbiota. We also discuss how metabolomics data can be integrated with metagenomics data derived from gut microbiota and how such approaches may lead to better understanding of the microbial functions. Finally, the emerging approaches of genome-scale metabolic modelling to study microbial co-metabolism and host-microbe interactions are highlighted. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Post-Its and Priorities: A Participatory Exercise for Understanding Perspectives of Diverse Stakeholders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaChance, James; Hunter, Mitch; Finney, Denise

2015-01-01

We describe a participatory co-learning exercise that can help elucidate and navigate the unique perspectives of farmers, researchers, Extension personnel, and other agricultural professionals engaged in managing complex systems. We developed the exercise to help a diverse advisory panel collaboratively identify and prioritize ecosystem services…

Soil Science Education: Philosophy and Perspectives. SSSA Special Publication Number 37.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baveye, Philippe, Ed.; And Others

Soil science provides the educational framework to integrate components of earth science systems, to understand the causes and consequences of spatial variability, and view dynamic processes impacting ecosystems in a holistic perspective. This book, a special publication of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), identifies and analyzes…

Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling.

PubMed

Ganju, Neil K; Brush, Mark J; Rashleigh, Brenda; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L; Del Barrio, Pilar; Grear, Jason S; Harris, Lora A; Lake, Samuel J; McCardell, Grant; O'Donnell, James; Ralston, David K; Signell, Richard P; Testa, Jeremy M; Vaudrey, Jamie M P

2016-03-01

Numerical modeling has emerged over the last several decades as a widely accepted tool for investigations in environmental sciences. In estuarine research, hydrodynamic and ecological models have moved along parallel tracks with regard to complexity, refinement, computational power, and incorporation of uncertainty. Coupled hydrodynamic-ecological models have been used to assess ecosystem processes and interactions, simulate future scenarios, and evaluate remedial actions in response to eutrophication, habitat loss, and freshwater diversion. The need to couple hydrodynamic and ecological models to address research and management questions is clear, because dynamic feedbacks between biotic and physical processes are critical interactions within ecosystems. In this review we present historical and modern perspectives on estuarine hydrodynamic and ecological modeling, consider model limitations, and address aspects of model linkage, skill assessment, and complexity. We discuss the balance between spatial and temporal resolution and present examples using different spatiotemporal scales. Finally, we recommend future lines of inquiry, approaches to balance complexity and uncertainty, and model transparency and utility. It is idealistic to think we can pursue a "theory of everything" for estuarine models, but recent advances suggest that models for both scientific investigations and management applications will continue to improve in terms of realism, precision, and accuracy.

Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ganju, Neil K.; Brush, Mark J.; Rashleigh, Brenda; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L.; del Barrio, Pilar; Grear, Jason S.; Harris, Lora A.; Lake, Samuel J.; McCardell, Grant; O'Donnell, James; Ralston, David K.; Signell, Richard P.; Testa, Jeremy; Vaudrey, Jamie M. P.

2016-01-01

Numerical modeling has emerged over the last several decades as a widely accepted tool for investigations in environmental sciences. In estuarine research, hydrodynamic and ecological models have moved along parallel tracks with regard to complexity, refinement, computational power, and incorporation of uncertainty. Coupled hydrodynamic-ecological models have been used to assess ecosystem processes and interactions, simulate future scenarios, and evaluate remedial actions in response to eutrophication, habitat loss, and freshwater diversion. The need to couple hydrodynamic and ecological models to address research and management questions is clear because dynamic feedbacks between biotic and physical processes are critical interactions within ecosystems. In this review, we present historical and modern perspectives on estuarine hydrodynamic and ecological modeling, consider model limitations, and address aspects of model linkage, skill assessment, and complexity. We discuss the balance between spatial and temporal resolution and present examples using different spatiotemporal scales. Finally, we recommend future lines of inquiry, approaches to balance complexity and uncertainty, and model transparency and utility. It is idealistic to think we can pursue a “theory of everything” for estuarine models, but recent advances suggest that models for both scientific investigations and management applications will continue to improve in terms of realism, precision, and accuracy.

Progress and challenges in coupled hydrodynamic-ecological estuarine modeling

PubMed Central

Ganju, Neil K.; Brush, Mark J.; Rashleigh, Brenda; Aretxabaleta, Alfredo L.; del Barrio, Pilar; Grear, Jason S.; Harris, Lora A.; Lake, Samuel J.; McCardell, Grant; O’Donnell, James; Ralston, David K.; Signell, Richard P.; Testa, Jeremy M.; Vaudrey, Jamie M.P.

2016-01-01

Numerical modeling has emerged over the last several decades as a widely accepted tool for investigations in environmental sciences. In estuarine research, hydrodynamic and ecological models have moved along parallel tracks with regard to complexity, refinement, computational power, and incorporation of uncertainty. Coupled hydrodynamic-ecological models have been used to assess ecosystem processes and interactions, simulate future scenarios, and evaluate remedial actions in response to eutrophication, habitat loss, and freshwater diversion. The need to couple hydrodynamic and ecological models to address research and management questions is clear, because dynamic feedbacks between biotic and physical processes are critical interactions within ecosystems. In this review we present historical and modern perspectives on estuarine hydrodynamic and ecological modeling, consider model limitations, and address aspects of model linkage, skill assessment, and complexity. We discuss the balance between spatial and temporal resolution and present examples using different spatiotemporal scales. Finally, we recommend future lines of inquiry, approaches to balance complexity and uncertainty, and model transparency and utility. It is idealistic to think we can pursue a “theory of everything” for estuarine models, but recent advances suggest that models for both scientific investigations and management applications will continue to improve in terms of realism, precision, and accuracy. PMID:27721675

Emulating Host-Microbiome Ecosystem of Human Gastrointestinal Tract in Vitro.

PubMed

Park, Gun-Seok; Park, Min Hee; Shin, Woojung; Zhao, Connie; Sheikh, Sameer; Oh, So Jung; Kim, Hyun Jung

2017-06-01

The human gut microbiome performs prodigious physiological functions such as production of microbial metabolites, modulation of nutrient digestion and drug metabolism, control of immune system, and prevention of infection. Paradoxically, gut microbiome can also negatively orchestrate the host responses in diseases or chronic disorders, suggesting that the regulated and balanced host-gut microbiome crosstalk is a salient prerequisite in gastrointestinal physiology. To understand the pathophysiological role of host-microbiome crosstalk, it is critical to recreate in vivo relevant models of the host-gut microbiome ecosystem in human. However, controlling the multi-species microbial communities and their uncontrolled growth has remained a notable technical challenge. Furthermore, conventional two-dimensional (2D) or 3D culture systems do not recapitulate multicellular microarchitectures, mechanical dynamics, and tissue-specific functions. Here, we review recent advances and current pitfalls of in vitro and ex vivo models that display human GI functions. We also discuss how the disruptive technologies such as 3D organoids or a human organ-on-a-chip microphysiological system can contribute to better emulate host-gut microbiome crosstalks in health and disease. Finally, the medical and pharmaceutical significance of the gut microbiome-based personalized interventions is underlined as a future perspective.

Arctic tipping points in an Earth system perspective.

PubMed

Wassmann, Paul; Lenton, Timothy M

2012-02-01

We provide an introduction to the volume The Arctic in the Earth System perspective: the role of tipping points. The terms tipping point and tipping element are described and their role in current science, general debates, and the Arctic are elucidated. From a wider perspective, the volume focuses upon the role of humans in the Arctic component of the Earth system and in particular the envelope for human existence, the Arctic ecosystems. The Arctic climate tipping elements, the tipping elements in Arctic ecosystems and societies, and the challenges of governance and anticipation are illuminated through short summaries of eight publications that derive from the Arctic Frontiers conference in 2011 and the EU FP7 project Arctic Tipping Points. Then some ideas based upon resilience thinking are developed to show how wise system management could ease pressures on Arctic systems in order to keep them away from tipping points.

Ecological classification systems for the Wayne National Forest, southeastern Ohio

Treesearch

David M. Hix; Jeffrey N. Pearcy

1997-01-01

The importance of basing land management decisions upon an ecosystem perspective is becoming widely accepted. It is frequently regarded as insufficient to simply manage stands or forest cover types without considering the ecological relationships of the forest vegetation to the other components of the ecosystems, such as soils and physiography. In order to implement...

Global Educational Ecosystem: Case Study of a Partnership with K-12 Schools, Community Organizations, and Business

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Donna S.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to describe a collaborative partnership model known as the Global Educational Ecosystem, which involves three K-12 schools in Northern California, community organizations (representing science, technology, health, and arts), and Xilinx, Inc. from the perspectives of the leaders of the involved partner organizations in…

Forest health in the Blue Mountains: an plant ecologist's perspective on ecosystem processes and biological diversity.

Treesearch

Charles G. Johnson

1994-01-01

Natural disturbances are important to ecosystem processes. Disturbances historically have occurred in the vegetation of the Blue Mountain area of northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The primary modifying events that historically have cycled through most of its plant communities are fire, grazing and browsing, insect and disease epidemics, windthrow,...

Ecosystem services and urban greenways: What's the public's perspective?

Treesearch

Lincoln R. Larson; Samuel J. Keith; Mariela Fernandez; Jeffrey C. Hallo; C. Scott Shafer; Viniece Jennings

2016-01-01

Ecosystem services (ES) are an important tool for quantifying the value of nature, yet there are often disconnects between services defined and measured by scientists and those that are realized and appreciated by the general public. Our study explored public perceptions of urban ES by examining benefits associated with greenways in two U.S. cities. Respondents (n =460...

Are carrots, corn and cattle really provided by Nature- If not, how can we appropriately identify the goods and services derived from agroecosystems?

EPA Science Inventory

People harbor different perspectives regarding the aspects of agroecosystems or cultivated lands that are or could be considered ecosystem services. The first issues that need to be addressed in this regard are to define agro-ecosystem services and to establish their potential p...

Preface: long-term response of a forest watershed ecosystem, clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians

Treesearch

Wayne Swank; Jackson Webster

2014-01-01

Our North American forests are no longer the wild areas of past centuries; they are an economic and ecological resource undergoing changes from both natural and management disturbances. A watershed-scale and long-term perspective of forest ecosystem responses is requisite to understanding and predicting cause and effect relationships. This book synthesizes...

A geomorphic perspective on terrain-modulated organization of vegetation productivity: Analysis in two semiarid grassland ecosystems in Southwestern United States

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Spatial patterns of ecosystem productivity arise from the terrain-modulated wetting and drying of the landscape. Using a daily relative greenness (rG) index we explore the relations between spatial variability of plant productivity and landscape morphology, and how these relations change over time...

Influence of forest planning alternatives on landscape pattern and ecosystem processes in northern Wisconsin, USA

Treesearch

Patrick A. Zollner; L. Jay Roberts; Eric J. Gustafson; Hong S. He; Volker Radeloff

2008-01-01

Incorporating an ecosystem management perspective into forest planning requires consideration of the impacts of timber management on a suite of landscape characteristics at broad spatial and long temporal scales. We used the LANDIS forest landscape simulation model to predict forest composition and landscape pattern under seven alternative forest management plans...

Framing the ecosystem concept through a longitudinal study of developments in science and policy.

PubMed

Aggestam, Filip

2015-08-01

This paper examines how scientific literature and policy documents frame the ecosystem concept and how these frames have shaped scientific dialogue and policy making over time. This was achieved by developing a frame typology, as a basis for organizing relevant value expressions, to assess how different frames have altered perspectives of the ecosystem concept. The frame typology and analysis is based on a semi-grounded and longitudinal document analysis of scientific literature and policy documents using the ecosystem concept. Despite changing discourses and public priorities (e.g., cultural constructs of biodiversity) both science and policy documents are characterized by stable value systems that have not changed substantially since the 1930s. These value systems were defined based on ethical principles that delineate 6 core frames: humans first, dual systems, eco-science, eco-holism, animals first, and multicentrism. Specific crises (e.g., climate change) and cross-disciplinary uptake and re-uptake of, for example, the ecosystem services concept, have brought new perspectives to the forefront of public discourse. These developments triggered changes in the core frames that, rather than being value based, are based on how the ecosystem is conceptualized under fixed value systems and over time. Fourteen subframes were developed to reflect these longitudinal changes. There are as such clear framing effects in both scientific literature and in policy. Ecosystem research is for instance often characterized by unstated value judgments even though the scientific community does not make these explicit. In contrast, policy documents are characterized by clear value expressions but are principally management driven and human centered. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields (2011 Final)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields. This report assesses the state of the science on the environmental impacts of mountaintop mines and valley ...

Using benefit indicators to evaluate ecosystem services resulting from restoration

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological restoration can reestablish ecosystem services that provide valuable social and environmental benefits. Final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) are the goods and services that directly benefit people. Explicitly identifying the people who benefit and characterizing w...

Ecological response to climate change and human activities indicated by n-alkane proxy during the mid- to late Holocene: a case study from an alpine lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, C.; Zhao, C.

2017-12-01

Paleolimonological records provide long-term dynamics information of past climate, environment, human activities and ecological variations and give evolutionary perspectives to understand responses process of ecological shift to internal or external trigger. In this study, a powerful biomarkers, n-alkanes, was used to reconstruct the past 5000 years organic matter sources and ecological evolution history of Beilianchi Lake in the southwestern of Loess Plateau after preliminary investigation of modern samples. Climate-environment change and human activities were also traced by total organic matter (TOC), magnetic susceptibility (MS) and relevant proxies. The results showed that the ecosystem related to organic matter composition in Beilianchi Lake might be mainly controlled by climate change before 1400 cal B.P., whereas after that, it was significantly influenced by soil erosion induced by increasing population and enhanced human activities. Lake ecosystem experienced periodical change from relatively stable stage with combination of allochthonous-autochthonous organic sources prior to 1400 cal B.P. to extremely instability and final return to steady state with allochthonous-dominant organic source since 300 cal B.P.. During the period of instability, organic matter composition during 1400-800 cal B.P. indicated a obvious bimodal distribution based on probability density distribution analysis, which reflected the lake ecosystem might stay at bistable state and switched repeatedly from more-macrophytes state (regime A with low ACL) towards less-macrophytes state (regime B with high ACL) controlled by disturbance of soil erosion. The flickering during this period could serve as the early warning signal of transition towards more-macrophytes state or less-macrophytes state in lake ecosystems.

Ecosystem functioning is enveloped by hydrometeorological variability.

PubMed

Pappas, Christoforos; Mahecha, Miguel D; Frank, David C; Babst, Flurin; Koutsoyiannis, Demetris

2017-09-01

Terrestrial ecosystem processes, and the associated vegetation carbon dynamics, respond differently to hydrometeorological variability across timescales, and so does our scientific understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Long-term variability of the terrestrial carbon cycle is not yet well constrained and the resulting climate-biosphere feedbacks are highly uncertain. Here we present a comprehensive overview of hydrometeorological and ecosystem variability from hourly to decadal timescales integrating multiple in situ and remote-sensing datasets characterizing extra-tropical forest sites. We find that ecosystem variability at all sites is confined within a hydrometeorological envelope across sites and timescales. Furthermore, ecosystem variability demonstrates long-term persistence, highlighting ecological memory and slow ecosystem recovery rates after disturbances. However, simulation results with state-of-the-art process-based models do not reflect this long-term persistent behaviour in ecosystem functioning. Accordingly, we develop a cross-time-scale stochastic framework that captures hydrometeorological and ecosystem variability. Our analysis offers a perspective for terrestrial ecosystem modelling and paves the way for new model-data integration opportunities in Earth system sciences.

New perspectives on the ecology of tree structure and tree communities through terrestrial laser scanning.

PubMed

Malhi, Yadvinder; Jackson, Tobias; Patrick Bentley, Lisa; Lau, Alvaro; Shenkin, Alexander; Herold, Martin; Calders, Kim; Bartholomeus, Harm; Disney, Mathias I

2018-04-06

Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) opens up the possibility of describing the three-dimensional structures of trees in natural environments with unprecedented detail and accuracy. It is already being extensively applied to describe how ecosystem biomass and structure vary between sites, but can also facilitate major advances in developing and testing mechanistic theories of tree form and forest structure, thereby enabling us to understand why trees and forests have the biomass and three-dimensional structure they do. Here we focus on the ecological challenges and benefits of understanding tree form, and highlight some advances related to capturing and describing tree shape that are becoming possible with the advent of TLS. We present examples of ongoing work that applies, or could potentially apply, new TLS measurements to better understand the constraints on optimization of tree form. Theories of resource distribution networks, such as metabolic scaling theory, can be tested and further refined. TLS can also provide new approaches to the scaling of woody surface area and crown area, and thereby better quantify the metabolism of trees. Finally, we demonstrate how we can develop a more mechanistic understanding of the effects of avoidance of wind risk on tree form and maximum size. Over the next few years, TLS promises to deliver both major empirical and conceptual advances in the quantitative understanding of trees and tree-dominated ecosystems, leading to advances in understanding the ecology of why trees and ecosystems look and grow the way they do.

The One Health Concept: 10 Years Old and a Long Road Ahead.

PubMed

Destoumieux-Garzón, Delphine; Mavingui, Patrick; Boetsch, Gilles; Boissier, Jérôme; Darriet, Frédéric; Duboz, Priscilla; Fritsch, Clémentine; Giraudoux, Patrick; Le Roux, Frédérique; Morand, Serge; Paillard, Christine; Pontier, Dominique; Sueur, Cédric; Voituron, Yann

2018-01-01

Over the past decade, a significant increase in the circulation of infectious agents was observed. With the spread and emergence of epizootics, zoonoses, and epidemics, the risks of pandemics became more and more critical. Human and animal health has also been threatened by antimicrobial resistance, environmental pollution, and the development of multifactorial and chronic diseases. This highlighted the increasing globalization of health risks and the importance of the human-animal-ecosystem interface in the evolution and emergence of pathogens. A better knowledge of causes and consequences of certain human activities, lifestyles, and behaviors in ecosystems is crucial for a rigorous interpretation of disease dynamics and to drive public policies. As a global good, health security must be understood on a global scale and from a global and crosscutting perspective, integrating human health, animal health, plant health, ecosystems health, and biodiversity. In this study, we discuss how crucial it is to consider ecological, evolutionary, and environmental sciences in understanding the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases and in facing the challenges of antimicrobial resistance. We also discuss the application of the "One Health" concept to non-communicable chronic diseases linked to exposure to multiple stresses, including toxic stress, and new lifestyles. Finally, we draw up a list of barriers that need removing and the ambitions that we must nurture for the effective application of the "One Health" concept. We conclude that the success of this One Health concept now requires breaking down the interdisciplinary barriers that still separate human and veterinary medicine from ecological, evolutionary, and environmental sciences. The development of integrative approaches should be promoted by linking the study of factors underlying stress responses to their consequences on ecosystem functioning and evolution. This knowledge is required for the development of novel control strategies inspired by environmental mechanisms leading to desired equilibrium and dynamics in healthy ecosystems and must provide in the near future a framework for more integrated operational initiatives.

The One Health Concept: 10 Years Old and a Long Road Ahead

PubMed Central

Destoumieux-Garzón, Delphine; Mavingui, Patrick; Boetsch, Gilles; Boissier, Jérôme; Darriet, Frédéric; Duboz, Priscilla; Fritsch, Clémentine; Giraudoux, Patrick; Le Roux, Frédérique; Morand, Serge; Paillard, Christine; Pontier, Dominique; Sueur, Cédric; Voituron, Yann

2018-01-01

Over the past decade, a significant increase in the circulation of infectious agents was observed. With the spread and emergence of epizootics, zoonoses, and epidemics, the risks of pandemics became more and more critical. Human and animal health has also been threatened by antimicrobial resistance, environmental pollution, and the development of multifactorial and chronic diseases. This highlighted the increasing globalization of health risks and the importance of the human–animal–ecosystem interface in the evolution and emergence of pathogens. A better knowledge of causes and consequences of certain human activities, lifestyles, and behaviors in ecosystems is crucial for a rigorous interpretation of disease dynamics and to drive public policies. As a global good, health security must be understood on a global scale and from a global and crosscutting perspective, integrating human health, animal health, plant health, ecosystems health, and biodiversity. In this study, we discuss how crucial it is to consider ecological, evolutionary, and environmental sciences in understanding the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases and in facing the challenges of antimicrobial resistance. We also discuss the application of the “One Health” concept to non-communicable chronic diseases linked to exposure to multiple stresses, including toxic stress, and new lifestyles. Finally, we draw up a list of barriers that need removing and the ambitions that we must nurture for the effective application of the “One Health” concept. We conclude that the success of this One Health concept now requires breaking down the interdisciplinary barriers that still separate human and veterinary medicine from ecological, evolutionary, and environmental sciences. The development of integrative approaches should be promoted by linking the study of factors underlying stress responses to their consequences on ecosystem functioning and evolution. This knowledge is required for the development of novel control strategies inspired by environmental mechanisms leading to desired equilibrium and dynamics in healthy ecosystems and must provide in the near future a framework for more integrated operational initiatives. PMID:29484301

Aquatic biodiversity in forests: a weak link in ecosystem services resilience

Treesearch

Brooke E. Penaluna; Deanna H. Olson; Rebecca L. Flitcroft; Matthew A. Weber; J. Ryan Bellmore; Steven M. Wondzell; Jason B. Dunham; Sherri L. Johnson; Gordon H. Reeves

2017-01-01

The diversity of aquatic ecosystems is being quickly reduced on many continents, warranting a closer examination of the consequences for ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here we describe intermediate and final ecosystem services derived from aquatic biodiversity in forests. We include a summary of the factors framing the assembly of aquatic biodiversity in...

Practical Strategies for Integrating Final Ecosystem Goods and ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The concept of Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) explicitly connects ecosystem services to the people that benefit from them. This report presents a number of practical strategies for incorporating FEGS, and more broadly ecosystem services, into the decision-making process. Whether a decision process is in early or late stages, or whether a process includes informal or formal decision analysis, there are multiple points where ecosystem services concepts can be integrated. This report uses Structured Decision Making (SDM) as an organizing framework to illustrate the role ecosystem services can play in a values-focused decision-process, including: • Clarifying the decision context: Ecosystem services can help clarify the potential impacts of an issue on natural resources together with their spatial and temporal extent based on supply and delivery of those services, and help identify beneficiaries for inclusion as stakeholders in the deliberative process. • Defining objectives and performance measures: Ecosystem services may directly represent stakeholder objectives, or may be means toward achieving other objectives. • Creating alternatives: Ecosystem services can bring to light creative alternatives for achieving other social, economic, health, or general well-being objectives. • Estimating consequences: Ecosystem services assessments can implement ecological production functions (EPFs) and ecological benefits functions (EBFs) to link decision alt

Ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis of protected areas for conservation strategies.

PubMed

Scolozzi, Rocco; Schirpke, Uta; Morri, Elisa; D'Amato, Dalia; Santolini, Riccardo

2014-12-15

An ecosystem services-based SWOT analysis is proposed in order to identify and quantify internal and external factors supporting or threatening the conservation effectiveness of protected areas. The proposed approach concerns both the ecological and the social perspective. Strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats were evaluated based on 12 selected environmental and socio-economic indicators for all terrestrial Italian protected areas, belonging to the Natura 2000 network, and for their 5-km buffer area. The indicators, used as criteria within a multi-criteria assessment, include: core area, cost-distance between protected areas, changes in ecosystem services values, intensification of land use, and urbanization. The results were aggregated for three biogeographical regions, Alpine, Continental, and Mediterranean, indicating that Alpine sites have more opportunities and strengths than Continental and Mediterranean sites. The results call attention to where connectivity and land-use changes may have stronger influence on protected areas, in particular, whereas urbanization or intensification of agriculture may hamper conservation goals of protected areas. The proposed SWOT analysis provides helpful information for a multiple scale perspective and for identifying conservation priorities and for defining management strategies to assure biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Diatoms to human uses: linking nitrogen deposition, aquatic eutrophication, and ecosystem services

DOE PAGES

Rhodes, Charles; Bingham, Andrew; Heard, Andrea M.; ...

2017-07-24

Nitrogen (N) loading to aquatic ecosystems can lead to eutrophication, changing the ecosystem within a waterbody, including primary productivity, water clarity, and food web dynamics. Nutrient loading often first affects the primary productivity of aquatic systems through shifts in phytoplankton communities. However, ecologically important changes in phytoplankton are often not relatable to the general public—whose behavior would need to change to alter patterns of nutrient loading. Therefore, we use the STressor–Ecological Production function–final ecosystem Services Framework to develop 154 chains that link changes in biological indicators of aquatic eutrophication (a shift in phytoplankton community) to final ecosystem services that peoplemore » use or appreciate. We identify 13 ecological production functions (EPF) within three different ecosystems (alpine lakes, lakes, and estuaries) that connect changes in phytoplankton and algae to ecological endpoints that the general public and policy makers can appreciate. Using the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System, we identify 18 classes of human beneficiaries that potentially will be impacted by a change in one of these endpoints. We further assign strength-of-science scores to each link within the EPFs for the 154 chains according to how well each link is supported by current peer-reviewed literature. By identifying many pathways through which excess N loading in U.S. surface waters can affect ecosystems and ultimately the beneficiaries of ecosystem services, this work intends to draw attention to gaps in empirical ecological literature that constrain understanding of the magnitude of effects that excess N loading can have on human well-being. Here, results highlight the importance of intersections between the natural and social sciences when managers and policy makers evaluate impacts from ecological stressors. A balance between knowledgeable specialists proved key to applying this approach and will continue to remain important.« less

Diatoms to human uses: linking nitrogen deposition, aquatic eutrophication, and ecosystem services

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rhodes, Charles; Bingham, Andrew; Heard, Andrea M.

Nitrogen (N) loading to aquatic ecosystems can lead to eutrophication, changing the ecosystem within a waterbody, including primary productivity, water clarity, and food web dynamics. Nutrient loading often first affects the primary productivity of aquatic systems through shifts in phytoplankton communities. However, ecologically important changes in phytoplankton are often not relatable to the general public—whose behavior would need to change to alter patterns of nutrient loading. Therefore, we use the STressor–Ecological Production function–final ecosystem Services Framework to develop 154 chains that link changes in biological indicators of aquatic eutrophication (a shift in phytoplankton community) to final ecosystem services that peoplemore » use or appreciate. We identify 13 ecological production functions (EPF) within three different ecosystems (alpine lakes, lakes, and estuaries) that connect changes in phytoplankton and algae to ecological endpoints that the general public and policy makers can appreciate. Using the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System, we identify 18 classes of human beneficiaries that potentially will be impacted by a change in one of these endpoints. We further assign strength-of-science scores to each link within the EPFs for the 154 chains according to how well each link is supported by current peer-reviewed literature. By identifying many pathways through which excess N loading in U.S. surface waters can affect ecosystems and ultimately the beneficiaries of ecosystem services, this work intends to draw attention to gaps in empirical ecological literature that constrain understanding of the magnitude of effects that excess N loading can have on human well-being. Here, results highlight the importance of intersections between the natural and social sciences when managers and policy makers evaluate impacts from ecological stressors. A balance between knowledgeable specialists proved key to applying this approach and will continue to remain important.« less

Resource footprints and their ecosystem consequences

PubMed Central

Verones, Francesca; Moran, Daniel; Stadler, Konstantin; Kanemoto, Keiichiro; Wood, Richard

2017-01-01

A meaningful environmental impact analysis should go beyond the accounting of pressures from resource use and actually assess how resource demand affects ecosystems. The various currently available footprints of nations report the environmental pressures e.g. water use or pollutant emissions, driven by consumption. However, there have been limited attempts to assess the environmental consequences of these pressures. Ultimately, consequences, not pressures, should guide environmental policymaking. The newly released LC-Impact method demonstrates progress on the path to providing this missing link. Here we present “ecosystem impact footprints” in terms of the consequences for biodiversity and assess the differences in impact footprint results from MRIO-based pressure footprints. The new perspective reveals major changes in the relative contribution of nations to global footprints. Wealthy countries have high pressure footprints in lower-income countries but their impact footprints often have their origin in higher-income countries. This shift in perspective provides a different insight on where to focus policy responses to preserve biodiversity. PMID:28112168

ESRP approach to using final ecosystem services

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed the ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) as one of its major research efforts. The goal of this program is to create “A comprehensive theory and practice for quantifying ecosystem services so that their value and their...

Ecosystem Goods & Services and their Direct Linkages to Human Health & Well-Being

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation provides an overview of the SHC 2.61 Community-Based Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Project and other ecosystem services activities in the Office of Research and Development. Specifically, this presentation addressed a series of topics: Provide an overview ...

The cultural side of science communication.

PubMed

Medin, Douglas L; Bang, Megan

2014-09-16

The main proposition of this paper is that science communication necessarily involves and includes cultural orientations. There is a substantial body of work showing that cultural differences in values and epistemological frameworks are paralleled with cultural differences reflected in artifacts and public representations. One dimension of cultural difference is the psychological distance between humans and the rest of nature. Another is perspective taking and attention to context and relationships. As an example of distance, most (Western) images of ecosystems do not include human beings, and European American discourse tends to position human beings as being apart from nature. Native American discourse, in contrast, tends to describe humans beings as a part of nature. We trace the correspondences between cultural properties of media, focusing on children's books, and cultural differences in biological cognition. Finally, implications for both science communication and science education are outlined.

Ecosystem Services Flows: Why Stakeholders' Power Relationships Matter.

PubMed

Felipe-Lucia, María R; Martín-López, Berta; Lavorel, Sandra; Berraquero-Díaz, Luis; Escalera-Reyes, Javier; Comín, Francisco A

2015-01-01

The ecosystem services framework has enabled the broader public to acknowledge the benefits nature provides to different stakeholders. However, not all stakeholders benefit equally from these services. Rather, power relationships are a key factor influencing the access of individuals or groups to ecosystem services. In this paper, we propose an adaptation of the "cascade" framework for ecosystem services to integrate the analysis of ecological interactions among ecosystem services and stakeholders' interactions, reflecting power relationships that mediate ecosystem services flows. We illustrate its application using the floodplain of the River Piedra (Spain) as a case study. First, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to model the dependence relationships among ecosystem services. Second, we performed semi-structured interviews to identify formal power relationships among stakeholders. Third, we depicted ecosystem services according to stakeholders' ability to use, manage or impair ecosystem services in order to expose how power relationships mediate access to ecosystem services. Our results revealed that the strongest power was held by those stakeholders who managed (although did not use) those keystone ecosystem properties and services that determine the provision of other services (i.e., intermediate regulating and final services). In contrast, non-empowered stakeholders were only able to access the remaining non-excludable and non-rival ecosystem services (i.e., some of the cultural services, freshwater supply, water quality, and biological control). In addition, land stewardship, access rights, and governance appeared as critical factors determining the status of ecosystem services. Finally, we stress the need to analyse the role of stakeholders and their relationships to foster equal access to ecosystem services.

Ecosystem Services Flows: Why Stakeholders’ Power Relationships Matter

PubMed Central

Felipe-Lucia, María R.; Martín-López, Berta; Lavorel, Sandra; Berraquero-Díaz, Luis; Escalera-Reyes, Javier; Comín, Francisco A.

2015-01-01

The ecosystem services framework has enabled the broader public to acknowledge the benefits nature provides to different stakeholders. However, not all stakeholders benefit equally from these services. Rather, power relationships are a key factor influencing the access of individuals or groups to ecosystem services. In this paper, we propose an adaptation of the “cascade” framework for ecosystem services to integrate the analysis of ecological interactions among ecosystem services and stakeholders’ interactions, reflecting power relationships that mediate ecosystem services flows. We illustrate its application using the floodplain of the River Piedra (Spain) as a case study. First, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to model the dependence relationships among ecosystem services. Second, we performed semi-structured interviews to identify formal power relationships among stakeholders. Third, we depicted ecosystem services according to stakeholders’ ability to use, manage or impair ecosystem services in order to expose how power relationships mediate access to ecosystem services. Our results revealed that the strongest power was held by those stakeholders who managed (although did not use) those keystone ecosystem properties and services that determine the provision of other services (i.e., intermediate regulating and final services). In contrast, non-empowered stakeholders were only able to access the remaining non-excludable and non-rival ecosystem services (i.e., some of the cultural services, freshwater supply, water quality, and biological control). In addition, land stewardship, access rights, and governance appeared as critical factors determining the status of ecosystem services. Finally, we stress the need to analyse the role of stakeholders and their relationships to foster equal access to ecosystem services. PMID:26201000

The Current Ecosystem of Learning Management Systems in Higher Education: Student, Faculty, and IT Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dahlstrom, Eden; Brooks, D. Christopher; Bichsel, Jacqueline

2014-01-01

This study explores faculty and student perspectives on learning management systems (LMSs) in the context of current institutional investments. In 2013, nearly 800 institutions participated in the EDUCAUSE Core Data Service (CDS) survey, sharing their current information technology practices and metrics across all IT service domains. In 2014, more…

Sociocultural perspectives on threats, risks, and health

Treesearch

Patricia L. Winter; Jonathan W. Long; Frank K. Lake

2014-01-01

Sociocultural perspectives on threats, risks, and health are explored in this chapter. The authors begin with a discussion of the linkages between well-being in the Sierra Nevada ecosystem and public health and well-being to set the context of socioecological resilience. This is followed by a summary of how trust and confidence influence the management of threats and...

Plant Functional Traits: Soil and Ecosystem Services.

PubMed

Faucon, Michel-Pierre; Houben, David; Lambers, Hans

2017-05-01

Decline of ecosystem services has triggered numerous studies aiming at developing more sustainable agricultural management practices. Some agricultural practices may improve soil properties by expanding plant biodiversity. However, sustainable management of agroecosystems should be performed from a functional plant trait perspective. Advances in functional ecology, especially plant functional trait effects on ecosystem processes and services, provide pivotal knowledge for ecological intensification of agriculture; this approach acknowledges that a crop field is an agroecosystem whose ecological processes influence soil properties. We highlight the links between plant functional traits and soil properties in relation to four major ecosystem processes involved in vital ecosystem services: food production, crop protection, climate change mitigation, and soil and water conservation, aiming towards ecological intensification of sustainable agricultural and soil management. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring nutrient flux in Pacific Coast salt marshes using fluctuating water-level chambers

EPA Science Inventory

Nutrient removal from the water column is an important ecosystem function that contributes to the production of clean water, a final valued ecosystem service of wetlands. However, little data is currently available for nutrient exchange in Pacific Northwest tidal ecosystems. We h...

8.0 Integrating the effect of terrestrial ecosystem health and land use on the hydrology, habitat, and water quality of the Delaware River and estuary

Treesearch

Peter S. Murdoch; John L. Hom; Yude Pan; Jeffrey M. Fischer

2008-01-01

To complete the collaborative monitoring study of forested landscapes within the DRB, regional perspective on the cumulative effect of different disturbances on overall ecosystem health. This section describes two modeling activities used as integrating tools for the CEMRI database and a validation system that used nested river monitoring stations.

The Northwest Forest Plan as a model for broad-scale ecosystem management: a social perspective.

Treesearch

Susan Charnley

2006-01-01

I evaluated the Northwest Forest Plan as a model for ecosystem management to achieve social and economic goals in communities located around federal forests in the US. Pacific Northwest. My assessment is based on the results of socioeconomic monitoring conducted to evaluate progress in achieving the plan's goals during its past 10 years. The assessment criteria I...

The Northwest Forest Plan as a model for broad-scale ecosystem management: a social perspective.

Treesearch

Susan Charnely

2006-01-01

I evaluated the Northwest Forest Plan as a model for ecosystem management to achieve social and economic goals in communities located around federal forests in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. My assessment is based on the results of socioeconomic monitoring conducted to evaluate progress in achieving the plan's goals during its past 10 years. The assessment criteria I...

A large-scale perspective on ecosystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mizutani, Hiroshi

1987-01-01

Interactions between ecological elements must be better understood in order to construct an ecological life support system in space. An index was devised to describe the complexity of material cyclings within a given ecosystem. It was then applied to the cyclings of bioelements in various systems of material cyclings including the whole Earth and national economies. The results show interesting characteristics of natural and man-made systems.

A Framework to Quantify the Strength of the Ecological Links Between an Environmental Stressor and Final Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic stressors such as climate change, fire, and pollution are driving shifts in ecosystem function and resilience. Scientists generally rely on biological indicators of these stressors to signal that ecosystem conditions have been altered beyond an acceptable amount. Ho...

Connecting Ecosystem Service Production to Users as a Measure of Realized Benefits in Coastal Communities

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem goods and services are often produced in locations far away from where humans benefit from them. Human beneficiaries also use specific spatial pathways to access the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS), the ecological endpoints directly beneficial to human well-b...

A Framework to Quantify the Strength of the Ecological Links ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Anthropogenic stressors such as climate change, fire, and pollution are driving shifts in ecosystem function and resilience. Scientists generally rely on biological indicators of these stressors to signal that ecosystem conditions have been altered beyond an acceptable amount. However, these biological indicators are not always capable of being directly related to ecosystem services that allow scientists to communicate the importance of the change to land managers and policy makers. Therefore, we developed the STEPS (STressor – Ecological Production function – final ecosystem goods and Services) Framework to link changes in a biological indicator of a stressor to Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS). The STEPS framework produces “chains” of ecological components that connect the change in a biological indicator to the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS). The series of ecological components is an ecological production functions (EPF) which links a biological indicator of a stressor to an ecological endpoint (i.e., FEGS) that is directly used, appreciated, or valued by humans. The framework uses a qualitative score (High, Medium, Low) for the Strength of Science (SOS) for the relationship between each of the components in the EPF to identify research gaps and prioritize decision making based on what research has been completed. The ecological endpoint of the EPF is a FEGS to which discrete Beneficiaries, or direct users

Forest futures in the Anthropocene: Can trees and humans survive together?

Treesearch

David Bengston; Michael J. Dockry

2014-01-01

Foresters and futurists share a long-range perspective. The lengthy growing cycle of trees has compelled foresters to plan decades and even hundreds of years ahead, in contrast to the short-term view of most fields. The interconnected nature of forest ecosystems has also given foresters—like futurists—a systems perspective. As the American naturalist...

Interactive effects of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems in the United States: current understanding and future scenarios

Treesearch

Andrzej Bytnerowicz; Mark Fenn; Steven McNulty; Fengming Yuan; Afshin Pourmokhtarian; Charles Driscoll; Tom Meixner

2013-01-01

A review of the current status of air pollution and climate change (CC) in the United States from a perspective of their impacts on forest ecosystems is provided. Ambient ozone (O3) and nitrogen (N) deposition have important and widespread ecological impacts in U.S. forests. Effects of sulphurous (S) air pollutants and other trace pollutants have...

An integrated Pan-European perspective on coastal Lagoons management through a mosaic-DPSIR approach

PubMed Central

Dolbeth, Marina; Stålnacke, Per; Alves, Fátima L.; Sousa, Lisa P.; Gooch, Geoffrey D.; Khokhlov, Valeriy; Tuchkovenko, Yurii; Lloret, Javier; Bielecka, Małgorzata; Różyński, Grzegorz; Soares, João A.; Baggett, Susan; Margonski, Piotr; Chubarenko, Boris V.; Lillebø, Ana I.

2016-01-01

A decision support framework for the management of lagoon ecosystems was tested using four European Lagoons: Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), Mar Menor (Spain), Tyligulskyi Liman (Ukraine) and Vistula Lagoon (Poland/Russia). Our aim was to formulate integrated management recommendations for European lagoons. To achieve this we followed a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State Change-Impacts-Responses) approach, with focus on integrating aspects of human wellbeing, welfare and ecosystem sustainability. The most important drivers in each lagoon were identified, based on information gathered from the lagoons’ stakeholders, complemented by scientific knowledge on each lagoon as seen from a land-sea perspective. The DPSIR cycles for each driver were combined into a mosaic-DPSIR conceptual model to examine the interdependency between the multiple and interacting uses of the lagoon. This framework emphasizes the common links, but also the specificities of responses to drivers and the ecosystem services provided. The information collected was used to formulate recommendations for the sustainable management of lagoons within a Pan-European context. Several common management recommendations were proposed, but specificities were also identified. The study synthesizes the present conditions for the management of lagoons, thus analysing and examining the activities that might be developed in different scenarios, scenarios which facilitate ecosystem protection without compromising future generations. PMID:26776151

Final ecosystem services for stream ecosystems and the metrics, methods and challenges to apply them in a national monitoring context

EPA Science Inventory

The challenge of translating notions of ecosystem services from the theoretical arena to practical application at large scales (e.g. national) requires an interdisciplinary approach. To meet this challenge, we convened a workshop involving a broad suite of natural and social scie...

Connecting nitrogen deposition and Final Ecosystem Goods and Services for air quality standards review

EPA Science Inventory

There has been a great deal of effort to document changes in ecosystem structure and function in response to increasing or decreasing N deposition, yet less work connects the specific effects on the value to people of these changes in the ecosystem. Although there are studies ta...

An operational structured decision making framework for assessing changes in final ecosystem goods and services and consequences to human well-being

EPA Science Inventory

Pressure to develop an operational framework for decision makers to employ the concepts of ecosystem goods and services for assessing changes to human well-being has been increasing since these concepts gained widespread notoriety after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report....

Biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in long-term time series and palaeoecological records: deep sea as a test bed.

PubMed

Yasuhara, Moriaki; Doi, Hideyuki; Wei, Chih-Lin; Danovaro, Roberto; Myhre, Sarah E

2016-05-19

The link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) over long temporal scales is poorly understood. Here, we investigate biological monitoring and palaeoecological records on decadal, centennial and millennial time scales from a BEF framework by using deep sea, soft-sediment environments as a test bed. Results generally show positive BEF relationships, in agreement with BEF studies based on present-day spatial analyses and short-term manipulative experiments. However, the deep-sea BEF relationship is much noisier across longer time scales compared with modern observational studies. We also demonstrate with palaeoecological time-series data that a larger species pool does not enhance ecosystem stability through time, whereas higher abundance as an indicator of higher ecosystem functioning may enhance ecosystem stability. These results suggest that BEF relationships are potentially time scale-dependent. Environmental impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning may be much stronger than biodiversity impacts on ecosystem functioning at long, decadal-millennial, time scales. Longer time scale perspectives, including palaeoecological and ecosystem monitoring data, are critical for predicting future BEF relationships on a rapidly changing planet. © 2016 The Author(s).

[Application of hyperspectral remote sensing in research on ecological boundary in north farming-pasturing transition in China].

PubMed

Wang, Hong-Mei; Wang, Kun; Xie, Ying-Zhong

2009-06-01

Studies of ecological boundaries are important and have become a rapidly evolving part of contemporary ecology. The ecotones are dynamic and play several functional roles in ecosystem dynamics, and the changes in their locations can be used as an indicator of environment changes, and for these reasons, ecotones have recently become a focus of investigation of landscape ecology and global climate change. As the interest in ecotone increases, there is an increased need for formal techniques to detect it. Hence, to better study and understand the functional roles and dynamics of ecotones in ecosystem, we need quantitative methods to characterize them. In the semi-arid region of northern China, there exists a farming-pasturing transition resulting from grassland reclamation and deforestation. With the fragmentation of grassland landscape, the structure and function of the grassland ecosystem are changing. Given this perspective; new-image processing approaches are needed to focus on transition themselves. Hyperspectral remote sensing data, compared with wide-band remote sensing data, has the advantage of high spectral resolution. Hyperspectral remote sensing can be used to visualize transitional zones and to detect ecotone based on surface properties (e. g. vegetation, soil type, and soil moisture etc). In this paper, the methods of hyperspectral remote sensing information processing, spectral analysis and its application in detecting the vegetation classifications, vegetation growth state, estimating the canopy biochemical characteristics, soil moisture, soil organic matter etc are reviewed in detail. Finally the paper involves further application of hyperspectral remote sensing information in research on local climate in ecological boundary in north farming-pasturing transition in China.

In praise of mechanistically-rich models

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeAngelis, Donald L.; Mooij, Wolf M.; Canham, Charles D.; Cole, Jonathan J.; Lauenroth, William K.

2003-01-01

The book opens with an overview of the status and role of modeling in ecosystem science, including perspectives on the long-running debate over the appropriate level of complexity in models. This is followed by eight chapters that address the critical issue of evaluating ecosystem models, including methods of addressing uncertainty. Next come several case studies of the role of models in environmental policy and management. A section on the future of modeling in ecosystem science focuses on increasing the use of modeling in undergraduate education and the modeling skills of professionals within the field. The benefits and limitations of predictive (versus observational) models are also considered in detail. Written by stellar contributors, this book grants access to the state of the art and science of ecosystem modeling.

Challenges for Complex Microbial Ecosystems: Combination of Experimental Approaches with Mathematical Modeling

PubMed Central

Haruta, Shin; Yoshida, Takehito; Aoi, Yoshiteru; Kaneko, Kunihiko; Futamata, Hiroyuki

2013-01-01

In the past couple of decades, molecular ecological techniques have been developed to elucidate microbial diversity and distribution in microbial ecosystems. Currently, modern techniques, represented by meta-omics and single cell observations, are revealing the incredible complexity of microbial ecosystems and the large degree of phenotypic variation. These studies propound that microbiological techniques are insufficient to untangle the complex microbial network. This minireview introduces the application of advanced mathematical approaches in combination with microbiological experiments to microbial ecological studies. These combinational approaches have successfully elucidated novel microbial behaviors that had not been recognized previously. Furthermore, the theoretical perspective also provides an understanding of the plasticity, robustness and stability of complex microbial ecosystems in nature. PMID:23995424

The cultural side of science communication

PubMed Central

Medin, Douglas L.; Bang, Megan

2014-01-01

The main proposition of this paper is that science communication necessarily involves and includes cultural orientations. There is a substantial body of work showing that cultural differences in values and epistemological frameworks are paralleled with cultural differences reflected in artifacts and public representations. One dimension of cultural difference is the psychological distance between humans and the rest of nature. Another is perspective taking and attention to context and relationships. As an example of distance, most (Western) images of ecosystems do not include human beings, and European American discourse tends to position human beings as being apart from nature. Native American discourse, in contrast, tends to describe humans beings as a part of nature. We trace the correspondences between cultural properties of media, focusing on children’s books, and cultural differences in biological cognition. Finally, implications for both science communication and science education are outlined. PMID:25225366

The Great White Guppy: Top Predator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michalski, G. M.

2011-12-01

Nitrogen isotopes are often used to trace the trophic level of members of an ecosystem. As part of a stable isotope biogeochemistry and forensics course at Purdue University, students are introduced to this concept by analyzing nitrogen isotopes in sea food purchased from local grocery stores. There is a systematic increase in 15N/14N ratios going from kelp to clams/shrimp, to sardines, to tuna and finally to shark. These enrichments demonstrate how nitrogen is enriched in biomass as predators consume prey. Some of the highest nitrogen isotope enrichments observed, however, are in the common guppy. We investigated a number of aquarium fish foods and find they typically have high nitrogen isotope ratios because they are made form fish meal that is produced primarily from the remains of predator fish such as tuna. From, a isotope perspective, the guppy is the top of the food chain, more ferocious than even the Great White shark.

Leveraging ecological theory to guide natural product discovery.

PubMed

Smanski, Michael J; Schlatter, Daniel C; Kinkel, Linda L

2016-03-01

Technological improvements have accelerated natural product (NP) discovery and engineering to the point that systematic genome mining for new molecules is on the horizon. NP biosynthetic potential is not equally distributed across organisms, environments, or microbial life histories, but instead is enriched in a number of prolific clades. Also, NPs are not equally abundant in nature; some are quite common and others markedly rare. Armed with this knowledge, random 'fishing expeditions' for new NPs are increasingly harder to justify. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary pressures that drive the non-uniform distribution of NP biosynthesis provides a rational framework for the targeted isolation of strains enriched in new NP potential. Additionally, ecological theory leads to testable hypotheses regarding the roles of NPs in shaping ecosystems. Here we review several recent strain prioritization practices and discuss the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings for each. Finally, we offer perspectives on leveraging microbial ecology and evolutionary biology for future NP discovery.

The role of infectious disease in marine communities: chapter 5

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lafferty, Kevin D.; Harvell, C. Drew

2014-01-01

Marine ecologists recognize that infectious diseases play and important role in ocean ecosystems. This role may have increased in some host taxa over time (Ward and Lafferty 2004). We begin this chapter by introducing infectious agents and their relationships with their hosts in marine systems. We then put infectious disease agents with their hosts in marine systems. We then put infectious disease agents in the perspective of marine biodiversity and discuss the various factors that affect parasites. Specifically, we introduce some basin epidemiological concepts, including the effects of stress and free-living diversity on parasites. Following this, we give brief consideration to communities of parasites within their hosts, particularly as these can lead to general insights into community ecology. We also give examples of how infectious diseases affect host populations, scaling up to marine communities. Finally, we present examples of marine infectious disease that impair conservation and fisheries.

Opportunities and Constraints in Disseminating Qualitative Research in Web 2.0 Virtual Environments.

PubMed

Hays, Charles A; Spiers, Judith A; Paterson, Barbara

2015-11-01

The Web 2.0 digital environment is revolutionizing how users communicate and relate to each other, and how information is shared, created, and recreated within user communities. The social media technologies in the Web 2.0 digital ecosystem are fundamentally changing the opportunities and dangers in disseminating qualitative health research. The social changes influenced by digital innovations shift dissemination from passive consumption to user-centered, apomediated cooperative approaches, the features of which are underutilized by many qualitative researchers. We identify opportunities new digital media presents for knowledge dissemination activities including access to wider audiences with few gatekeeper constraints, new perspectives, and symbiotic relationships between researchers and users. We also address some of the challenges in embracing these technologies including lack of control, potential for unethical co-optation of work, and cyberbullying. Finally, we offer solutions to enhance research dissemination in sustainable, ethical, and effective strategies. © The Author(s) 2015.

Governance of water resources in the phase of change: a case study of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in Sweden.

PubMed

Hammer, Monica; Balfors, Berit; Mörtberg, Ulla; Petersson, Mona; Quin, Andrew

2011-03-01

In this article, focusing on the ongoing implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, we analyze some of the opportunities and challenges for a sustainable governance of water resources from an ecosystem management perspective. In the face of uncertainty and change, the ecosystem approach as a holistic and integrated management framework is increasingly recognized. The ongoing implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) could be viewed as a reorganization phase in the process of change in institutional arrangements and ecosystems. In this case study from the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District, Sweden, we focus in particular on data and information management from a multi-level governance perspective from the local stakeholder to the River Basin level. We apply a document analysis, hydrological mapping, and GIS models to analyze some of the institutional framework created for the implementation of the WFD. The study underlines the importance of institutional arrangements that can handle variability of local situations and trade-offs between solutions and priorities on different hierarchical levels.

Decoupling the direct and indirect effects of climate on plant litter decomposition: Accounting for stress-induced modifications in plant chemistry.

PubMed

Suseela, Vidya; Tharayil, Nishanth

2018-04-01

Decomposition of plant litter is a fundamental ecosystem process that can act as a feedback to climate change by simultaneously influencing both the productivity of ecosystems and the flux of carbon dioxide from the soil. The influence of climate on decomposition from a postsenescence perspective is relatively well known; in particular, climate is known to regulate the rate of litter decomposition via its direct influence on the reaction kinetics and microbial physiology on processes downstream of tissue senescence. Climate can alter plant metabolism during the formative stage of tissues and could shape the final chemical composition of plant litter that is available for decomposition, and thus indirectly influence decomposition; however, these indirect effects are relatively poorly understood. Climatic stress disrupts cellular homeostasis in plants and results in the reprogramming of primary and secondary metabolic pathways, which leads to changes in the quantity, composition, and organization of small molecules and recalcitrant heteropolymers, including lignins, tannins, suberins, and cuticle within the plant tissue matrix. Furthermore, by regulating metabolism during tissue senescence, climate influences the resorption of nutrients from senescing tissues. Thus, the final chemical composition of plant litter that forms the substrate of decomposition is a combined product of presenescence physiological processes through the production and resorption of metabolites. The changes in quantity, composition, and localization of the molecular construct of the litter could enhance or hinder tissue decomposition and soil nutrient cycling by altering the recalcitrance of the lignocellulose matrix, the composition of microbial communities, and the activity of microbial exo-enzymes via various complexation reactions. Also, the climate-induced changes in the molecular composition of litter could differentially influence litter decomposition and soil nutrient cycling. Compared with temperate ecosystems, the indirect effects of climate on litter decomposition in the tropics are not well understood, which underscores the need to conduct additional studies in tropical biomes. We also emphasize the need to focus on how climatic stress affects the root chemistry as roots contribute significantly to biogeochemical cycling, and on utilizing more robust analytical approaches to capture the molecular composition of tissue matrix that fuel microbial metabolism. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Coupling of soil prokaryotic diversity and plant diversity across latitudinal forest ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun-Tao; Zheng, Yuan-Ming; Hu, Hang-Wei; Li, Jing; Zhang, Li-Mei; Chen, Bao-Dong; Chen, Wei-Ping; He, Ji-Zheng

2016-01-01

The belowground soil prokaryotic community plays a cardinal role in sustaining the stability and functions of forest ecosystems. Yet, the nature of how soil prokaryotic diversity co-varies with aboveground plant diversity along a latitudinal gradient remains elusive. By establishing three hundred 400-m2 quadrats from tropical rainforest to boreal forest in a large-scale parallel study on both belowground soil prokaryote and aboveground tree and herb communities, we found that soil prokaryotic diversity couples with the diversity of herbs rather than trees. The diversity of prokaryotes and herbs responds similarly to environmental factors along the latitudinal gradient. These findings revealed that herbs provide a good predictor of belowground biodiversity in forest ecosystems, and provide new perspective on the aboveground and belowground interactions in forest ecosystems.

Coupling of soil prokaryotic diversity and plant diversity across latitudinal forest ecosystems.

PubMed

Wang, Jun-Tao; Zheng, Yuan-Ming; Hu, Hang-Wei; Li, Jing; Zhang, Li-Mei; Chen, Bao-Dong; Chen, Wei-Ping; He, Ji-Zheng

2016-01-19

The belowground soil prokaryotic community plays a cardinal role in sustaining the stability and functions of forest ecosystems. Yet, the nature of how soil prokaryotic diversity co-varies with aboveground plant diversity along a latitudinal gradient remains elusive. By establishing three hundred 400-m(2) quadrats from tropical rainforest to boreal forest in a large-scale parallel study on both belowground soil prokaryote and aboveground tree and herb communities, we found that soil prokaryotic diversity couples with the diversity of herbs rather than trees. The diversity of prokaryotes and herbs responds similarly to environmental factors along the latitudinal gradient. These findings revealed that herbs provide a good predictor of belowground biodiversity in forest ecosystems, and provide new perspective on the aboveground and belowground interactions in forest ecosystems.

Global simulation of interactions between groundwater and terrestrial ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braakhekke, M. C.; Rebel, K.; Dekker, S. C.; Smith, B.; Van Beek, L. P.; Sutanudjaja, E.; van Kampenhout, L.; Wassen, M. J.

2016-12-01

In many places in the world ecosystems are influenced by the presence of a shallow groundwater table. In these regions upward water flux due to capillary rise increases soil moisture availability in the root zone, which has strong positive effect on evapotranspiration. Additionally it has important consequences for vegetation dynamics and fluxes of carbon and nitrogen. Under water limited conditions shallow groundwater stimulates vegetation productivity, and soil organic matter decomposition while under saturated conditions groundwater may have a negative effect on these processes due to lack of oxygen. Furthermore, since plant species differ with respect to their root distribution, preference for moisture conditions, and resistance to oxygen stress, shallow groundwater also influences vegetation type. Finally, processes such as denitrification and methane production occur under strictly anaerobic conditions and are thus strongly influenced by moisture availability. Most global hydrological models and several land surface models simulate groundwater table dynamics and their effects on land surface processes. However, these models typically have relatively simplistic representation of vegetation and do not consider changes in vegetation type and structure and are therefore less suitable to represent effects of groundwater on biogeochemical fluxes. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs), describe land surface from an ecological perspective, combining detailed description of vegetation dynamics and structure and biogeochemical processes. These models are thus more appropriate to simulate the ecological and biogeochemical effects of groundwater interactions. However, currently virtually all DGVMs ignore these effects, assuming that water tables are too deep to affect soil moisture in the root zone. We have implemented a tight coupling between the dynamic global ecosystem model LPJ-GUESS and the global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB. Using this coupled model we aim to study the influence of shallow groundwater on terrestrial ecosystem processes. We will present results of global simulations to demonstrate the effects on C, N, and water fluxes.

Linking Aquatic Ecosystems to Human Well-Being

EPA Science Inventory

While ecological indicators should have relevance to people, a clear methodology to develop and evaluate this characteristic of ecological indicators is not well developed. Economists developed the concept of “Final Ecosystem Goods and Services”. Because these featur...

Potential indicators of final ecosystem services in wetlands

EPA Science Inventory

Numerous and inconsistent lists of wetland ecosystem services exist because services are identified using ambiguous definitions or categorization schemes based around divergent or ambiguous objectives. A consistent and scientific approach would provide clarity and provide greater...

Some perspectives on the risks and benefits of biological control of invasive alien plants in the management of natural ecosystems.

PubMed

van Wilgen, B W; Moran, V C; Hoffmann, J H

2013-09-01

Globally, invasions by alien plants are rapidly increasing in extent and severity, leading to large-scale ecosystem degradation. Weed biological control offers opportunities to arrest or even reverse these trends and, although it is not always effective or appropriate as a management strategy, this practice has an excellent record of safety and many notable successes over two centuries. In recent years, growing concerns about the potential for unintended, non-target damage by biological control agents, and fears about other unpredictable effects on ecosystems, have created an increasingly demanding risk-averse regulatory environment. This development may be counter-productive because it tends to overemphasize potential problems and ignores or underestimates the benefits of weed biological control; it offers no viable alternatives; and it overlooks the inherent risks of a decision not to use biological control. The restoration of badly degraded ecosystems to a former pristine condition is not a realistic objective, but the protection of un-invaded or partial restoration of invaded ecosystems can be achieved safely, at low cost and sustainably through the informed and responsible application of biological control. This practice should therefore be given due consideration when management of invasive alien plants is being planned. This discussion paper provides a perspective on the risks and benefits of classical weed biological control, and it is aimed at assisting environmental managers in their deliberations on whether or not to use this strategy in preference, or as a supplement to other alien invasive plant control practices.

Ecological perspective: Linking ecology, GIS, and remote sensing to ecosystem management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig D.; Sample, V. Alaric

1994-01-01

Awareness of significant human impacts on the ecology of Earth's landscapes is not new (Thomas 1956). Over the past decade (Forman and Godron 1986, Urban et a1. 1987) applications of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies have supported a rapid rise in landscape.stale research. The heightened recognition within the research community of the ecological linkages between local sites and larger spatial scales has spawned increasing calls for more holistic management of landscapes (Noss 1983, Harris 1984, Risser 1985, Norse et al. 1986, Agee and Johnson 1988, Franklin 1989, Brooks and Grant 1992, Endangered Species Update-Special Issue 1993, Crow 1994, Grumbine 1994). As a result agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service are now converging on "ecosystem management" as a new paradigm to sustainably manage wildlands and maintain biodiversity. However, as this transition occurs, several impediments to implementation of this new paradigm persist, including(1) significant uncenainty among many land managers about the definition and goals of ecosystem management,(2) inadequate ecological information on the past and present processes and structural conditions of target ecosystems,(3) insufficient experience on the part of land managers with the rapidly diversifying array of GIS and remote sensing tools to effectively use them to support ecology-based land management, and(4) a paucity of intimate, long-term relationships between people (including land managers) and the particular landscape communities to which they belong.This chapter provides an ecological perspective on these issues as applied to ecosystem management in a southwestern U.S. landscape.

Some Perspectives on the Risks and Benefits of Biological Control of Invasive Alien Plants in the Management of Natural Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Wilgen, B. W.; Moran, V. C.; Hoffmann, J. H.

2013-09-01

Globally, invasions by alien plants are rapidly increasing in extent and severity, leading to large-scale ecosystem degradation. Weed biological control offers opportunities to arrest or even reverse these trends and, although it is not always effective or appropriate as a management strategy, this practice has an excellent record of safety and many notable successes over two centuries. In recent years, growing concerns about the potential for unintended, non-target damage by biological control agents, and fears about other unpredictable effects on ecosystems, have created an increasingly demanding risk-averse regulatory environment. This development may be counter-productive because it tends to overemphasize potential problems and ignores or underestimates the benefits of weed biological control; it offers no viable alternatives; and it overlooks the inherent risks of a decision not to use biological control. The restoration of badly degraded ecosystems to a former pristine condition is not a realistic objective, but the protection of un-invaded or partial restoration of invaded ecosystems can be achieved safely, at low cost and sustainably through the informed and responsible application of biological control. This practice should therefore be given due consideration when management of invasive alien plants is being planned. This discussion paper provides a perspective on the risks and benefits of classical weed biological control, and it is aimed at assisting environmental managers in their deliberations on whether or not to use this strategy in preference, or as a supplement to other alien invasive plant control practices.

Watershed Health: The Need for a New Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reeves, G.

2017-12-01

Watershed health is a measure of the condition of the aquatic ecosystem within a watershed and is indicated by a specific set of environmental conditions that provide desired ecological, social, and legal amenities. A watershed is deemed "healthy" if it has these attributes and the traditional management approach to maintaining or developing a healthy watershed is to create and maintain these specific conditions within the watershed. However, this approach may not be applicable to situations in which processes are complex, non-linear, and poorly understood. The focus on a specific set of conditions comes at the expense of recognizing the ecological processes that create and maintain habitats for an aquatic organisms and the ecological context in which they evolved, and may lead to further degradation or compromising of the ecosystems and landscapes of interest. An emerging perspective suggests that aquatic-riparian ecosystems possess a range of processes and attributes that are inherently complex, nonlinear, and dynamic and because of the variation in the size and asynchronous nature of disturbance events, conditions will vary over time among watersheds, resulting in a mosaic of biophysical conditions across the landscape. Thus, watershed health may not be a single condition but rather a suite of conditions similar to how terrestrial ecosystems are viewed, requiring an integrated assessment of a range of ecological conditions and consideration of the intactness of key ecological processes.

The importance of place names in the search for ecosystem-like concepts in indigenous societies: an example from the Bolivian Andes.

PubMed

Boillat, Sébastien; Serrano, Elvira; Rist, Stephan; Berkes, Fikret

2013-03-01

This paper aims to deepen the search for ecosystem-like concepts in indigenous societies by highlighting the importance of place names used by Quechua indigenous farmers from the central Bolivian Andes. Villagers from two communities in the Tunari Mountain Range were asked to list, describe, map and categorize the places they knew on their community's territory. Results show that place names capture spatially explicit units which integrate biotic and abiotic nature and humans, and that there is an emphasis on topographic terms, highlighting the importance of geodiversity. Farmers' perspectives differ from the classical view of ecosystems because they 'humanize' places, considering them as living beings with agency. Consequently, they do not make a distinction between natural and cultural heritage. Their perspective of the environment is that of a personalized, dynamic relationship with the elements of the natural world that are perceived as living entities. A practical implication of the findings for sustainable development is that since places names make the links between people and the elements of the landscape, toponymy is a tool for ecosystem management rooted in indigenous knowledge. Because place names refer to holistic units linked with people's experience and spatially explicit, they can be used as an entry point to implement an intercultural dialogue for more sustainable land management.

The Importance of Place Names in the Search for Ecosystem-Like Concepts in Indigenous Societies: An Example from the Bolivian Andes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boillat, Sébastien; Serrano, Elvira; Rist, Stephan; Berkes, Fikret

2013-03-01

This paper aims to deepen the search for ecosystem-like concepts in indigenous societies by highlighting the importance of place names used by Quechua indigenous farmers from the central Bolivian Andes. Villagers from two communities in the Tunari Mountain Range were asked to list, describe, map and categorize the places they knew on their community's territory. Results show that place names capture spatially explicit units which integrate biotic and abiotic nature and humans, and that there is an emphasis on topographic terms, highlighting the importance of geodiversity. Farmers' perspectives differ from the classical view of ecosystems because they `humanize' places, considering them as living beings with agency. Consequently, they do not make a distinction between natural and cultural heritage. Their perspective of the environment is that of a personalized, dynamic relationship with the elements of the natural world that are perceived as living entities. A practical implication of the findings for sustainable development is that since places names make the links between people and the elements of the landscape, toponymy is a tool for ecosystem management rooted in indigenous knowledge. Because place names refer to holistic units linked with people's experience and spatially explicit, they can be used as an entry point to implement an intercultural dialogue for more sustainable land management.

Functional ecology of aquatic phagotrophic protists - Concepts, limitations, and perspectives.

PubMed

Weisse, Thomas; Anderson, Ruth; Arndt, Hartmut; Calbet, Albert; Hansen, Per Juel; Montagnes, David J S

2016-08-01

Functional ecology is a subdiscipline that aims to enable a mechanistic understanding of patterns and processes from the organismic to the ecosystem level. This paper addresses some main aspects of the process-oriented current knowledge on phagotrophic, i.e. heterotrophic and mixotrophic, protists in aquatic food webs. This is not an exhaustive review; rather, we focus on conceptual issues, in particular on the numerical and functional response of these organisms. We discuss the evolution of concepts and define parameters to evaluate predator-prey dynamics ranging from Lotka-Volterra to the Independent Response Model. Since protists have extremely versatile feeding modes, we explore if there are systematic differences related to their taxonomic affiliation and life strategies. We differentiate between intrinsic factors (nutritional history, acclimatisation) and extrinsic factors (temperature, food, turbulence) affecting feeding, growth, and survival of protist populations. We briefly consider intraspecific variability of some key parameters and constraints inherent in laboratory microcosm experiments. We then upscale the significance of phagotrophic protists in food webs to the ocean level. Finally, we discuss limitations of the mechanistic understanding of protist functional ecology resulting from principal unpredictability of nonlinear dynamics. We conclude by defining open questions and identifying perspectives for future research on functional ecology of aquatic phagotrophic protists. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.

Ten years of research on the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest

Treesearch

P.D. Keyser; W.M. Ford; W.M. Ford

2005-01-01

Contains 90 citations and annotations of publications and final reports that describe research conducted on or in association with the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia from 1994 through 2004.

Information technology challenges of biodiversity and ecosystems informatics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schnase, J.L.; Cushing, J.; Frame, M.; Frondorf, A.; Landis, E.; Maier, D.; Silberschatz, A.

2003-01-01

Computer scientists, biologists, and natural resource managers recently met to examine the prospects for advancing computer science and information technology research by focusing on the complex and often-unique challenges found in the biodiversity and ecosystem domain. The workshop and its final report reveal that the biodiversity and ecosystem sciences are fundamentally information sciences and often address problems having distinctive attributes of scale and socio-technical complexity. The paper provides an overview of the emerging field of biodiversity and ecosystem informatics and demonstrates how the demands of biodiversity and ecosystem research can advance our understanding and use of information technologies.

One hundred questions of importance to the conservation of global biological diversity.

PubMed

Sutherland, W J; Adams, W M; Aronson, R B; Aveling, R; Blackburn, T M; Broad, S; Ceballos, G; Côté, I M; Cowling, R M; Da Fonseca, G A B; Dinerstein, E; Ferraro, P J; Fleishman, E; Gascon, C; Hunter, M; Hutton, J; Kareiva, P; Kuria, A; Macdonald, D W; Mackinnon, K; Madgwick, F J; Mascia, M B; McNeely, J; Milner-Gulland, E J; Moon, S; Morley, C G; Nelson, S; Osborn, D; Pai, M; Parsons, E C M; Peck, L S; Possingham, H; Prior, S V; Pullin, A S; Rands, M R W; Ranganathan, J; Redford, K H; Rodriguez, J P; Seymour, F; Sobel, J; Sodhi, N S; Stott, A; Vance-Borland, K; Watkinson, A R

2009-06-01

We identified 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy. Representatives from 21 international organizations, regional sections and working groups of the Society for Conservation Biology, and 12 academics, from all continents except Antarctica, compiled 2291 questions of relevance to conservation of biological diversity worldwide. The questions were gathered from 761 individuals through workshops, email requests, and discussions. Voting by email to short-list questions, followed by a 2-day workshop, was used to derive the final list of 100 questions. Most of the final questions were derived through a process of modification and combination as the workshop progressed. The questions are divided into 12 sections: ecosystem functions and services, climate change, technological change, protected areas, ecosystem management and restoration, terrestrial ecosystems, marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems, species management, organizational systems and processes, societal context and change, and impacts of conservation interventions. We anticipate that these questions will help identify new directions for researchers and assist funders in directing funds. ©2009 Society for Conservation Biology.

Environmental Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Human Well-being

EPA Science Inventory

This article examines environmental sustainability from several perspectives. First we offer definitions and some historical background. Then through case studies of marine fisheries, agricultural systems, and urban environments, we illustrate contrasts between unsustainable and ...

Byers Peninsula: A reference site for coastal, terrestrial and limnetic ecosystem studies in maritime Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quesada, A.; Camacho, A.; Rochera, C.; Velázquez, D.

2009-11-01

This article describes the development of an international and multidisciplinary project funded by the Spanish Polar Programme on Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, South Shetlands). The project adopted Byers Peninsula as an international reference site for coastal and terrestrial (including inland waters) research within the framework of the International Polar Year initiative. Over 30 scientists from 12 countries and 26 institutions participated in the field work, and many others participated in the processing of the samples. The main themes investigated were: Holocene changes in climate, using both lacustrine sediment cores and palaeo-nests of penguins; limnology of the lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands; microbiology of microbial mats, ecology of microbial food webs and viral effects on aquatic ecosystems; ornithology, with investigations on a Gentoo penguin rookery ( Pygoscelis papua) as well as the flying ornithofauna; biocomplexity and life cycles of species from different taxonomic groups; analysis of a complete watershed unit from a landscape perspective; and human impacts, specifically the effect of trampling on soil characteristics and biota. Byers Peninsula offers many features as an international reference site given it is one of the largest ice-free areas in the Antarctic Peninsula region, it has a variety of different landscape units, and it hosts diverse aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, the Byers Peninsula is a hotspot for Antarctic biodiversity, and because of its high level of environmental protection, it has been very little affected by human activities. Finally, the proximity to the Spanish polar installations on Livingston Island and the experience derived from previous expeditions to the site make it logistically feasible as a site for ongoing monitoring and research.

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological resources have both extrinsic and intrinsic values. These range from the direct economic values

derived from resource harvests, to inherently ecological characteristics that are necessary for ecosystem

functioning, and finally to societal value that human...

[Urban ecosystem services: A review].

PubMed

Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo

2015-04-01

Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.

Ecological determinants of health: food and environment on human health.

PubMed

Li, Alice M L

2017-04-01

Human health and diseases are determined by many complex factors. Health threats from the human-animal-ecosystems interface (HAEI) and zoonotic diseases (zoonoses) impose an increasing risk continuously to public health, from those emerging pathogens transmitted through contact with animals, food, water and contaminated environments. Immense challenges forced on the ecological perspectives on food and the eco-environments, including aquaculture, agriculture and the entire food systems. Impacts of food and eco-environments on human health will be examined amongst the importance of human interventions for intended purposes in lowering the adverse effects on the biodiversity. The complexity of relevant conditions defined as factors contributing to the ecological determinants of health will be illuminated from different perspectives based on concepts, citations, examples and models, in conjunction with harmful consequential effects of human-induced disturbances to our environments and food systems, together with the burdens from ecosystem disruption, environmental hazards and loss of ecosystem functions. The eco-health literacy should be further promoting under the "One Health" vision, with "One World" concept under Ecological Public Health Model for sustaining our environments and the planet earth for all beings, which is coincidentally echoing Confucian's theory for the environmental ethics of ecological harmony.

Aldo Leopold's land health from a resilience point of view: self-renewal capacity of social-ecological systems.

PubMed

Berkes, Fikret; Doubleday, Nancy C; Cumming, Graeme S

2012-09-01

Health approaches to ecology have a strong basis in Aldo Leopold's thinking, and contemporary ecohealth in turn has a strong philosophical basis in Leopold. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of Leopold's birth (1887-1948), we revisit his ideas, specifically the notions of stewardship (land ethic), productive use of ecosystems (land), and ecosystem renewal. We focus on Leopold's perspective on the self-renewal capacity of the land, as understood in terms of integrity and land health, from the contemporary perspective of resilience theory and ecological theory more generally. Using a broad range of literature, we explore insights and implications of Leopold's work for today's human-environment relationships (integrated social-ecological systems), concerns for biodiversity, the development of agency with respect to stewardship, and key challenges of his time and of ours. Leopold's seminal concept of land health can be seen as a triangulation of productive use, self-renewal, and stewardship, and it can be reinterpreted through the resilience lens as the health of social-ecological systems. In contemporary language, this involves the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and the ability to exercise agency both for conservation and for environmental justice.

Care services ecosystem for ambient assisted living

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camarinha-Matos, Luis M.; Rosas, Joao; Ines Oliveira, Ana; Ferrada, Filipa

2015-08-01

Effective provision of care and assistance services in ambient assisted living requires the involvement and collaboration of multiple stakeholders. To support such collaboration, the development of an ecosystem of products and services for active ageing plays an important role. This article introduces a conceptual architecture that supports such care ecosystem. In order to facilitate understanding and better interrelate concepts, a 3-layered model is adopted: Infrastructure layer, Care and assistance services layer and Ambient Assisted Living ecosystem layer. A holistic perspective of ambient assisted living, namely considering four important life settings is adopted: (1) independent living; (2) health and care in life; (3) occupation in life and (4) recreation in life. The proposed architecture is designed in the context of a national Portuguese project and in accordance with the findings of a large European road mapping initiative on ICT and ageing.

Mechanisms and therapeutic effectiveness of lactobacilli

PubMed Central

Di Cerbo, Alessandro; Palmieri, Beniamino; Aponte, Maria; Morales-Medina, Julio Cesar; Iannitti, Tommaso

2016-01-01

The gut microbiome is not a silent ecosystem but exerts several physiological and immunological functions. For many decades, lactobacilli have been used as an effective therapy for treatment of several pathological conditions displaying an overall positive safety profile. This review summarises the mechanisms and clinical evidence supporting therapeutic efficacy of lactobacilli. We searched Pubmed/Medline using the keyword ‘Lactobacillus’. Selected papers from 1950 to 2015 were chosen on the basis of their content. Relevant clinical and experimental articles using lactobacilli as therapeutic agents have been included. Applications of lactobacilli include kidney support for renal insufficiency, pancreas health, management of metabolic imbalance, and cancer treatment and prevention. In vitro and in vivo investigations have shown that prolonged lactobacilli administration induces qualitative and quantitative modifications in the human gastrointestinal microbial ecosystem with encouraging perspectives in counteracting pathology-associated physiological and immunological changes. Few studies have highlighted the risk of translocation with subsequent sepsis and bacteraemia following probiotic administration but there is still a lack of investigations on the dose effect of these compounds. Great care is thus required in the choice of the proper Lactobacillus species, their genetic stability and the translocation risk, mainly related to inflammatory disease-induced gut mucosa enhanced permeability. Finally, we need to determine the adequate amount of bacteria to be delivered in order to achieve the best clinical efficacy decreasing the risk of side effects. PMID:26578541

Ecological restoration of southwestern ponderosa pine ecosystems: A broad perspective

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Craig D.; Savage, Melissa; Falk, Donald A.; Suckling, Kieran F.; Swetnam, Thomas W.; Schulke, Todd; Stacey, Peter B.; Morgan, Penelope; Hoffman, Martos; Klingel, Jon T.

2002-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to promote a broad and flexible perspective on ecological restoration of Southwestern (U.S.) ponderosa pine forests. Ponderosa pine forests in the region have been radically altered by Euro-American land uses, including livestock grazing, fire suppression, and logging. Dense thickets of young trees now abound, old-growth and biodiversity have declined, and human and ecological communities are increasingly vulnerable to destructive crown fires. A consensus has emerged that it is urgent to restore more natural conditions to these forests. Efforts to restore Southwestern forests will require extensive projects employing varying combinations of young-tree thinning and reintroduction of low-intensity fires. Treatments must be flexible enough to recognize and accommodate: high levels of natural heterogeneity; dynamic ecosystems; wildlife and other biodiversity considerations; scientific uncertainty; and the challenges of on-the-ground implementation. Ecological restoration should reset ecosystem trends toward an envelope of “natural variability,” including the reestablishment of natural processes. Reconstructed historic reference conditions are best used as general guides rather than rigid restoration prescriptions. In the long term, the best way to align forest conditions to track ongoing climate changes is to restore fire, which naturally correlates with current climate. Some stands need substantial structural manipulation (thinning) before fire can safely be reintroduced. In other areas, such as large wilderness and roadless areas, fire alone may suffice as the main tool of ecological restoration, recreating the natural interaction of structure and process. Impatience, overreaction to crown fire risks, extractive economics, or hubris could lead to widespread application of highly intrusive treatments that may further damage forest ecosystems. Investments in research and monitoring of restoration treatments are essential to refine restoration methods. We support the development and implementation of a diverse range of scientifically viable restoration approaches in these forests, suggest principles for ecologically sound restoration that immediately reduce crown fire risk and incrementally return natural variability and resilience to Southwestern forests, and present ecological perspectives on several forest restoration approaches.

National and Regional FEGS Metrics and Indicators 2016 Workshop Report

EPA Science Inventory

Final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) are the features of ecosystems directly valued by people. Metrics and indicators that describe the state of FEGS to non-experts and beneficiaries with salience and meaning facilitate effective communication and social analysis. This rep...

CLASSIFYING COASTAL WATERS:CURRENT NECESSITY AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal ecosystems are ecologically and commercially valuable, productive habitats that are experiencing escalating compromises of their structural and functional integrity. The Clean Water Act (USC 1972) requires identification of impaired water bodies and determination of the c...

Perspectives on global change theory

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Human-caused global changes in ecological drivers, such as carbon dioxide concentrations, climate, and nitrogen deposition, as well as direct human impacts (land use change, species movements and extinctions, etc.) are increasingly recognized as key to understanding contemporary ecosystem dynamics, ...

From multifunctionality to multiple ecosystem services? A conceptual framework for multifunctionality in green infrastructure planning for urban areas.

PubMed

Hansen, Rieke; Pauleit, Stephan

2014-05-01

Green infrastructure (GI) and ecosystem services (ES) are promoted as concepts that have potential to improve environmental planning in urban areas based on a more holistic understanding of the complex interrelations and dynamics of social-ecological systems. However, the scientific discourses around both concepts still lack application-oriented frameworks that consider such a holistic perspective and are suitable to mainstream GI and ES in planning practice. This literature review explores how multifunctionality as one important principle of GI planning can be operationalized by approaches developed and tested in ES research. Specifically, approaches developed in ES research can help to assess the integrity of GI networks, balance ES supply and demand, and consider trade-offs. A conceptual framework for the assessment of multifunctionality from a social-ecological perspective is proposed that can inform the design of planning processes and support stronger exchange between GI and ES research.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dale, Virginia H; Kline, Keith L; Kaffka, Stephen R

Landscape sustainability of agricultural systems considers effects of farm activities on social, economic, and ecosystem services at local and regional scales. Sustainable agriculture entails: defining sustainability, developing easily measured indicators of sustainability, moving toward integrated agricultural systems, and offering incentives or imposing regulations to affect farmer behavior. A landscape perspective is useful because landscape ecology provides theory and methods for dealing with spatial heterogeneity, scaling, integration, and complexity. To implement agricultural sustainability, we propose adopting a systems perspective, recognizing spatial heterogeneity, addressing the influences of context, and integrating landscape-design principles. Topics that need further attention at local and regional scalesmore » include (1) protocols for quantifying material and energy flows; (2) effects of management practices; (3) incentives for enhancing social, economic, and ecosystem services; (4) integrated landscape planning and management; (5) monitoring and assessment; (6) effects of societal demand; and (7) consistent and holistic policies for promoting agricultural sustainability.« less

Ecosystem Functions Connecting Contributions from Ecosystem Services to Human Wellbeing in a Mangrove System in Northern Taiwan.

PubMed

Hsieh, Hwey-Lian; Lin, Hsing-Juh; Shih, Shang-Shu; Chen, Chang-Po

2015-06-09

The present study examined a mangrove ecosystem in northern Taiwan to determine how the various components of ecosystem function, ecosystem services and human wellbeing are connected. The overall contributions of mangrove services to specific components of human wellbeing were also assessed. A network was developed and evaluated by an expert panel consisting of hydrologists, ecologists, and experts in the field of culture, landscape or architecture. The results showed that supporting habitats was the most important function to human wellbeing, while water quality, habitable climate, air quality, recreational opportunities, and knowledge systems were services that were strongly linked to human welfare. Security of continuous supply of services appeared to be the key to a comfortable life. From a bottom-up and top-down perspective, knowledge systems (a service) were most supported by ecosystem functions, while the security of continuous supply of services (wellbeing) had affected the most services. In addition, the overall benefits of mangrove services to human prosperity concentrated on mental health, security of continuous supply of services, and physical health.

Ecosystem Functions Connecting Contributions from Ecosystem Services to Human Wellbeing in a Mangrove System in Northern Taiwan

PubMed Central

Hsieh, Hwey-Lian; Lin, Hsing-Juh; Shih, Shang-Shu; Chen, Chang-Po

2015-01-01

The present study examined a mangrove ecosystem in northern Taiwan to determine how the various components of ecosystem function, ecosystem services and human wellbeing are connected. The overall contributions of mangrove services to specific components of human wellbeing were also assessed. A network was developed and evaluated by an expert panel consisting of hydrologists, ecologists, and experts in the field of culture, landscape or architecture. The results showed that supporting habitats was the most important function to human wellbeing, while water quality, habitable climate, air quality, recreational opportunities, and knowledge systems were services that were strongly linked to human welfare. Security of continuous supply of services appeared to be the key to a comfortable life. From a bottom-up and top-down perspective, knowledge systems (a service) were most supported by ecosystem functions, while the security of continuous supply of services (wellbeing) had affected the most services. In addition, the overall benefits of mangrove services to human prosperity concentrated on mental health, security of continuous supply of services, and physical health. PMID:26067989

Linking water quality and well-being for improved assessment and valuation of ecosystem services

PubMed Central

Keeler, Bonnie L.; Polasky, Stephen; Brauman, Kate A.; Johnson, Kris A.; Finlay, Jacques C.; O’Neill, Ann; Kovacs, Kent; Dalzell, Brent

2012-01-01

Despite broad recognition of the value of the goods and services provided by nature, existing tools for assessing and valuing ecosystem services often fall short of the needs and expectations of decision makers. Here we address one of the most important missing components in the current ecosystem services toolbox: a comprehensive and generalizable framework for describing and valuing water quality-related services. Water quality is often misrepresented as a final ecosystem service. We argue that it is actually an important contributor to many different services, from recreation to human health. We present a valuation approach for water quality-related services that is sensitive to different actions that affect water quality, identifies aquatic endpoints where the consequences of changing water quality on human well-being are realized, and recognizes the unique groups of beneficiaries affected by those changes. We describe the multiple biophysical and economic pathways that link actions to changes in water quality-related ecosystem goods and services and provide guidance to researchers interested in valuing these changes. Finally, we present a valuation template that integrates biophysical and economic models, links actions to changes in service provision and value estimates, and considers multiple sources of water quality-related ecosystem service values without double counting. PMID:23091018

Linking water quality and well-being for improved assessment and valuation of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Keeler, Bonnie L; Polasky, Stephen; Brauman, Kate A; Johnson, Kris A; Finlay, Jacques C; O'Neill, Ann; Kovacs, Kent; Dalzell, Brent

2012-11-06

Despite broad recognition of the value of the goods and services provided by nature, existing tools for assessing and valuing ecosystem services often fall short of the needs and expectations of decision makers. Here we address one of the most important missing components in the current ecosystem services toolbox: a comprehensive and generalizable framework for describing and valuing water quality-related services. Water quality is often misrepresented as a final ecosystem service. We argue that it is actually an important contributor to many different services, from recreation to human health. We present a valuation approach for water quality-related services that is sensitive to different actions that affect water quality, identifies aquatic endpoints where the consequences of changing water quality on human well-being are realized, and recognizes the unique groups of beneficiaries affected by those changes. We describe the multiple biophysical and economic pathways that link actions to changes in water quality-related ecosystem goods and services and provide guidance to researchers interested in valuing these changes. Finally, we present a valuation template that integrates biophysical and economic models, links actions to changes in service provision and value estimates, and considers multiple sources of water quality-related ecosystem service values without double counting.

Fort Collins Science Center: Ecosystem Dynamics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bowen, Zack

2004-01-01

Current studies fall into five general areas. Herbivore-Ecosystem Interactions examines the efficacy of multiple controls on selected herbivore populations and cascading effects through predator-herbivore-plant-soil linkages. Riparian Ecology is concerned with interactions among streamflow, fluvial geomorphology, and riparian vegetation. Integrated Fire Science focuses on the effects of fire on plant and animal communities at multiple scales, and on the interactions between post-fire plant, runoff, and erosion processes. Reference Ecosystems comprises long-term, place-based studies of ecosystem biogeochemistry. Finally, Integrated Assessments is investigating how to synthesize multiple ecosystem stressors and responses over complex landscapes in ways that are useful for management and planning.

Viewpoint: Sustainability of piñon-juniper ecosystems - A unifying perspective of soil erosion thresholds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davenport, David W.; Breshears, D.D.; Wilcox, B.P.; Allen, Craig D.

1998-01-01

Many pinon-juniper ecosystem in the western U.S. are subject to accelerated erosion while others are undergoing little or no erosion. Controversy has developed over whether invading or encroaching pinon and juniper species are inherently harmful to rangeland ecosystems. We developed a conceptual model of soil erosion in pinon-jumper ecosystems that is consistent with both sides of the controversy and suggests that the diverse perspectives on this issue arise from threshold effects operating under very different site conditions. Soil erosion rate can be viewed as a function of (1) site erosion potential (SEP), determined by climate, geomorphology and soil erodibility; and (2) ground cover. Site erosion potential and cove act synergistically to determine soil erosion rates, as evident even from simple USLE predictions of erosion. In pinon-juniper ecosystem with high SEP, the erosion rate is highly sensitive to ground cover and can cross a threshold so that erosion increases dramatically in response to a small decrease in cover. The sensitivity of erosion rate to SEP and cover can be visualized as a cusp catastrophe surface on which changes may occur rapidly and irreversibly. The mechanisms associated with a rapid shift from low to high erosion rate can be illustrated using percolation theory to incorporate spatial, temporal, and scale-dependent patterns of water storage capacity on a hillslope. Percolation theory demonstrates how hillslope runoff can undergo a threshold response to a minor change in storage capacity. Our conceptual model suggests that pinion and juniper contribute to accelerated erosion only under a limited range of site conditions which, however, may exist over large areas.

A New Perspective on the Foraging Ecology of Apex Predators in the California Current: Results from a Fully Coupled Ecosystem Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiechter, J.; Huckstadt, L. A.; Rose, K.; Costa, D. P.; Curchitser, E. N.; Hedstrom, K.; Edwards, C. A.; Moore, A. M.

2016-02-01

Results from a fully coupled end-to-end ecosystem model for the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem are used to describe the impact of environmental variability on the foraging ecology of its most abundant apex predator, California sea lions (Zalophus californianus). The ecosystem model consists of a biogeochemical submodel embedded in a regional ocean circulation submodel, and both coupled with a multi-species individual-based submodel for forage fish (sardine and anchovy) and California sea lions. For sea lions, bioenergetics and behavioral attributes are specified using available TOPP (Tagging Of Pacific Predators) data on their foraging patterns and diet in the California Current. Sardine and anchovy are explicitly included in the model as they represent important prey sources for California sea lions and exhibit significant interannual and decadal variability in population abundances. Output from a 20-year run (1989-2008) of the model demonstrates how different physical and biological processes control habitat utilization and foraging success of California sea lions on interannual time scales. A principal component analysis of sea lion foraging patterns indicates that the first mode of variability is alongshore and tied to sardine availability, while the second mode is cross-shore and associated with coastal upwelling intensity (a behavior consistent with male sea lion tracking data collected in 2004 vs. 2005). The results also illustrate how variability in environmental conditions and forage fish distribution affects sea lions feeding success. While specifically focusing on the foraging ecology of sea lions, our modeling framework has the ability to provide new and unique perspectives on trophic interactions in the California Current, or other regions where similar end-to-end ecosystem models may be implemented.

Managing adaptively for multifunctionality in agricultural systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hodbod, Jennifer; Barreteau, Olivier; Allen, Craig R.; Magda, Danièle

2016-01-01

The critical importance of agricultural systems for food security and as a dominant global landcover requires management that considers the full dimensions of system functions at appropriate scales, i.e. multifunctionality. We propose that adaptive management is the most suitable management approach for such goals, given its ability to reduce uncertainty over time and support multiple objectives within a system, for multiple actors. As such, adaptive management may be the most appropriate method for sustainably intensifying production whilst increasing the quantity and quality of ecosystem services. However, the current assessment of performance of agricultural systems doesn’t reward ecosystem service provision. Therefore, we present an overview of the ecosystem functions agricultural systems should and could provide, coupled with a revised definition for assessing the performance of agricultural systems from a multifunctional perspective that, when all satisfied, would create adaptive agricultural systems that can increase production whilst ensuring food security and the quantity and quality of ecosystem services. The outcome of this high level of performance is the capacity to respond to multiple shocks without collapse, equity and triple bottom line sustainability. Through the assessment of case studies, we find that alternatives to industrialized agricultural systems incorporate more functional goals, but that there are mixed findings as to whether these goals translate into positive measurable outcomes. We suggest that an adaptive management perspective would support the implementation of a systematic analysis of the social, ecological and economic trade-offs occurring within such systems, particularly between ecosystem services and functions, in order to provide suitable and comparable assessments. We also identify indicators to monitor performance at multiple scales in agricultural systems which can be used within an adaptive management framework to increase resilience at multiple scales.

Managing adaptively for multifunctionality in agricultural systems.

PubMed

Hodbod, Jennifer; Barreteau, Olivier; Allen, Craig; Magda, Danièle

2016-12-01

The critical importance of agricultural systems for food security and as a dominant global landcover requires management that considers the full dimensions of system functions at appropriate scales, i.e. multifunctionality. We propose that adaptive management is the most suitable management approach for such goals, given its ability to reduce uncertainty over time and support multiple objectives within a system, for multiple actors. As such, adaptive management may be the most appropriate method for sustainably intensifying production whilst increasing the quantity and quality of ecosystem services. However, the current assessment of performance of agricultural systems doesn't reward ecosystem service provision. Therefore, we present an overview of the ecosystem functions agricultural systems should and could provide, coupled with a revised definition for assessing the performance of agricultural systems from a multifunctional perspective that, when all satisfied, would create adaptive agricultural systems that can increase production whilst ensuring food security and the quantity and quality of ecosystem services. The outcome of this high level of performance is the capacity to respond to multiple shocks without collapse, equity and triple bottom line sustainability. Through the assessment of case studies, we find that alternatives to industrialized agricultural systems incorporate more functional goals, but that there are mixed findings as to whether these goals translate into positive measurable outcomes. We suggest that an adaptive management perspective would support the implementation of a systematic analysis of the social, ecological and economic trade-offs occurring within such systems, particularly between ecosystem services and functions, in order to provide suitable and comparable assessments. We also identify indicators to monitor performance at multiple scales in agricultural systems which can be used within an adaptive management framework to increase resilience at multiple scales. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The need for simultaneous evaluation of ecosystem services and land use change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Euliss, Ned H.; Smith, Loren M.; Liu, Shu-Guang; Feng, Min; Mushet, David M.; Auch, Roger F.; Loveland, Thomas R.

2010-01-01

We are living in a period of massive global change. This rate of change may be almost without precedent in geologic history (1). Even the most remote areas of the planet are influenced by human activities. Modern landscapes have been highly modified to accommodate a growing human population that the United Nations has forecast to peak at 9.1 billion by 2050. Over this past century, reliance on services from ecosystems has increased significantly and, over past decades, sustainability of our modern, intensively managed ecosystems has been a topic of serious international concern (1). Numerous papers addressing a particular land-use change effect on specific ecosystem services have recently been published. For example, there is currently great interest in increasing biofuel production to achieve energy inde- pendence goals and recent papers have independently focused attention on impacts of land-use change on single ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration (2) and many others (e.g., water availability, biodiversity, pollination). However, land-use change clearly affects myriad ecosystem services simultaneously. Hence, a broader perspective and context is needed to evaluate and understand interrelated affects on multiple ecosystem services, especially as we strive for the goal of sustainably managing global ecosystems. Similarly, land uses affect ecosystem services synergistically; single land-use evaluations may be misleading because the overall impact on an ecosystem is not evaluated. A more holistic approach would provide a means and framework to characterize how land-use change affects provisioning of goods and services of complete ecosystems.

[Measuring water ecological carrying capacity with the ecosystem-service-based ecological footprint (ESEF) method: Theory, models and application].

PubMed

Jiao, Wen-jun; Min, Qing-wen; Li, Wen-hua; Fuller, Anthony M

2015-04-01

Integrated watershed management based on aquatic ecosystems has been increasingly acknowledged. Such a change in the philosophy of water environment management requires recognizing the carrying capacity of aquatic ecosystems for human society from a more general perspective. The concept of the water ecological carrying capacity is therefore put forward, which considers both water resources and water environment, connects socio-economic development to aquatic ecosystems and provides strong support for integrated watershed management. In this paper, the authors proposed an ESEF-based measure of water ecological carrying capacity and constructed ESEF-based models of water ecological footprint and capacity, aiming to evaluate water ecological carrying capacity with footprint methods. A regional model of Taihu Lake Basin was constructed and applied to evaluate the water ecological carrying capacity in Changzhou City which located in the upper reaches of the basin. Results showed that human demand for water ecosystem services in this city had exceeded the supply capacity of local aquatic ecosystems and the significant gap between demand and supply had jeopardized the sustainability of local aquatic ecosystems. Considering aqua-product provision, water supply and pollutant absorption in an integrated way, the scale of population and economy aquatic ecosystems in Changzhou could bear only 54% of the current status.

Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach.

PubMed

Bannar-Martin, Katherine H; Kremer, Colin T; Ernest, S K Morgan; Leibold, Mathew A; Auge, Harald; Chase, Jonathan; Declerck, Steven A J; Eisenhauer, Nico; Harpole, Stanley; Hillebrand, Helmut; Isbell, Forest; Koffel, Thomas; Larsen, Stefano; Narwani, Anita; Petermann, Jana S; Roscher, Christiane; Cabral, Juliano Sarmento; Supp, Sarah R

2018-02-01

The research of a generation of ecologists was catalysed by the recognition that the number and identity of species in communities influences the functioning of ecosystems. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) is most often examined by controlling species richness and randomising community composition. In natural systems, biodiversity changes are often part of a bigger community assembly dynamic. Therefore, focusing on community assembly and the functioning of ecosystems (CAFE), by integrating both species richness and composition through species gains, losses and changes in abundance, will better reveal how community changes affect ecosystem function. We synthesise the BEF and CAFE perspectives using an ecological application of the Price equation, which partitions the contributions of richness and composition to function. Using empirical examples, we show how the CAFE approach reveals important contributions of composition to function. These examples show how changes in species richness and composition driven by environmental perturbations can work in concert or antagonistically to influence ecosystem function. Considering how communities change in an integrative fashion, rather than focusing on one axis of community structure at a time, will improve our ability to anticipate and predict changes in ecosystem function. © 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Reframing landscape fragmentation's effects on ecosystem services.

PubMed

Mitchell, Matthew G E; Suarez-Castro, Andrés F; Martinez-Harms, Maria; Maron, Martine; McAlpine, Clive; Gaston, Kevin J; Johansen, Kasper; Rhodes, Jonathan R

2015-04-01

Landscape structure and fragmentation have important effects on ecosystem services, with a common assumption being that fragmentation reduces service provision. This is based on fragmentation's expected effects on ecosystem service supply, but ignores how fragmentation influences the flow of services to people. Here we develop a new conceptual framework that explicitly considers the links between landscape fragmentation, the supply of services, and the flow of services to people. We argue that fragmentation's effects on ecosystem service flow can be positive or negative, and use our framework to construct testable hypotheses about the effects of fragmentation on final ecosystem service provision. Empirical efforts to apply and test this framework are critical to improving landscape management for multiple ecosystem services. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CLASSIFYING COASTAL WATERS: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND CURRENT FOCUS ON AQUATIC STRESSORS

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal ecosystems are ecologically and commercially productive habitats that are experiencing significant impacts associated with accelerated population growth in coastal zones. The Clean Water Act requires identification of impaired water bodies and determination of the causes ...

Towards a Stochastic Predictive Understanding of Ecosystem Functioning and Resilience to Environmental Changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pappas, C.

2017-12-01

Terrestrial ecosystem processes respond differently to hydrometeorological variability across timescales, and so does our scientific understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Process-based modeling of ecosystem functioning is therefore challenging, especially when long-term predictions are envisioned. Here we analyze the statistical properties of hydrometeorological and ecosystem variability, i.e., the variability of ecosystem process related to vegetation carbon dynamics, from hourly to decadal timescales. 23 extra-tropical forest sites, covering different climatic zones and vegetation characteristics, are examined. Micrometeorological and reanalysis data of precipitation, air temperature, shortwave radiation and vapor pressure deficit are used to describe hydrometeorological variability. Ecosystem variability is quantified using long-term eddy covariance flux data of hourly net ecosystem exchange of CO2 between land surface and atmosphere, monthly remote sensing vegetation indices, annual tree-ring widths and above-ground biomass increment estimates. We find that across sites and timescales ecosystem variability is confined within a hydrometeorological envelope that describes the range of variability of the available resources, i.e., water and energy. Furthermore, ecosystem variability demonstrates long-term persistence, highlighting ecological memory and slow ecosystem recovery rates after disturbances. We derive an analytical model, combining deterministic harmonics and stochastic processes, that represents major mechanisms and uncertainties and mimics the observed pattern of hydrometeorological and ecosystem variability. This stochastic framework offers a parsimonious and mathematically tractable approach for modelling ecosystem functioning and for understanding its response and resilience to environmental changes. Furthermore, this framework reflects well the observed ecological memory, an inherent property of ecosystem functioning that is currently not captured by simulation results with process-based models. Our analysis offers a perspective for terrestrial ecosystem modelling, combining current process understanding with stochastic methods, and paves the way for new model-data integration opportunities in Earth system sciences.

Long-term and large-scale perspectives on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Symstad, A.J.; Chapin, F. S.; Wall, D.H.; Gross, K.L.; Huenneke, L.F.; Mittelbach, G.G.; Peters, Debra P.C.; Tilman, D.

2003-01-01

In a growing body of literature from a variety of ecosystems is strong evidence that various components of biodiversity have significant impacts on ecosystem functioning. However, much of this evidence comes from short-term, small-scale experiments in which communities are synthesized from relatively small species pools and conditions are highly controlled. Extrapolation of the results of such experiments to longer time scales and larger spatial scales—those of whole ecosystems—is difficult because the experiments do not incorporate natural processes such as recruitment limitation and colonization of new species. We show how long-term study of planned and accidental changes in species richness and composition suggests that the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning will vary over time and space. More important, we also highlight areas of uncertainty that need to be addressed through coordinated cross-scale and cross-site research.

A Participatory Assessment of Ecosystem Services and Human Wellbeing in Rural Costa Rica Using Photo-Voice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berbés-Blázquez, Marta

2012-04-01

Human well-being is intricately connected to ecosystem services. A keystone contribution to the ecosystem service literature has been the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, MA, (Ecosystems and human well-being: a framework for assessment, Island Press, Washington, DC; 2003, 2005). Much of the work on ecosystem services to date has focused on the assessment and classification of environmental functions. The need for inclusion of community perspectives in ecosystem assessments has been widely recognized in order to better understand the distribution of impacts and benefits resulting from natural resource use. Communities can offer a direct route to understanding the complex relationships between ecosystems and human well-being and how environmental management affects their livelihoods. Photovoice has been made popular as a tool for participatory needs assessment but it has had limited use in ecosystem assessments to date. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to present the results of a community-level assessment of environmental services in a watershed dominated by pineapple monoculture in Costa Rica; and (2) to evaluate the strengths and the limitations of photovoice as a tool for mapping the relationship between ecosystems and people. I argue that photovoice is an underutilized methodology that has the potential to complement biophysical ecosystem service assessments in the context of impoverished and resource-dependent communities, particularly, since assessing ecosystem services and acting upon that information requires integrating the knowledges of diverse stakeholders, recognizing power imbalances, and grappling with the complexity of social-ecological systems. Processes such as photovoice have the potential to catalyze community self-organization, which is a critical component for empowerment.

Ecosystem services classification: A systems ecology perspective of the cascade framework.

PubMed

La Notte, Alessandra; D'Amato, Dalia; Mäkinen, Hanna; Paracchini, Maria Luisa; Liquete, Camino; Egoh, Benis; Geneletti, Davide; Crossman, Neville D

2017-03-01

Ecosystem services research faces several challenges stemming from the plurality of interpretations of classifications and terminologies. In this paper we identify two main challenges with current ecosystem services classification systems: i) the inconsistency across concepts, terminology and definitions, and; ii) the mix up of processes and end-state benefits, or flows and assets. Although different ecosystem service definitions and interpretations can be valuable for enriching the research landscape, it is necessary to address the existing ambiguity to improve comparability among ecosystem-service-based approaches. Using the cascade framework as a reference, and Systems Ecology as a theoretical underpinning, we aim to address the ambiguity across typologies. The cascade framework links ecological processes with elements of human well-being following a pattern similar to a production chain. Systems Ecology is a long-established discipline which provides insight into complex relationships between people and the environment. We present a refreshed conceptualization of ecosystem services which can support ecosystem service assessment techniques and measurement. We combine the notions of biomass, information and interaction from system ecology, with the ecosystem services conceptualization to improve definitions and clarify terminology. We argue that ecosystem services should be defined as the interactions (i.e. processes) of the ecosystem that produce a change in human well-being, while ecosystem components or goods, i.e. countable as biomass units, are only proxies in the assessment of such changes. Furthermore, Systems Ecology can support a re-interpretation of the ecosystem services conceptualization and related applied research, where more emphasis is needed on the underpinning complexity of the ecological system.

A participatory assessment of ecosystem services and human wellbeing in rural Costa Rica using photo-voice.

PubMed

Berbés-Blázquez, Marta

2012-04-01

Human well-being is intricately connected to ecosystem services. A keystone contribution to the ecosystem service literature has been the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, MA, (Ecosystems and human well-being: a framework for assessment, Island Press, Washington, DC; 2003, 2005). Much of the work on ecosystem services to date has focused on the assessment and classification of environmental functions. The need for inclusion of community perspectives in ecosystem assessments has been widely recognized in order to better understand the distribution of impacts and benefits resulting from natural resource use. Communities can offer a direct route to understanding the complex relationships between ecosystems and human well-being and how environmental management affects their livelihoods. Photovoice has been made popular as a tool for participatory needs assessment but it has had limited use in ecosystem assessments to date. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to present the results of a community-level assessment of environmental services in a watershed dominated by pineapple monoculture in Costa Rica; and (2) to evaluate the strengths and the limitations of photovoice as a tool for mapping the relationship between ecosystems and people. I argue that photovoice is an underutilized methodology that has the potential to complement biophysical ecosystem service assessments in the context of impoverished and resource-dependent communities, particularly, since assessing ecosystem services and acting upon that information requires integrating the knowledges of diverse stakeholders, recognizing power imbalances, and grappling with the complexity of social-ecological systems. Processes such as photovoice have the potential to catalyze community self-organization, which is a critical component for empowerment.

Toward Understanding, Managing, and Protecting Microbial Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Bodelier, Paul L. E.

2011-01-01

Microbial communities are at the very basis of life on earth, catalyzing biogeochemical reactions driving global nutrient cycles. However, unlike for plants and animals, microbial diversity is not on the biodiversity–conservation agenda. The latter, however, would imply that microbial diversity is not under any threat by anthropogenic disturbance or climate change. This maybe a misconception caused by the rudimentary knowledge we have concerning microbial diversity and its role in ecosystem functioning. This perspective paper identifies major areas with knowledge gaps within the field of environmental microbiology that preclude a comprehension of microbial ecosystems on the level we have for plants and animals. Opportunities and challenges are pointed out to open the microbial black box and to go from descriptive to predictive microbial ecology. PMID:21747797

Will Ecosystem Services Change the Direction of SETAC?

EPA Science Inventory

There is growing awareness within the ecological and social science communities that improved environmental management and protection can be achieved by considering the contributions made by nature to human well-being. This perspective in part reflects a recognition that environm...

Sustainable System Management with Fisher Information based Objectives

EPA Science Inventory

Sustainable ecosystem management that integrates ecological, economic and social perspectives is a complex task where simultaneous persistence of human and natural components of the system must be ensured. Given the complexity of this task, systems theory approaches based on soun...

CO2 fertilization stimulates vegetation productivity but has little impact on hydrology in tropical rainforests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuting; Donohue, Randall; McVicar, Tim; Roderick, Michael; Beck, Hylke

2016-04-01

Tropical rainforests contribute to ~52% of the terrestrial biomass carbon and more than one-third of global terrestrial net primary production. Thus, understanding how tropical rainforests respond to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) is essential for predicting Earth's carbon, water and energy budgets under future climate change. While the Free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) technique has greatly advanced our understanding of how boreal and temperate ecosystems respond to eCO2, there are currently no FACE sites available in tropical rainforest ecosystems. Here we firstly examine the trend in long-term (1982-2010) satellite-observed leaf area index and fraction of vegetation light absorption and find only minor changes in these variables in tropical rainforests over years, suggesting that eCO2 has not increased vegetation leaf area in tropical rainforests and therefore any plant response to eCO2 occurs at the leaf-level. Following that, we investigate the long-term physiological response (i.e., leaf-level) of tropical rainforests to eCO2 from three different perspectives by: (1) analyzing long-term runoff and precipitation records in 18 unimpaired tropical rainforest catchments to provide observational evidence on the eCO2 effect from an eco-hydrological perspective; (2) developing an analytical model using gas-exchange theory to predict the effect of eCO2 from a top-down perspective; and (3) interpreting outputs from 10 process-oriented ecosystem models to examine the effect of eCO2 from a bottom-up perspective. Our results show that the observed runoff coefficient (the ratio of runoff over precipitation) and ecosystem evapotranspiration (calculated from catchment water balance) remain relatively constant in 18 unimpaired tropical catchments over 1982-2010, implying an unchanged hydrological partitioning and thus conserved transpiration under eCO2. For the same period, using 'top-down' model based on gas-exchange theory, we predict an increase in plant assimilation (A) driven directly by an enhanced light use efficiency (ɛ) at the leaf-level in response to eCO2, the magnitude of which is about the same as that of eCO2 (i.e., ~12% over 1982-2010). Simulations from ten state-of-the-art 'bottom-up' ecosystem models also confirm that in tropical rainforests, direct effect of eCO2 mainly increases A and ɛ but does not change E. Our findings add to the current limited pool of knowledge regarding the long-term eCO2 impacts in tropical rainforests and provide important scientific guidance for future ecophysiology / ecohydrology modelling and field activities conducted in the area.

Applications of Remote Sensing to Alien Invasive Plant Studies

PubMed Central

Huang, Cho-ying; Asner, Gregory P.

2009-01-01

Biological invasions can affect ecosystems across a wide spectrum of bioclimatic conditions. Therefore, it is often important to systematically monitor the spread of species over a broad region. Remote sensing has been an important tool for large-scale ecological studies in the past three decades, but it was not commonly used to study alien invasive plants until the mid 1990s. We synthesize previous research efforts on remote sensing of invasive plants from spatial, temporal and spectral perspectives. We also highlight a recently developed state-of-the-art image fusion technique that integrates passive and active energies concurrently collected by an imaging spectrometer and a scanning-waveform light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system, respectively. This approach provides a means to detect the structure and functional properties of invasive plants of different canopy levels. Finally, we summarize regional studies of biological invasions using remote sensing, discuss the limitations of remote sensing approaches, and highlight current research needs and future directions. PMID:22408558

Integrating natural and social science perspectives on plant disease risk, management and policy formulation

PubMed Central

Mills, Peter; Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina; Ilbery, Brian; Jeger, Mike; Jones, Glyn; Little, Ruth; MacLeod, Alan; Parker, Steve; Pautasso, Marco; Pietravalle, Stephane; Maye, Damian

2011-01-01

Plant diseases threaten both food security and the botanical diversity of natural ecosystems. Substantial research effort is focused on pathogen detection and control, with detailed risk management available for many plant diseases. Risk can be assessed using analytical techniques that account for disease pressure both spatially and temporally. We suggest that such technical assessments of disease risk may not provide an adequate guide to the strategies undertaken by growers and government to manage plant disease. Instead, risk-management strategies need to account more fully for intuitive and normative responses that act to balance conflicting interests between stakeholder organizations concerned with plant diseases within the managed and natural environments. Modes of effective engagement between policy makers and stakeholders are explored in the paper, together with an assessment of such engagement in two case studies of contemporary non-indigenous diseases in one food and in one non-food sector. Finally, a model is proposed for greater integration of stakeholders in policy decisions. PMID:21624923

Integrating natural and social science perspectives on plant disease risk, management and policy formulation.

PubMed

Mills, Peter; Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina; Ilbery, Brian; Jeger, Mike; Jones, Glyn; Little, Ruth; MacLeod, Alan; Parker, Steve; Pautasso, Marco; Pietravalle, Stephane; Maye, Damian

2011-07-12

Plant diseases threaten both food security and the botanical diversity of natural ecosystems. Substantial research effort is focused on pathogen detection and control, with detailed risk management available for many plant diseases. Risk can be assessed using analytical techniques that account for disease pressure both spatially and temporally. We suggest that such technical assessments of disease risk may not provide an adequate guide to the strategies undertaken by growers and government to manage plant disease. Instead, risk-management strategies need to account more fully for intuitive and normative responses that act to balance conflicting interests between stakeholder organizations concerned with plant diseases within the managed and natural environments. Modes of effective engagement between policy makers and stakeholders are explored in the paper, together with an assessment of such engagement in two case studies of contemporary non-indigenous diseases in one food and in one non-food sector. Finally, a model is proposed for greater integration of stakeholders in policy decisions.

Terrestrial acidification and ecosystem services: effects of acid rain on bunnies, baseball, and Christmas trees

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Irvine, Irina C.; Greaver, Tara; Phelan, Jennifer

Often termed “acid rain,” combined nitrogen and sulfur deposition can directly and indirectly impact the condition and health of forest ecosystems. Researchers use critical loads (CLs) to describe response thresholds, and recent studies on acid-sensitive biological indicators show that forests continue to be at risk from terrestrial acidification. However, rarely are impacts translated into changes in “ecosystem services” that impact human well-being. Further, the relevance of this research to the general public is seldom communicated in terms that can motivate action to protect valuable resources. To understand how changes in biological indicators affect human well-being, we used the STEPS (Stressor–Ecologicalmore » Production function–final ecosystem Services) Framework to quantitatively and qualitatively link CL exceedances to ecosystem service impacts. We specified the cause-and-effect ecological processes linking changes in biological indicators to final ecosystem services. The Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS) was used within the STEPS Framework to classify the ecosystem component and the beneficiary class that uses or values the component. We analyzed two acid-sensitive tree species, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white ash (Fraxinus americana), that are common in northeastern USA. These well-known species provide habitat for animals and popular forest products that are relatable to a broad audience. We identified 160 chains with 10 classes of human beneficiaries for balsam fir and white ash combined, concluding that there are resources at risk that the public may value. Two stories resulting from these explorations into the cascading effects of acid rain on terrestrial resources are ideal for effective science communication: the relationship between (1) balsam fir as a popular Christmas tree and habitat for the snowshoe hare, a favorite of wildlife viewers, and (2) white ash because it is used for half of all baseball bats, fine wood products, and musical instruments. Thus, rather than focusing on biological indicators that may only be understood or appreciated by specific stakeholders or experts, this approach extends the analysis to include impacts on FEGS and humans. It also lays the foundation for developing stakeholder-specific narratives, quantitative measures of endpoints, and for conducting demand-based valuations of affected ecosystem services.« less

Terrestrial acidification and ecosystem services: effects of acid rain on bunnies, baseball, and Christmas trees

DOE PAGES

Irvine, Irina C.; Greaver, Tara; Phelan, Jennifer; ...

2017-06-22

Often termed “acid rain,” combined nitrogen and sulfur deposition can directly and indirectly impact the condition and health of forest ecosystems. Researchers use critical loads (CLs) to describe response thresholds, and recent studies on acid-sensitive biological indicators show that forests continue to be at risk from terrestrial acidification. However, rarely are impacts translated into changes in “ecosystem services” that impact human well-being. Further, the relevance of this research to the general public is seldom communicated in terms that can motivate action to protect valuable resources. To understand how changes in biological indicators affect human well-being, we used the STEPS (Stressor–Ecologicalmore » Production function–final ecosystem Services) Framework to quantitatively and qualitatively link CL exceedances to ecosystem service impacts. We specified the cause-and-effect ecological processes linking changes in biological indicators to final ecosystem services. The Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System (FEGS-CS) was used within the STEPS Framework to classify the ecosystem component and the beneficiary class that uses or values the component. We analyzed two acid-sensitive tree species, balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white ash (Fraxinus americana), that are common in northeastern USA. These well-known species provide habitat for animals and popular forest products that are relatable to a broad audience. We identified 160 chains with 10 classes of human beneficiaries for balsam fir and white ash combined, concluding that there are resources at risk that the public may value. Two stories resulting from these explorations into the cascading effects of acid rain on terrestrial resources are ideal for effective science communication: the relationship between (1) balsam fir as a popular Christmas tree and habitat for the snowshoe hare, a favorite of wildlife viewers, and (2) white ash because it is used for half of all baseball bats, fine wood products, and musical instruments. Thus, rather than focusing on biological indicators that may only be understood or appreciated by specific stakeholders or experts, this approach extends the analysis to include impacts on FEGS and humans. It also lays the foundation for developing stakeholder-specific narratives, quantitative measures of endpoints, and for conducting demand-based valuations of affected ecosystem services.« less

Assessing and Synthesizing the Last Decade of Research on the Major Pools and Fluxes of the Carbon Cycle in the US and North America: An Interagency Governmental Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavallaro, N.; Shrestha, G.; Stover, D. B.; Zhu, Z.; Ombres, E. H.; Deangelo, B.

2015-12-01

The 2nd State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR-2) is focused on US and North American carbon stocks and fluxes in managed and unmanaged systems, including relevant carbon management science perspectives and tools for supporting and informing decisions. SOCCR-2 is inspired by the US Carbon Cycle Science Plan (2011) which emphasizes global scale research on long-lived, carbon-based greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, and the major pools and fluxes of the global carbon cycle. Accordingly, the questions framing the Plan inform this report's topical roadmap, with a focus on US and North America in the global context: 1) How have natural processes and human actions affected the global carbon cycle on land, in the atmosphere, in the oceans and in the ecosystem interfaces (e.g. coastal, wetlands, urban-rural)? 2) How have socio-economic trends affected the levels of the primary carbon-containing gases, carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere? 3) How have species, ecosystems, natural resources and human systems been impacted by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, the associated changes in climate, and by carbon management decisions and practices? To address these aspects, SOCCR-2 will encompass the following broad assessment framework: 1) Carbon Cycle at Scales (Global Perspective, North American Perspective, US Perspective, Regional Perspective); 2) Role of carbon in systems (Soils; Water, Oceans, Vegetation; Terrestrial-aquatic Interfaces); 3) Interactions/Disturbance/Impacts from/on the carbon cycle. 4) Carbon Management Science Perspective and Decision Support (measurements, observations and monitoring for research and policy relevant decision-support etc.). In this presentation, the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group and the U.S. Global Change Research Program's U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program Office will highlight the scientific context, strategy, structure, team and production process of the report, which is part of the USGCRP's Sustained National Climate Assessment process.

76 FR 69707 - Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-09

... implementation of Ecosystem Based Fishery Management. A specific topic to be discussed will be the Council plan for moving forward with the development of ecosystem based fishery management approach in 2012. In... final topic to be discussed will be potential revisions to the Council's Statement of Organization...

Gaps Between What We Measure and What We Want to Know to Value Streams

EPA Science Inventory

We have found the concept “Final Ecosystem Goods and Services” (FEGS) useful in linking ecosystems and human well-being. We define FEGS as ecological features people perceive to be directly relevant to their welfare, as opposed to the larger set of essential intermed...

USEPA'S FINAL ECOSYSTEM AND SERVICES (FEGS) CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM: Concept to Implementation and Links with EnviroAtlas

EPA Science Inventory

For the last decade ecosystem services have received increasing focus, yet the natural and social scientists working on mainstreaming these concepts are still struggling with the basic issues. One of such issue is developing a framework that avoids double counting, provides guid...

Development of Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Indicators for Estuaries and Coasts

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem services are those goods and services produced by the environment that benefit people. The concept aims to aid in the assessment of tradeoffs based on goods and services produced by the environment. Over the past seven years EPA has developed a framework for classificat...

Trends in ecosystem service research: early steps and current drivers.

PubMed

Vihervaara, Petteri; Rönkä, Mia; Walls, Mari

2010-06-01

Over the past 50 years, human beings have influenced ecosystems more rapidly than at any similar time in human history, drastically altering ecosystem functioning. Along with ecosystem transformation and degradation, a number of studies have addressed the functioning, assessment and management of ecosystems. The concept of ecosystem services has been developed in the scientific literature since the end of the 1970s. However, ecosystem service research has focused on certain service categories, ecosystem types, and geographical areas, while substantial knowledge gaps remain concerning several aspects. We assess the development and current status of ecosystem service research on the basis of publications collected from the Web of Science. The material consists of (1) articles (n = 353) from all the years included in the Web of Science down to the completion of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and (2) more recent articles (n = 687) published between 2006 and 2008. We also assess the importance of international processes, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Kyoto Protocol and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, as drivers of ecosystem service research. Finally, we identify future prospects and research needs concerning the assessment and management of ecosystem services.

Symposium 9: Rocky Mountain futures: preserving, utilizing, and sustaining Rocky Mountain ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baron, Jill S.; Seastedt, Timothy; Fagre, Daniel B.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.; Tomback, Diana; Garcia, Elizabeth; Bowen, Zachary H.; Logan, Jesse A.

2013-01-01

In 2002 we published Rocky Mountain Futures, an Ecological Perspective (Island Press) to examine the cumulative ecological effects of human activity in the Rocky Mountains. We concluded that multiple local activities concerning land use, hydrologic manipulation, and resource extraction have altered ecosystems, although there were examples where the “tyranny of small decisions” worked in a positive way toward more sustainable coupled human/environment interactions. Superimposed on local change was climate change, atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and other pollutants, regional population growth, and some national management policies such as fire suppression.

Urbanisierung und Ökologische Stadtentwicklung. Zur Integration urbaner Biodiversität und Ökosystemleistungen in Deutschland und China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kümper-Schlake, Lennart

2016-06-01

Urbanisation processes increase land-use conflicts and ecosystem destruction globally. Especially in China, a country with an outstanding urbanization rate, city governments are challenged by environmental and health problems. Urban green spaces - subsequently defined as urban biodiversity and ecosystem services - can minimize numerous environmental risks and at the same time contribute to the citizens' well-being and quality of life. In this highly relevant field of nature conservation, geographical perspectives are required - in science, politics, policy, planning and practice.

The planetary water drama: Dual task of feeding humanity and curbing climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rockström, J.; Falkenmark, M.; Lannerstad, M.; Karlberg, L.

2012-08-01

This paper analyses the potential conflict between resilience of the Earth system and global freshwater requirements for the dual task of carbon sequestration to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere, and food production to feed humanity by 2050. It makes an attempt to assess the order of magnitude of the increased consumptive water use involved and analyses the implications as seen from two parallel perspectives; the global perspective of human development within a “safe operating space” with regard to the definition of the Planetary Boundary for freshwater; and the social-ecological implications at the regional river basin scale in terms of sharpening water shortages and threats to aquatic ecosystems. The paper shows that the consumptive water use involved in the dual task would both transgress the proposed planetary boundary range for global consumptive freshwater use and would further exacerbate already severe river depletion, causing societal problems related to water shortage and water allocation. Thus, strategies to rely on sequestration of CO2 as a mitigation strategy must recognize the high freshwater costs involved, implying that the key climate mitigation strategy must be to reduce emissions. The paper finally highlights the need to analyze both water and carbon tradeoffs from anticipated large scale biofuel production climate change mitigation strategy, to reveal gains and impact of this in contrast to carbon sequestration strategies.

Functional groups of ecosystem engineers: a proposed classification with comments on current issues.

PubMed

Berke, Sarah K

2010-08-01

Ecologists have long known that certain organisms fundamentally modify, create, or define habitats by altering the habitat's physical properties. In the past 15 years, these processes have been formally defined as "ecosystem engineering", reflecting a growing consensus that environmental structuring by organisms represents a fundamental class of ecological interactions occurring in most, if not all, ecosystems. Yet, the precise definition and scope of ecosystem engineering remains debated, as one should expect given the complexity, enormity, and variability of ecological systems. Here I briefly comment on a few specific current points of contention in the ecosystem engineering concept. I then suggest that ecosystem engineering can be profitably subdivided into four narrower functional categories reflecting four broad mechanisms by which ecosystem engineering occurs: structural engineers, bioturbators, chemical engineers, and light engineers. Finally, I suggest some conceptual model frameworks that could apply broadly within these functional groups.

Environmental Impacts of Arthropod Biological Control: An Ecological Perspective

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Arthropod biological control has long been used against insect and mite pests in agriculture production systems, forests, and other natural ecosystems. Depending on the methods of deploying natural enemies and the type of control agents (herbivores, parasitoids, and/or predators), potential environ...

Perspectives on global change theory

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Global changes in ecological drivers, such as CO2 concentrations, climate, and nitrogen deposition, are increasingly recognized as key to understanding contemporary ecosystem dynamics, but a coherent theory of global change has not yet been developed. We outline the characteristics of a theory of gl...

A Systems Perspective on Responses to Climate Change

EPA Science Inventory

The science of climate change integrates many scientific fields to explain and predict the complex effects of greenhouse gas concentrations on the planet’s energy balance, weather patterns, and ecosystems as well as economic and social systems. A changing climate requires respons...

A perspective on livestock-wolf interactions on western rangelands

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The reintroduction of wolves into their historical ranges in western North America is possibly one of the most ambitious ecosystem restoration efforts of the recent past. This initiative has been controversial and has stimulated considerable debate among concerned stakeholders about the feasibility ...

Contemporary and restorable wetland water storage: A landscape perspective

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Surface water storage in wetlands drives ecosystem function from local to landscape scales. In many regions, hydrologic modifications have significantly reduced wetland storage capacity and subsequently diminished wetland functions. While the loss of wetland area has been well documented across many...

Getting to the future through silviculture - Workshop proceedings

Treesearch

Dennis Murphy

1992-01-01

Includes 19 papers documenting presentations at the 1991 Forest Service National Silviculture Workshop. Discussions focus on the role of silviculture in New Perspectives (ecosystem management), new approaches to the practice of silviculture, and examples of successful integration of practices into multi resource management.

Accounting for Human Health and Ecosystems Quality in Developing Sustainable Energy Products: The Implications of Wood Biomass-based Electricity Strategies to Climate Change Mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weldu, Yemane W.

The prospect for transitions and transformations in the energy sector to mitigate climate change raises concerns that actions should not shift the impacts from one impact category to another, or from one sustainability domain to another. Although the development of renewables mostly results in low environmental impacts, energy strategies are complex and may result in the shifting of impacts. Strategies to climate change mitigation could have potentially large effects on human health and ecosystems. Exposure to air pollution claimed the lives of about seven million people worldwide in 2010, largely from the combustion of solid fuels. The degradation of ecosystem services is a significant barrier to achieving millennium development goals. This thesis quantifies the biomass resources potential for Alberta; presents a user-friendly and sector-specific framework for sustainability assessment; unlocks the information and policy barriers to biomass integration in energy strategy; introduces new perspectives to improve understanding of the life cycle human health and ecotoxicological effects of energy strategies; provides insight regarding the guiding measures that are required to ensure sustainable bioenergy production; validates the utility of the Environmental Life Cycle Cost framework for economic sustainability assessment; and provides policy-relevant societal cost estimates to demonstrate the importance of accounting for human health and ecosystem externalities in energy planning. Alberta is endowed with a wealth of forest and agricultural biomass resources, estimated at 458 PJ of energy. Biomass has the potential to avoid 11-15% of GHG emissions and substitute 14-17% of final energy demand by 2030. The drivers for integrating bioenergy sources into Alberta's energy strategy are economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation policy objectives. Bioenergy pathways significantly improved both human health and ecosystem quality from coal fuel. Bioenergy alternatives have higher economic cost than the prevailing scenario of coal-fired generation system. Although coal fuel is the most cost effective way of electricity generation, its combustion results in the loss of 123.5 billion USD per year for Alberta due to societal life cycle cost. This research demonstrated that bioenergy can support the transformation of a fossil-based energy system to a more sustainable power production system; however, respiratory effects is a concern.

A fungal perspective on conservation biology.

PubMed

Heilmann-Clausen, Jacob; Barron, Elizabeth S; Boddy, Lynne; Dahlberg, Anders; Griffith, Gareth W; Nordén, Jenni; Ovaskainen, Otso; Perini, Claudia; Senn-Irlet, Beatrice; Halme, Panu

2015-02-01

Hitherto fungi have rarely been considered in conservation biology, but this is changing as the field moves from addressing single species issues to an integrative ecosystem-based approach. The current emphasis on biodiversity as a provider of ecosystem services throws the spotlight on the vast diversity of fungi, their crucial roles in terrestrial ecosystems, and the benefits of considering fungi in concert with animals and plants. We reviewed the role of fungi in ecosystems and composed an overview of the current state of conservation of fungi. There are 5 areas in which fungi can be readily integrated into conservation: as providers of habitats and processes important for other organisms; as indicators of desired or undesired trends in ecosystem functioning; as indicators of habitats of conservation value; as providers of powerful links between human societies and the natural world because of their value as food, medicine, and biotechnological tools; and as sources of novel tools and approaches for conservation of megadiverse organism groups. We hope conservation professionals will value the potential of fungi, engage mycologists in their work, and appreciate the crucial role of fungi in nature. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Current research trends on plastic pollution and ecological impacts on the soil ecosystem: A review.

PubMed

Chae, Yooeun; An, Youn-Joo

2018-05-09

Plastic pollution in the environment is currently receiving worldwide attention. Improper dumping of disused or abandoned plastic wastes leads to contamination of the environment. In particular, the disposal of municipal wastewater effluent, sewage sludge landfill, and plastic mulch from agricultural activities is a serious issue and of major concern regarding soil pollution. Compared to plastic pollution in the marine and freshwater ecosystems, that in the soil ecosystem has been relatively neglected. In this study, we discussed plastic pollution in the soil environment and investigated research on the effects of plastic wastes, especially microplastics, on the soil ecosystem. We found that earthworms have been predominantly used as the test species in investigating the effects of soil plastic pollution on organisms. Therefore, further research investigating the effects of plastic on other species models (invertebrates, plants, microorganisms, and insects) are required to understand the effects of plastic pollution on the overall soil ecosystem. In addition, we suggest other perspectives for future studies on plastic pollution and soil ecotoxicity of plastics wastes, providing a direction for such research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

RELATIONSHIPS AMONG EXCEEDENCES OF CHEMICAL CRITERIA OR GUIDELINES, THE RESULTS OF AMBIENT TOXICITY TESTS AND COMMUNITY METRICS IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS (FINAL)

EPA Science Inventory

The EPA document, Relationships Among Exceedances of Chemical Criteria or Guidelines, the Results of Ambient Toxicity Tests, and Community Metrics in Aquatic Ecosystems, presents two studies where the three general approaches for the ecological assessment of contaminant ex...

Preliminary Review of Adaption Options for Climate Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources (Sap 4.4) (External Review Draft)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA is announcing the final (third) review draft report entitled Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.4: Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources. This Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.4 (SAP 4.4) analyzes information on the ...

Biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services in environmental risk assessment: introduction to the special issue.

PubMed

Schäfer, Ralf B

2012-01-15

This Special Issue focuses on the questions if and how biodiversity, ecosystem functions and resulting services could be incorporated into the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA). Therefore, three articles provide a framework for the integration of ecosystem services into ERA of soils, sediments and pesticides. Further articles demonstrate ways how stakeholders can be integrated into an ecosystem service-based ERA for soils and describe how the current monitoring could be adapted to new assessment endpoints that are directly linked to ecosystem services. Case studies show that the current ERA may not be protective for biodiversity, ecosystem functions and resulting services and that both pesticides and salinity currently adversely affect ecosystem functions in the field. Moreover, ecological models can be used for prediction of new protection goals and could finally support their implementation into the ERA. Overall, the Special Issue stresses the urgent need to enhance current procedures of ERA if biodiversity, ecosystem functions and resulting services are to be protected. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Demand-based urban forest planning using high-resolution remote sensing and AHP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolanuvada, Srinivasa Raju; Mariappan, Muneeswaran; Krishnan, Vani

2016-05-01

Urban forest planning is important for providing better urban ecosystem services and conserve the natural carbon sinks inside the urban area. In this study, a demand based urban forest plan was developed for Chennai city by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Population density, Tree cover, Air quality index and Carbon stocks are the parameters were considered in this study. Tree cover and Above Ground Biomass (AGB) layers were prepared at a resolution of 1m from airborne LiDAR and aerial photos. The ranks and weights are assigned by the spatial priority using AHP. The results show that, the actual status of the urban forest is not adequate to provide ecosystem services on spatial priority. From this perspective, we prepared a demand based plan for improving the urban ecosystem.

Theoretical Study of Watershed Eco-Compensation Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Dandan; Fu, Yicheng; Liu, Biu; Sha, Jinxia

2018-01-01

Watershed eco-compensation is an effective way to solve conflicts over water allocation and ecological destruction problems in the exploitation of water resources. Despite an increasing interest in the topic, the researches has neglected the effect of water quality and lacked systematic calculation method. In this study we reviewed and analyzed the current literature and proposedatheoretical framework to improve the calculation of co-compensation standard.Considering the perspectives of the river ecosystems, forest ecosystems and wetland ecosystems, the benefit compensation standard was determined by the input-output corresponding relationship. Based on the opportunity costs related to limiting development and water conservation loss, the eco-compensation standard was calculated.In order to eliminate the defects of eco-compensation implementation, the improvement suggestions were proposed for the compensation standard calculation and implementation.

Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems.

PubMed

Jackson, J B; Kirby, M X; Berger, W H; Bjorndal, K A; Botsford, L W; Bourque, B J; Bradbury, R H; Cooke, R; Erlandson, J; Estes, J A; Hughes, T P; Kidwell, S; Lange, C B; Lenihan, H S; Pandolfi, J M; Peterson, C H; Steneck, R S; Tegner, M J; Warner, R R

2001-07-27

Ecological extinction caused by overfishing precedes all other pervasive human disturbance to coastal ecosystems, including pollution, degradation of water quality, and anthropogenic climate change. Historical abundances of large consumer species were fantastically large in comparison with recent observations. Paleoecological, archaeological, and historical data show that time lags of decades to centuries occurred between the onset of overfishing and consequent changes in ecological communities, because unfished species of similar trophic level assumed the ecological roles of overfished species until they too were overfished or died of epidemic diseases related to overcrowding. Retrospective data not only help to clarify underlying causes and rates of ecological change, but they also demonstrate achievable goals for restoration and management of coastal ecosystems that could not even be contemplated based on the limited perspective of recent observations alone.

Ecology, ethics, and professional environmental practice: The Yucca Mountain, Nevada, project as a case study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Malone, C.R.

1995-09-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to develop a geologic repository for disposing of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. In this commentary, the ecology program for the DOE`s Yucca Mountain Project is discussed from the perspective of state-of-the-art ecosystem analysis, environmental ethics, and standards of professional practice. Specifically at issue is the need by the Yucca Mountain ecology program to adopt an ecosystem approach that encompasses the current strategy based on population biology and community ecology alone. The premise here is that an ecosystem approach is essential for assessing the long-term potential environmental impacts at Yuccamore » Mountain in light of the thermal effects expected to be associated with heat from radioactive decay.« less

ECOSYSTEM MODELING IN COBSCOOK BAY, MAINE:A SUMMARY, PERSPECTIVE, AND LOOK FORWARD

EPA Science Inventory

In the mid-1990s, an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional team of scientists was assembled to address basic issues concerning biological productivity and the unique co-occurrence of many unusual ecological features in Cobscook Bay, Maine. Cobscook Bay is a geologically complex,...

Ecologically Based Interventions in Residential and School Facilities: Theory or Practice?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Termini, Ann Marie

1991-01-01

Illustrates some important differences between interdisciplinary and ecological perspectives on meeting the needs of adolescents experiencing emotional difficulties. Highlights use of ecosystemic models in residential and school facilities and enumerates areas where ecologically based changes might be appropriate. Outlines operational guidelines…

Technologies for the management of MSW incineration ashes from gas cleaning: New perspectives on recovery of secondary raw materials and circular economy.

PubMed

Quina, Margarida J; Bontempi, Elza; Bogush, Anna; Schlumberger, Stefan; Weibel, Gisela; Braga, Roberto; Funari, Valerio; Hyks, Jiri; Rasmussen, Erik; Lederer, Jakob

2018-09-01

Environmental policies in the European Union focus on the prevention of hazardous waste and aim to mitigate its impact on human health and ecosystems. However, progress is promoting a shift in perspective from environmental impacts to resource recovery. Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) has been increasing in developed countries, thus the amount of air pollution control residues (APCr) and fly ashes (FA) have followed the same upward trend. APCr from MSWI is classified as hazardous waste in the List of Waste (LoW) and as an absolute entry (19 01 07*), but FA may be classified as a mirror entry (19 0 13*/19 01 14). These properties arise mainly from their content in soluble salts, potentially toxic metals, trace organic pollutants and high pH in contact with water. Since these residues have been mostly disposed of in underground and landfills, other possibilities must be investigated to recover secondary raw materials and products. According to the literature, four additional routes of recovery have been found: detoxification (e.g. washing), product manufacturing (e.g. ceramic products and cement), practical applications (e.g. CO 2 sequestration) and recovery of materials (e.g. Zn and salts). This work aims to identify the best available technologies for material recovery in order to avoid landfill solutions. Within this scope, six case studies are presented and discussed: recycling in lightweight aggregates, glass-ceramics, cement, recovery of zinc, rare metals and salts. Finally, future perspectives are provided to advance understanding of this anthropogenic waste as a source of resources, yet tied to safeguards for the environment. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Are there links between responses of soil microbes and ecosystem functioning to elevated CO2, N deposition and warming? A global perspective.

PubMed

García-Palacios, Pablo; Vandegehuchte, Martijn L; Shaw, E Ashley; Dam, Marie; Post, Keith H; Ramirez, Kelly S; Sylvain, Zachary A; de Tomasel, Cecilia Milano; Wall, Diana H

2015-04-01

In recent years, there has been an increase in research to understand how global changes' impacts on soil biota translate into altered ecosystem functioning. However, results vary between global change effects, soil taxa, and ecosystem processes studied, and a synthesis of relationships is lacking. Therefore, here we initiate such a synthesis to assess whether the effect size of global change drivers (elevated CO2, N deposition, and warming) on soil microbial abundance is related with the effect size of these drivers on ecosystem functioning (plant biomass, soil C cycle, and soil N cycle) using meta-analysis and structural equation modeling. For N deposition and warming, the global change effect size on soil microbes was positively associated with the global change effect size on ecosystem functioning, and these relationships were consistent across taxa and ecosystem processes. However, for elevated CO2, such links were more taxon and ecosystem process specific. For example, fungal abundance responses to elevated CO2 were positively correlated with those of plant biomass but negatively with those of the N cycle. Our results go beyond previous assessments of the sensitivity of soil microbes and ecosystem processes to global change, and demonstrate the existence of general links between the responses of soil microbial abundance and ecosystem functioning. Further we identify critical areas for future research, specifically altered precipitation, soil fauna, soil community composition, and litter decomposition, that are need to better quantify the ecosystem consequences of global change impacts on soil biodiversity. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Forest ecosystems in the Alaskan taiga

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Cleve, K.; Chapin, F.S. III; Flanagan, P.W.

1986-01-01

This volume in the series ''Ecological Studies'' provides an overview and synthesis of research on the structure and function of taiga forest ecosystems of interior Alaska. The first section discusses the nature of the taiga environment and covers climate, forest ecosystem distribution, natural regeneration of vegetation, and the role of fire. The second edition focuses on environmental controls over organism activity with discussions on growth and nutrient use, nitrogen fixation, physiological ecology of mosses, and microbial activity and element availability. The final section considers environmental controls over ecosystem processes with discussions of processes, plant-animal interactions, and a model of forestmore » growth and yield.« less

Status of the Sierra Nevada: the Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project

USGS Publications Warehouse

Erman, Don C.; ,

1997-01-01

The Sierra Nevada ecosystem project was requested by Congress in the Conference Report for Interior and related Agencies 1993 Appropriation Act, which authorized funds for a scientific review of the remaining old growth in the national forests of the Sierra Nevada in California, and for a study of the entire Sierra Nevada ecosystem by an independent panel of scientists, with expertise in diverse areas related to this issue. This CD-ROM is a digital version of the set of reports titled 'Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, final report to Congress' published in paper form by the Centers for Water and Wildland Resources of the University of California, Davis.

Coastal habitats of the Elwha River, Washington- Biological and physical patterns and processes prior to dam removal

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duda, Jeffrey J.; Warrick, Jonathan A.; Magirl, Christopher S.

2011-01-01

Together, these different scientific perspectives form a basis for understanding the Elwha River ecosystem, an environment that has and will undergo substantial change. A century of change began with the start of dam construction in 1910; additional major change will result from dam removal scheduled to begin in September 2011. This report provides a scientific snapshot of the lower Elwha River, its estuary, and adjacent nearshore ecosystems prior to dam removal that can be used to evaluate the responses and dynamics of various system components following dam removal.

Toxic effects of acid rain on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

PubMed

Rutherford, G K

1984-08-01

The historical perspective as well as the nature and causes of acid precipitation are presented. The toxicological effects of acid precipitation on lakes, other water bodies, fish, and invertebrate fauna are reviewed. In addition, the effects of this phenomenon on soil productivity and forest growth are examined. It appears that grave toxic effects have been and are being experienced by aquatic systems, but there is little reliable evidence of economic damage to crops, natural vegetation, and soil and biological processes. There may be insidious long-term effects on terrestrial ecosystems, particularly in the more susceptible areas.

Sustainable Land-Use Perspectives From U.S.: A Progression Of Research

EPA Science Inventory

The need for sustainable land-use is the product of land-use changes that result from population increase and the necessity to keep intact those ecosystem services that sustain human life. EPA programs in sustainability generally attempt to integrate environmental concerns in hu...

Faith-Based Human Services Initiatives: Considerations for Social Work Practice and Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tangenberg, Kathleen M.

2005-01-01

Faith-based human services initiatives present numerous challenges to professional social work. This article explores ways a theoretical integration of ecosystems and structuration perspectives may help social workers navigate complex ideological and practical implications of changing service delivery policies. The article highlights diversity…

Changes in stable isotope composition in Lake Michigan trout - a 40 year perspective

EPA Science Inventory

Researchers have frequently sought to use environmental archives of sediment, peat and glacial ice to try and assess historical trends in atmospheric mercury (Hg) deposition to aquatic ecosystems. While this information is valuable in the context of identifying temporal source tr...

Geography as destiny? Social and ecological resilience in rangelands of the American southwest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background/Question/Methods: Social-ecological systems perspectives focus on the reciprocal relationships between human and natural ecosystem elements and how these interactions determine human well-being, ecological state change, and land use change. In the arid southwestern US, which is dominated...

A research perspective on white-tailed deer overabundance in the northeastern United States

Treesearch

William M. Healy; David S. deCalesta; Susan L. Stout

1997-01-01

Resolving issues of deer (Odocoileus spp.) over-abundance will require gaining more reliable knowledge about their role in ecosystem dynamics. Science can contribute by advancing knowledge in 4 overlapping spheres of research: model development, measurement techniques, population management, and human behavior.

Perspectives on the Use of Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management in Cleveland and Milwaukee

EPA Science Inventory

Green infrastructure is a general term referring to the management of landscapes in ways that generate human and ecosystem benefits. Many municipalities have begun to utilize green infrastructure in efforts to meet stormwater management goals. This study examines challenges to in...

Biocrusts in the context of global change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reed, Sasha C.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Ochoa-Hueso, Raul; Kuske, Cheryl; Darrouzet-Nardi, Anthony N.; Darby, Brian; Sinsabaugh, Bob; Oliver, Mel; Sancho, Leo; Belnap, Jayne

2016-01-01

A wide range of studies show global environmental change will profoundly affect the structure, function, and dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems. The research synthesized here underscores that biocrust communities are also likely to respond significantly to global change drivers, with a large potential for modification to their abundance, composition, and function. We examine how elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, climate change (increased temperature and altered precipitation), and nitrogen deposition affect biocrusts and the ecosystems they inhabit. We integrate experimental and observational data, as well as physiological, community ecology, and biogeochemical perspectives. Taken together, these data highlight the potential for biocrust organisms to respond dramatically to environmental change and show how changes to biocrust community composition translate into effects on ecosystem function (e.g., carbon and nutrient cycling, soil stability, energy balance). Due to the importance of biocrusts in regulating dryland ecosystem processes and the potential for large modifications to biocrust communities, an improved understanding and predictive capacity regarding biocrust responses to environmental change are of scientific and societal relevance.

Assessing major ecosystem types and the challenge of sustainability in Turkey.

PubMed

Evrendilek, F; Doygun, H

2000-11-01

In recent years, Turkey has experienced rapid economic and population growth coupled with both an equally rapid increase in energy consumption and a vast disparity in welfare between socioeconomic groups and regions. In turn, these pressures have accelerated the destruction of productive, assimilative, and regenerative capacities of the ecosystems, which are essential for the well-being of the people and the economy. This paper describes the structure and function of major ecosystem types in Turkey and discusses the underlying causes of environmental degradation in the framework of economy, energy, environment, and ethics. From a national perspective, this paper suggests three sustainability-based policies necessary for Turkey's long-term interests that balance economic, environmental, and energy goals: (1) decoupling economic growth from energy consumption growth through the development of energy-efficient and renewable energy technologies; (2) linking economic efficiency and distributive justice of wealth and power through distributive and participatory public policies; and (3) integrating the economic and ecological systems through the internalization of externalities and ecosystem rehabilitation.

Applying linear programming to estimate fluxes in ecosystems or food webs: An example from the herpetological assemblage of the freshwater Everglades

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diffendorfer, James E.; Richards, Paul M.; Dalrymple, George H.; DeAngelis, Donald L.

2001-01-01

We present the application of Linear Programming for estimating biomass fluxes in ecosystem and food web models. We use the herpetological assemblage of the Everglades as an example. We developed food web structures for three common Everglades freshwater habitat types: marsh, prairie, and upland. We obtained a first estimate of the fluxes using field data, literature estimates, and professional judgment. Linear programming was used to obtain a consistent and better estimate of the set of fluxes, while maintaining mass balance and minimizing deviations from point estimates. The results support the view that the Everglades is a spatially heterogeneous system, with changing patterns of energy flux, species composition, and biomasses across the habitat types. We show that a food web/ecosystem perspective, combined with Linear Programming, is a robust method for describing food webs and ecosystems that requires minimal data, produces useful post-solution analyses, and generates hypotheses regarding the structure of energy flow in the system.

Lost ecosystem services as a measure of oil spill damages: a conceptual analysis of the importance of baselines.

PubMed

Kennedy, Chris J; Cheong, So-Min

2013-10-15

The assessment and quantification of damages resulting from marine oil spills is typically coordinated by NOAA, and has historically utilized Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) to estimate damages. Resource economists and others have called for the damage assessment process to instead estimate injuries through the valuation of lost ecosystem services. Our conceptual analysis explores ecosystem service valuation from the perspective of "baselines," which are a fundamental component of both primary and compensatory restoration activities. In practice, baselines have been defined in ecological terms, with minimal consideration of the socioeconomic side of ecosystem service provision. We argue that, for the purposes of scaling compensatory restoration, it is more appropriate to characterize baselines in value terms, thereby integrating non-market valuation approaches from the onset of the damage assessment process. Benefits and challenges of this approach are discussed, along with guidelines for practitioners to identify circumstances in which socioeconomic variables are likely to be important for baseline characterization. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fishing down nutrients on coral reefs.

PubMed

Allgeier, Jacob E; Valdivia, Abel; Cox, Courtney; Layman, Craig A

2016-08-16

Fishing is widely considered a leading cause of biodiversity loss in marine environments, but the potential effect on ecosystem processes, such as nutrient fluxes, is less explored. Here, we test how fishing on Caribbean coral reefs influences biodiversity and ecosystem functions provided by the fish community, that is, fish-mediated nutrient capacity. Specifically, we modelled five processes of nutrient storage (in biomass) and supply (via excretion) of nutrients, as well as a measure of their multifunctionality, onto 143 species of coral reef fishes across 110 coral reef fish communities. These communities span a gradient from extreme fishing pressure to protected areas with little to no fishing. We find that in fished sites fish-mediated nutrient capacity is reduced almost 50%, despite no substantial changes in the number of species. Instead, changes in community size and trophic structure were the primary cause of shifts in ecosystem function. These findings suggest that a broader perspective that incorporates predictable impacts of fishing pressure on ecosystem function is imperative for effective coral reef conservation and management.

Humankind is Totally Dependent on Nature - How Can We Define, Quantify, and Track Nature's Vital (and Some Not So Vital) Benefits to Inform Decision Making?

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem Services have received increased scientific attention for a decade, yet the natural and social scientists working on mainstreaming these concepts are still struggling with the task. FEGS (Final Ecosystem Goods and Services) are an informative and useful concept as they...

What data should we collect? A framework for identifying indicators of ecosystem contributions to human well being

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological data enable a range of policy relevant analyses; the right ecological data enable ecosystem analyses to be linked to human well being making them more relevant and useful. The challenge we address is how to identify the right data. Our approach, founded on the “final e...

Development of environmental impact monitoring protocol for offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS): A biological perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Hyewon, E-mail: hyewon@ldeo.columbia.edu; Kim, Yong Hoon, E-mail: Yong.Kim@rpsgroup.com; Kang, Seong-Gil, E-mail: kangsg@kriso.re.kr

Offshore geologic storage of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), known as offshore carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), has been under active investigation as a safe, effective mitigation option for reducing CO{sub 2} levels from anthropogenic fossil fuel burning and climate change. Along with increasing trends in implementation plans and related logistics on offshore CCS, thorough risk assessment (i.e. environmental impact monitoring) needs to be conducted to evaluate potential risks, such as CO{sub 2} gas leakage at injection sites. Gas leaks from offshore CCS may affect the physiology of marine organisms and disrupt certain ecosystem functions, thereby posing an environmental risk. Here,more » we synthesize current knowledge on environmental impact monitoring of offshore CCS with an emphasis on biological aspects and provide suggestions for better practice. Based on our critical review of preexisting literatures, this paper: 1) discusses key variables sensitive to or indicative of gas leakage by summarizing physico-chemical and ecological variables measured from previous monitoring cruises on offshore CCS; 2) lists ecosystem and organism responses to a similar environmental condition to CO{sub 2} leakage and associated impacts, such as ocean acidification and hypercapnia, to predict how they serve as responsive indicators of short- and long-term gas exposure, and 3) discusses the designs of the artificial gas release experiments in fields and the best model simulation to produce realistic leakage scenarios in marine ecosystems. Based on our analysis, we suggest that proper incorporation of biological aspects will provide successful and robust long-term monitoring strategies with earlier detection of gas leakage, thus reducing the risks associated with offshore CCS. - Highlights: • This paper synthesizes the current knowledge on environmental impact monitoring of offshore Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). • Impacts of CO{sub 2} leakage (ocean acidification, hypercapnia) on marine organisms and ecosystems are discussed. • Insights and recommendations on EIA monitoring for CCS operations are proposed specifically in marine ecosystem perspective.« less

The Development of Teacher Perspectives: Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabachnick, B. Robert; Zeichner, Kenneth M.

This longitudinal study of the development of perspectives toward teaching consists of three major phases: (1) an examination of the impact of the student teaching experience on the development of teacher perspectives; (2) an examination of the continuing development of teacher perspectives during the first year of teaching; and (3) further…

Animal pee in the sea: consumer-mediated nutrient dynamics in the world's changing oceans.

PubMed

Allgeier, Jacob E; Burkepile, Deron E; Layman, Craig A

2017-06-01

Humans have drastically altered the abundance of animals in marine ecosystems via exploitation. Reduced abundance can destabilize food webs, leading to cascading indirect effects that dramatically reorganize community structure and shift ecosystem function. However, the additional implications of these top-down changes for biogeochemical cycles via consumer-mediated nutrient dynamics (CND) are often overlooked in marine systems, particularly in coastal areas. Here, we review research that underscores the importance of this bottom-up control at local, regional, and global scales in coastal marine ecosystems, and the potential implications of anthropogenic change to fundamentally alter these processes. We focus attention on the two primary ways consumers affect nutrient dynamics, with emphasis on implications for the nutrient capacity of ecosystems: (1) the storage and retention of nutrients in biomass, and (2) the supply of nutrients via excretion and egestion. Nutrient storage in consumer biomass may be especially important in many marine ecosystems because consumers, as opposed to producers, often dominate organismal biomass. As for nutrient supply, we emphasize how consumers enhance primary production through both press and pulse dynamics. Looking forward, we explore the importance of CDN for improving theory (e.g., ecological stoichiometry, metabolic theory, and biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships), all in the context of global environmental change. Increasing research focus on CND will likely transform our perspectives on how consumers affect the functioning of marine ecosystems. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Deconstructing the relationships between phylogenetic diversity and ecology: a case study on ecosystem functioning.

PubMed

Davies, T Jonathan; Urban, Mark C; Rayfield, Bronwyn; Cadotte, Marc W; Peres-Neto, Pedro R

2016-09-01

Recent studies have supported a link between phylogenetic diversity and various ecological properties including ecosystem function. However, such studies typically assume that phylogenetic branches of equivalent length are more or less interchangeable. Here we suggest that there is a need to consider not only branch lengths but also their placement on the phylogeny. We demonstrate how two common indices of network centrality can be used to describe the evolutionary distinctiveness of network elements (nodes and branches) on a phylogeny. If phylogenetic diversity enhances ecosystem function via complementarity and the representation of functional diversity, we would predict a correlation between evolutionary distinctiveness of network elements and their contribution to ecosystem process. In contrast, if one or a few evolutionary innovations play key roles in ecosystem function, the relationship between evolutionary distinctiveness and functional contribution may be weak or absent. We illustrate how network elements associated with high functional contribution can be identified from regressions between phylogenetic diversity and productivity using a well-known empirical data set on plant productivity from the Cedar Creek Long-Term Ecological Research. We find no association between evolutionary distinctiveness and ecosystem functioning, but we are able to identify phylogenetic elements associated with species of known high functional contribution within the Fabaceae. Our perspective provides a useful guide in the search for ecological traits linking diversity and ecosystem function, and suggests a more nuanced consideration of phylogenetic diversity is required in the conservation and biodiversity-ecosystem-function literature. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Embedding ecosystem services into the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Illustrated by eutrophication in the North Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Higgins, T. G.; Gilbert, A. J.

2014-03-01

The introduction of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) with its focus on an Ecosystem Approach places an emphasis on the human dimensions of environmental problems. Human activities may be the source of marine degradation, but may also be adversely affected should degradation compromise the provision of ecosystem services. The MSFD marks a shift away from management aiming to restore past, undegraded states toward management for Good Environmental Status (GEnS) based on delivery of marine goods and services. An example relating ecosystem services to criteria for Good Environmental Status is presented for eutrophication, a long recognised problem in many parts of Europe's seas and specifically targeted by descriptors for GEnS. Taking the North Sea as a case study the relationships between the eutrophication criteria of the MSFD and final and intermediate marine ecosystem services are examined. Ecosystem services are valued, where possible in monetary terms, in order to illustrate how eutrophication affects human welfare (economic externalities) through its multiple effects on ecosystem services.

Short-term cropland responses to temperature extreme events during late winter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Simon, G.; Alberti, G.; Delle Vedove, G.; Peressotti, A.; Zaldei, A.; Miglietta, F.

2013-04-01

In recent years, several studies have focused on terrestrial ecosystem response to extreme events. Most of this research has been conducted in natural ecosystems, but few have considered agro-ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the impact of a manipulated warmer or cooler late winter-early spring on the carbon budget and final harvest of a soybean crop (Glycine max (L.) Merr.). Soil temperature was altered by manipulating soil albedo by covering the soil surface with a layer of inert silica gravel. We tested three treatments: cooling (Co), warming (W), mix (M) and control (C). An automated system continuously measured soil heterotrophic respiration (Rh), soil temperature profiles, and soil water content across the entire year in each plot. Phenological phases were periodically assessed and final harvest was measured in each plot. Results showed that treatments had only a transient effect on daily Rh rates which did not result in a total annual carbon budget significantly different from control, even though cooling showed a significant reduction in final harvest. We also observed anticipation in seed germination in both W and M treatments and a delay in germination for Co. Moreover, plant density and growth increased in W and M and decreased in Co.

Supporting Risk Assessment: Accounting for Indirect Risk to Ecosystem Components

PubMed Central

Mach, Megan E.; Martone, Rebecca G.; Singh, Gerald G.; O, Miriam; Chan, Kai M. A.

2016-01-01

The multi-scalar complexity of social-ecological systems makes it challenging to quantify impacts from human activities on ecosystems, inspiring risk-based approaches to assessments of potential effects of human activities on valued ecosystem components. Risk assessments do not commonly include the risk from indirect effects as mediated via habitat and prey. In this case study from British Columbia, Canada, we illustrate how such “indirect risks” can be incorporated into risk assessments for seventeen ecosystem components. We ask whether (i) the addition of indirect risk changes the at-risk ranking of the seventeen ecosystem components and if (ii) risk scores correlate with trophic prey and habitat linkages in the food web. Even with conservative assumptions about the transfer of impacts or risks from prey species and habitats, the addition of indirect risks in the cumulative risk score changes the ranking of priorities for management. In particular, resident orca, Steller sea lion, and Pacific herring all increase in relative risk, more closely aligning these species with their “at-risk status” designations. Risk assessments are not a replacement for impact assessments, but—by considering the potential for indirect risks as we demonstrate here—they offer a crucial complementary perspective for the management of ecosystems and the organisms within. PMID:27632287

Realizing the potential of ecosystem services: a framework for relating ecological changes to economic benefits.

PubMed

Wainger, Lisa; Mazzotta, Marisa

2011-10-01

Increasingly government agencies are seeking to quantify the outcomes of proposed policy options in terms of ecosystem service benefits, yet conflicting definitions and ad hoc approaches to measuring ecosystem services have created confusion regarding how to rigorously link ecological change to changes in human well-being. Here, we describe a step-by-step framework for producing ecological models and metrics that can effectively serve an economic-benefits assessment of a proposed change in policy or management. A focus of the framework is developing comparable units of ecosystem goods and services to support decision-making, even if outcomes cannot be monetized. Because the challenges to translating ecological changes to outcomes appropriate for economic analyses are many, we discuss examples that demonstrate practical methods and approaches to overcoming data limitations. The numerous difficult decisions that government agencies must make to fairly use and allocate natural resources provides ample opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of natural and social scientists to improve methods for quantifying changes in ecosystem services and their effects on human well-being. This framework is offered with the intent of promoting the success of such teams as they support managers in evaluating the equivalency of ecosystem service offsets and trades, establishing restoration and preservation priorities, and more generally, in developing environmental policy that effectively balances multiple perspectives.

Setting the stage for a sustainable Pacific salmon fisheries strategy

USGS Publications Warehouse

MacDonald, Donald D.; Steward, Cleveland R.; Knudsen, E. Eric; Knudsen, E. Eric; Steward, Cleveland R.; MacDonald, Donald D.; Williams, Jack E.; Reiser, Dudley W.

1999-01-01

Salmon and steelhead Oncorhynchus spp., have been keystone species for ecosystems and human cultures of the North American Pacific coast for cons. Yet, in the past century, many populations have been greatly diminished and some are now extinct-the result of a combination of factors, including habitat loss and degradation, overfishing, natural variability in salmon production, negative effects of artificial propagation, and weaknesses in institutional and regulatory structures. We argue that a major shift is required, from the egocentric environmental approach (wherein each part of the ecosystem is managed as a unit) to the ecocentric ecosystem approach (wherein all parts are integrated for management). A management framework is proposed that contains-for each management unit such as a watershed-four elements: management goals; management objectives, ecosystem indicators; and a coordinated action plan. We also describe the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy, a consultative process for developing an ecosystem-based approach toward achieving sustainable Pacific salmon and steelhead populations and fisheries. This book is one of three important underpinnings of the Strategy; the other two are the Strategy itself and a manual being developed to guide community-based programs embracing the principles of sustainable fisheries. This book contains important historical perspectives as well as numerous innovative ideas for moving toward ecosystem-oriented, sustainable management of Pacific salmon and steelhead.

Effects of abiotic factors on ecosystem health of Taihu Lake, China based on eco-exergy theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ce; Bi, Jun; Fath, Brian D.

2017-02-01

A lake ecosystem is continuously exposed to environmental stressors with non-linear interrelationships between abiotic factors and aquatic organisms. Ecosystem health depicts the capacity of system to respond to external perturbations and still maintain structure and function. In this study, we explored the effects of abiotic factors on ecosystem health of Taihu Lake in 2013, China from a system-level perspective. Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy served as thermodynamic indicators to represent ecosystem health in the lake. The results showed the plankton community appeared more energetic in May, and relatively healthy in Gonghu Bay with both higher eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy; a eutrophic state was likely discovered in Zhushan Bay with higher eco-exergy but lower specific eco-exergy. Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) approach was used to explain the non-linear relationships between two indicators and abiotic factors. This analysis revealed water temperature, inorganic nutrients, and total suspended solids greatly contributed to the two indicators that increased. However, pH rise driven by inorganic carbon played an important role in undermining ecosystem health, particularly when pH was higher than 8.2. This implies that climate change with rising CO2 concentrations has the potential to aggravate eutrophication in Taihu Lake where high nutrient loads are maintained.

Major threats of pollution and climate change to global coastal ecosystems and enhanced management for sustainability.

PubMed

Lu, Yonglong; Yuan, Jingjing; Lu, Xiaotian; Su, Chao; Zhang, Yueqing; Wang, Chenchen; Cao, Xianghui; Li, Qifeng; Su, Jilan; Ittekkot, Venugopalan; Garbutt, Richard Angus; Bush, Simon; Fletcher, Stephen; Wagey, Tonny; Kachur, Anatolii; Sweijd, Neville

2018-08-01

Coastal zone is of great importance in the provision of various valuable ecosystem services. However, it is also sensitive and vulnerable to environmental changes due to high human populations and interactions between the land and ocean. Major threats of pollution from over enrichment of nutrients, increasing metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and climate change have led to severe ecological degradation in the coastal zone, while few studies have focused on the combined impacts of pollution and climate change on the coastal ecosystems at the global level. A global overview of nutrients, metals, POPs, and major environmental changes due to climate change and their impacts on coastal ecosystems was carried out in this study. Coasts of the Eastern Atlantic and Western Pacific were hotspots of concentrations of several pollutants, and mostly affected by warming climate. These hotspots shared the same features of large populations, heavy industry and (semi-) closed sea. Estimation of coastal ocean capital, integrated management of land-ocean interaction in the coastal zone, enhancement of integrated global observation system, and coastal ecosystem-based management can play effective roles in promoting sustainable management of coastal marine ecosystems. Enhanced management from the perspective of mitigating pollution and climate change was proposed. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal Remote Sensing: A Powerful Tool in the Characterization of Landscapes on a Functional Basis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeffrey, Luvall C.; Kay, James; Fraser, Roydon

1999-01-01

Thermal remote sensing instruments can function as environmental measuring tools, with capabilities leading toward new directions in functional landscape ecology. Theoretical deduction and phenomenological observation leads us to believe that the second law of thermodynamics requires that all dynamically systems develop in a manner which dissipates gradients as rapidly as possible within the constraints of the system at hand. The ramification of this requirement is that dynamical systems will evolve dissipative structures which grow and complexify over time. This perspective has allowed us to develop a framework for discussing ecosystem development and integrity. In the context of this framework we have developed measures of development and integrity for ecosystems. One set of these measures is based on destruction of the exergy content of incoming solar energy. More developed ecosystems will be more effective at dissipating the solar gradient (destroying its exergy content). This can be measured by the effective surface temperature of the ecosystem on a landscape scale. These surface temperatures are measured using airborne thermal scanners such as the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) and the Airborne Thermal/Visible Land Application Sensor(ATLAS) sensors. An analysis of agriculture and forest ecosystems will be used to illustrate the concept of ecological thermodynamics and the development of ecosystems.

Effects of abiotic factors on ecosystem health of Taihu Lake, China based on eco-exergy theory

PubMed Central

Wang, Ce; Bi, Jun; Fath, Brian D.

2017-01-01

A lake ecosystem is continuously exposed to environmental stressors with non-linear interrelationships between abiotic factors and aquatic organisms. Ecosystem health depicts the capacity of system to respond to external perturbations and still maintain structure and function. In this study, we explored the effects of abiotic factors on ecosystem health of Taihu Lake in 2013, China from a system-level perspective. Spatiotemporal heterogeneities of eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy served as thermodynamic indicators to represent ecosystem health in the lake. The results showed the plankton community appeared more energetic in May, and relatively healthy in Gonghu Bay with both higher eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy; a eutrophic state was likely discovered in Zhushan Bay with higher eco-exergy but lower specific eco-exergy. Gradient Boosting Machine (GBM) approach was used to explain the non-linear relationships between two indicators and abiotic factors. This analysis revealed water temperature, inorganic nutrients, and total suspended solids greatly contributed to the two indicators that increased. However, pH rise driven by inorganic carbon played an important role in undermining ecosystem health, particularly when pH was higher than 8.2. This implies that climate change with rising CO2 concentrations has the potential to aggravate eutrophication in Taihu Lake where high nutrient loads are maintained. PMID:28220835

International electives in the final year of German medical school education--a student's perspective.

PubMed

Ebrahimi-Fakhari, Darius; Agrawal, Mridul; Wahlster, Lara

2014-01-01

The final year of medical school has a unique role for introducing students to their future responsibilities and challenges. At many medical schools, electives at an accredited institution abroad are a common part of the student's final year experience. International electives provide an opportunity for a personal and academic experience that will often create new perspectives on clinical medicine and research, medical education and healthcare policy. In this article the authors reflect on their experience as elective students abroad and discuss the contribution of international electives to the constant development and progress of local final year rotations. They identify key areas for improving final year electives and outline essential features for a valuable and successful final year elective.

Genomics and the Ark: an ecocentric perspective on human history.

PubMed

Zwart, Hub; Penders, Bart

2011-01-01

Views of ourselves in relationship to the rest of the biosphere are changing. Theocentric and anthropocentric perspectives are giving way to more ecocentric views on the history, present, and future of humankind. Novel sciences, such as genomics, have deepened and broadened our understanding of the process of anthropogenesis, the coming into being of humans. Genomics suggests that early human history must be regarded as a complex narrative of evolving ecosystems, in which human evolution both influenced and was influenced by the evolution of companion species. During the agricultural revolution, human beings designed small-scale artificial ecosystems or evolutionary "Arks," in which networks of plants, animals, and microorganisms coevolved. Currently, our attitude towards this process seems subject to a paradoxical reversal. The boundaries of the Ark have dramatically broadened, and genomics is not only being used to increase our understanding of our ecological past, but may also help us to conserve, reconstruct, or even revivify species and ecosystems to whose degradation or (near) extinction we have contributed. This article explores the role of genomics in the elaboration of a more ecocentric view of ourselves with the help of two examples, namely the renaissance of Paleolithic diets and of Pleistocene parks. It argues that an understanding of the world in ecocentric terms requires new partnerships and mutually beneficial forms of collaboration and convergence between life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

Disturbance ecology in the Northern Rockies: One perspective

Treesearch

Al Harvey; Penny Morgan

2001-01-01

Since early 1900s forestry, ecology and related professions have been aware that external disturbances had important effects on the development of vegetation. However, the integral part they play in ecosystem development and sustainability across time and space was largely underappreciated. Failure to provide appropriate disturbances can place stable and productive...

Environmental Education, Resilience, and Learning: Reflection and Moving Forward

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krasny, Marianne E.; Lundholm, Cecilia; Plummer, Ryan

2010-01-01

Social-ecological resilience, a rapidly expanding area of scholarship internationally, seeks to understand how society and ecosystems mediate, adapt, and learn from change. This special issue is a pioneering attempt to explore the overlap of resilience, learning, and environmental education, in which four broad perspectives have emerged: (1)…

Consumer Decision Making in a Global Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lusby, Linda A.

This document examines the underlying rationale for the development of a global approach in consumer studies. The concept of consumer ethics is discussed and the consumer decision-making process is placed within an ecosystem perspective of the marketplace. The model developed introduces educators, marketers, and consumers to a more global…

Ecological benefits of reduced hydrologic connectivity in intensively developed landscapes

Treesearch

C. Rhett Jackson; Catherine M. Pringle

2010-01-01

A broad perspective on hydrologic connectivity is necessary when managing stream ecosystems and establishing conservation priorities. Hydrologic connectivity refers to the water-mediated transport of matter, energy, or organisms within or between elements of the hydrologic cycle. The potential negative consequences of enhancing hydrologic connectivity warrant careful...

Putting multiple use and sustained yield into a landscape context

Treesearch

Thomas R. Crow

2002-01-01

When managing natural resources, foresters, wildlife biologists, and other practitioners need to consider a vast array of technical information, along with a multitude of values, opinions, and perspectives - many of which may be in conflict and therefore difficult to resolve. Ongoing discussions about ecosystem management, conserving biological diversiry, adaptive...

Long-term Ecological Research: Coweeta History and Perspectives

Treesearch

Wayne T. Swank; Judith L. Meyer; Deyree A. Crossley

2001-01-01

The Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory-Institute of Ecology cooperative research program is one of the longest continuous collaborations on forest-ecosystem structure and function between a federal agency and academia in the country. Formally established in 1968, the program continues to mature in scientific scope, interdisciplinary expertise, administrative challenges,...

The value of nature: Economic, intrinsic, or both?

EPA Science Inventory

There has been a long standing argument that ecosystems have intrinsic value and therefore there is no need to put a price tag on Mother Nature. The concept of intrinsic value reflects the perspective that nature has value in its own right, independent of human uses. Intrinsic va...

An Educator's Perspective on Environmental Communications Today.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schoenfeld, Clay

Environmental communications (EC) display three aspects of import to journalism teachers and researchers: first, the EC research base is lean but growing; second, environmental communicators are widely dispersed among an EC ecosystem of varied components; and third, while the varied roots of EC precede the present decade by many years,…

MITIGATION OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN THE UNITED STATES USING CLAY: RESEARCH PROGRESS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

EPA Science Inventory

Throughout the United States, red tides and harmful algal blooms (HABs) pose a serious and recurrent threat to marine ecosystems, fisheries, human health, and coastal aesthetics. Here we report results from a research program investigating the use of clay dispersal for bloom cont...

Fish stocking in protected areas: Summary of a workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Corn, Paul Stephen; Knapp, Roland A.

2000-01-01

Native and nonnative sport fish have been introduced into the majority of historically fishless lakes in wilderness, generating conflicts between managing wilderness as natural ecosystems and providing opportunities for recreation. Managers faced with controversial and difficult decisions about how to manage wilderness lakes may not always have ready access to research relevant to these decisions. To address this problem, and to expose scientists to the concerns and constraints of managers and wilderness users, a workshop was held in October 1998 at the Flathead Lake Biological Station in Polson, Montana. Participants included 43 scientists, state and federal managers, wilderness users and advocates and students. Four subject areas were addressed: federal, state, tribal and user perspectives, community and ecosystem effects, species effects and management recommendations. Papers from the workshop are being developed for an issue of the journal Ecosystems.

Exposure to Violence across the Social Ecosystem and the Development of Aggression: A Test of Ecological Theory in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

PubMed Central

Boxer, Paul; Huesmann, L. Rowell; Dubow, Eric F.; Landau, Simha F.; Gvirsman, Shira Dvir; Shikaki, Khalil; Ginges, Jeremy

2012-01-01

Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model proposes that events in higher-order social ecosystems should influence human development through their impact on events in lower-order social ecosystems. This proposition was tested with respect to ecological violence and the development of children’s aggression via analyses of three waves of data (one wave yearly for three years) from three age cohorts (starting ages 8, 11, and 14) representing three populations in the Middle East: Palestinians (N = 600), Israeli Jews (N = 451), and Israeli Arabs (N = 450). Results supported a hypothesized model in which ethno-political violence increases community, family, and school violence and children’s aggression. Findings are discussed with respect to ecological and observational learning perspectives on the development of aggressive behavior. PMID:22906188

The future of evapotranspiration: Global requirements for ecosystem functioning, carbon and climate feedbacks, agricultural management, and water resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Joshua B.; Melton, Forrest; Middleton, Elizabeth; Hain, Christopher; Anderson, Martha; Allen, Richard; McCabe, Matthew F.; Hook, Simon; Baldocchi, Dennis; Townsend, Philip A.; Kilic, Ayse; Tu, Kevin; Miralles, Diego D.; Perret, Johan; Lagouarde, Jean-Pierre; Waliser, Duane; Purdy, Adam J.; French, Andrew; Schimel, David; Famiglietti, James S.; Stephens, Graeme; Wood, Eric F.

2017-04-01

The fate of the terrestrial biosphere is highly uncertain given recent and projected changes in climate. This is especially acute for impacts associated with changes in drought frequency and intensity on the distribution and timing of water availability. The development of effective adaptation strategies for these emerging threats to food and water security are compromised by limitations in our understanding of how natural and managed ecosystems are responding to changing hydrological and climatological regimes. This information gap is exacerbated by insufficient monitoring capabilities from local to global scales. Here, we describe how evapotranspiration (ET) represents the key variable in linking ecosystem functioning, carbon and climate feedbacks, agricultural management, and water resources, and highlight both the outstanding science and applications questions and the actions, especially from a space-based perspective, necessary to advance them.

The Future of Evapotranspiration: Global Requirements for Ecosystem Functioning, Carbon and Climate Feedbacks, Agricultural Management, and Water Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fisher, Joshua B.; Melton, Forrest; Middleton, Elizabeth; Hain, Christopher; Anderson, Martha; Allen, Richard; McCabe, Matthew F.; Hook, Simon; Baldocchi, Dennis; Townsend, Philip A.;

Linking Biological Responses of Terrestrial N Eutrophication to the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services Classification System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, M. D.; Clark, C.; Blett, T.

2015-12-01

The response of a biological indicator to N deposition can indicate that an ecosystem has surpassed a critical load and is at risk of significant change. The importance of this exceedance is often difficult to digest by policy makers and public audiences if the change is not linked to a familiar ecosystem endpoint. A workshop was held to bring together scientists, resource managers, and policy makers with expertise in ecosystem functioning, critical loads, and economics in an effort to identify the ecosystem services impacted by air pollution. This was completed within the framework of the Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (FEGS) Classification System to produce a product that identified distinct interactions between society and the effects of nitrogen pollution. From each change in a biological indicator, we created multiple ecological production functions to identify the cascading effects of the change to a measureable ecosystem service that a user interacts with either by enjoying, consuming, or appreciating the good or service, or using it as an input in the human economy. This FEGS metric was then linked to a beneficiary group that interacts with the service. Chains detailing the links from the biological indicator to the beneficiary group were created for aquatic and terrestrial acidification and eutrophication at the workshop, and here we present a subset of the workshop results by highlighting for 9 different ecosystems affected by terrestrial eutrophication. A total of 213 chains that linked to 37 unique FEGS metrics and impacted 15 beneficiary groups were identified based on nitrogen deposition mediated changes to biological indicators. The chains within each ecosystem were combined in flow charts to show the complex, overlapping relationships among biological indicators, ecosystem services, and beneficiary groups. Strength of relationship values were calculated for each chain based on support for the link in the scientific literature. We produced the complex diagrams to provide details to scientists and experts, identify research gaps, and understand the complexity of critical load exceedances. We then simplified the flow charts into stories that could produce an emotional connection and resonate with a general audience. These stories are important steps to breach the gaps between science and policy.

The ecology of cancer from an evolutionary game theory perspective.

PubMed

Pacheco, Jorge M; Santos, Francisco C; Dingli, David

2014-08-06

The accumulation of somatic mutations, to which the cellular genome is permanently exposed, often leads to cancer. Analysis of any tumour shows that, besides the malignant cells, one finds other 'supporting' cells such as fibroblasts, immune cells of various types and even blood vessels. Together, these cells generate the microenvironment that enables the malignant cell population to grow and ultimately lead to disease. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of tumour growth and response to therapy is incomplete unless the interactions between the malignant cells and normal cells are investigated in the environment in which they take place. The complex interactions between cells in such an ecosystem result from the exchange of information in the form of cytokines- and adhesion-dependent interactions. Such processes impose costs and benefits to the participating cells that may be conveniently recast in the form of a game pay-off matrix. As a result, tumour progression and dynamics can be described in terms of evolutionary game theory (EGT), which provides a convenient framework in which to capture the frequency-dependent nature of ecosystem dynamics. Here, we provide a tutorial review of the central aspects of EGT, establishing a relation with the problem of cancer. Along the way, we also digress on fitness and of ways to compute it. Subsequently, we show how EGT can be applied to the study of the various manifestations and dynamics of multiple myeloma bone disease and its preceding condition known as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. We translate the complex biochemical signals into costs and benefits of different cell types, thus defining a game pay-off matrix. Then we use the well-known properties of the EGT equations to reduce the number of core parameters that characterize disease evolution. Finally, we provide an interpretation of these core parameters in terms of what their function is in the ecosystem we are describing and generate predictions on the type and timing of interventions that can alter the natural history of these two conditions.

Ecological Energetic Perspectives on Responses of Nitrogen-Transforming Chemolithoautotrophic Microbiota to Changes in the Marine Environment

PubMed Central

Dang, Hongyue; Chen, Chen-Tung A.

2017-01-01

Transformation and mobilization of bioessential elements in the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere constitute the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles, which are driven mainly by microorganisms through their energy and material metabolic processes. Without microbial energy harvesting from sources of light and inorganic chemical bonds for autotrophic fixation of inorganic carbon, there would not be sustainable ecosystems in the vast ocean. Although ecological energetics (eco-energetics) has been emphasized as a core aspect of ecosystem analyses and microorganisms largely control the flow of matter and energy in marine ecosystems, marine microbial communities are rarely studied from the eco-energetic perspective. The diverse bioenergetic pathways and eco-energetic strategies of the microorganisms are essentially the outcome of biosphere-geosphere interactions over evolutionary times. The biogeochemical cycles are intimately interconnected with energy fluxes across the biosphere and the capacity of the ocean to fix inorganic carbon is generally constrained by the availability of nutrients and energy. The understanding of how microbial eco-energetic processes influence the structure and function of marine ecosystems and how they interact with the changing environment is thus fundamental to a mechanistic and predictive understanding of the marine carbon and nitrogen cycles and the trends in global change. By using major groups of chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms that participate in the marine nitrogen cycle as examples, this article examines their eco-energetic strategies, contributions to carbon cycling, and putative responses to and impacts on the various global change processes associated with global warming, ocean acidification, eutrophication, deoxygenation, and pollution. We conclude that knowledge gaps remain despite decades of tremendous research efforts. The advent of new techniques may bring the dawn to scientific breakthroughs that necessitate the multidisciplinary combination of eco-energetic, biogeochemical and “omics” studies in this field. PMID:28769878

The South Florida Ecosystem Portfolio Model - A Map-Based Multicriteria Ecological, Economic, and Community Land-Use Planning Tool

USGS Publications Warehouse

Labiosa, William B.; Bernknopf, Richard; Hearn, Paul; Hogan, Dianna; Strong, David; Pearlstine, Leonard; Mathie, Amy M.; Wein, Anne M.; Gillen, Kevin; Wachter, Susan

2009-01-01

The South Florida Ecosystem Portfolio Model (EPM) prototype is a regional land-use planning Web tool that integrates ecological, economic, and social information and values of relevance to decision-makers and stakeholders. The EPM uses a multicriteria evaluation framework that builds on geographic information system-based (GIS) analysis and spatially-explicit models that characterize important ecological, economic, and societal endpoints and consequences that are sensitive to regional land-use/land-cover (LULC) change. The EPM uses both economics (monetized) and multiattribute utility (nonmonetized) approaches to valuing these endpoints and consequences. This hybrid approach represents a methodological middle ground between rigorous economic and ecological/ environmental scientific approaches. The EPM sacrifices some degree of economic- and ecological-forecasting precision to gain methodological transparency, spatial explicitness, and transferability, while maintaining credibility. After all, even small steps in the direction of including ecosystem services evaluation are an improvement over current land-use planning practice (Boyd and Wainger, 2003). There are many participants involved in land-use decision-making in South Florida, including local, regional, State, and Federal agencies, developers, environmental groups, agricultural groups, and other stakeholders (South Florida Regional Planning Council, 2003, 2004). The EPM's multicriteria evaluation framework is designed to cut across the objectives and knowledge bases of all of these participants. This approach places fundamental importance on social equity and stakeholder participation in land-use decision-making, but makes no attempt to determine normative socially 'optimal' land-use plans. The EPM is thus a map-based set of evaluation tools for planners and stakeholders to use in their deliberations of what is 'best', considering a balancing of disparate interests within a regional perspective. Although issues of regional ecological sustainability can be explored with the EPM (for example, changes in biodiversity potential and regional habitat fragmentation), it does not attempt to define or evaluate long-term ecological sustainability as such. Instead, the EPM is intended to provide transparent first-order indications of the direction of ecological, economic, and community change, not to make detailed predictions of ecological, economic, and social outcomes. In short, the EPM is an attempt to widen the perspectives of its users by integrating natural and social scientific information in a framework that recognizes the diversity of values at stake in South Florida land-use planning. For terrestrial ecosystems, land-cover change is one of the most important direct drivers of changes in ecosystem services (Hassan and others, 2005). More specifically, the fragmentation of habitat from expanding low-density development across landscapes appears to be a major driver of terrestrial species decline and the impairment of terrestrial ecosystem integrity, in some cases causing irreversible impairment from a land-use planning perspective (Brody, 2008; Peck, 1998). Many resource managers and land-use planners have come to realize that evaluating land-use conversions on a parcel-by-parcel basis leads to a fragmented and narrow view of the regional effects of natural land-cover loss to development (Marsh and Lallas, 1995). The EPM is an attempt to integrate important aspects of the coupled natural-system/human-system view from a regional planning perspective. The EPM evaluates proposed land-use changes, both conversion and intensification, in terms of relevant ecological, economic, and social criteria that combine information about probable land-use outcomes, based on ecological and environmental models, as well as value judgments, as expressed in user-modifiable preference models. Based on on-going meetings and interviews with stakeholders and potential tool users we foc

Response diversity determines the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change.

PubMed

Mori, Akira S; Furukawa, Takuya; Sasaki, Takehiro

2013-05-01

A growing body of evidence highlights the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem stability and the maintenance of optimal ecosystem functionality. Conservation measures are thus essential to safeguard the ecosystem services that biodiversity provides and human society needs. Current anthropogenic threats may lead to detrimental (and perhaps irreversible) ecosystem degradation, providing strong motivation to evaluate the response of ecological communities to various anthropogenic pressures. In particular, ecosystem functions that sustain key ecosystem services should be identified and prioritized for conservation action. Traditional diversity measures (e.g. 'species richness') may not adequately capture the aspects of biodiversity most relevant to ecosystem stability and functionality, but several new concepts may be more appropriate. These include 'response diversity', describing the variation of responses to environmental change among species of a particular community. Response diversity may also be a key determinant of ecosystem resilience in the face of anthropogenic pressures and environmental uncertainty. However, current understanding of response diversity is poor, and we see an urgent need to disentangle the conceptual strands that pervade studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Our review clarifies the links between response diversity and the maintenance of ecosystem functionality by focusing on the insurance hypothesis of biodiversity and the concept of functional redundancy. We provide a conceptual model to describe how loss of response diversity may cause ecosystem degradation through decreased ecosystem resilience. We explicitly explain how response diversity contributes to functional compensation and to spatio-temporal complementarity among species, leading to long-term maintenance of ecosystem multifunctionality. Recent quantitative studies suggest that traditional diversity measures may often be uncoupled from measures (such as response diversity) that may be more effective proxies for ecosystem stability and resilience. Certain conclusions and recommendations of earlier studies using these traditional measures as indicators of ecosystem resilience thus may be suspect. We believe that functional ecology perspectives incorporating the effects and responses of diversity are essential for development of management strategies to safeguard (and restore) optimal ecosystem functionality (especially multifunctionality). Our review highlights these issues and we envision our work generating debate around the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functionality, and leading to improved conservation priorities and biodiversity management practices that maximize ecosystem resilience in the face of uncertain environmental change. © 2012 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2012 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Imperiled mammalian fauna of aquatic ecosystems in the Southeast: A historical perspective: Chapter 9

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harvey, M.J.; Clark, J.D.; Benz, G.W.; Collins, D.E.

1997-01-01

The passage of the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 resulted in an increased need for information concerning distribution and status of all native species. However, relatively little is known concerning the historical distribution and current status of many mammalian taxa, and this is particularly so for small non-game species. In this chapter we provide species accounts of mammals commonly associated with aquatic ecosystems that we consider to be imperiled in the southeastern United States. In these accounts we have included information which we feel is valuable toward best understanding the threats that challenge each considered taxon.

Integrated effects of air pollution and climate change on forests: a northern hemisphere perspective.

PubMed

Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Omasa, Kenji; Paoletti, Elena

2007-06-01

Many air pollutants and greenhouse gases have common sources, contribute to radiative balance, interact in the atmosphere, and affect ecosystems. The impacts on forest ecosystems have been traditionally treated separately for air pollution and climate change. However, the combined effects may significantly differ from a sum of separate effects. We review the links between air pollution and climate change and their interactive effects on northern hemisphere forests. A simultaneous addressing of the air pollution and climate change effects on forests may result in more effective research, management and monitoring as well as better integration of local, national and global environmental policies.

Cheese Classification, Characterization, and Categorization: A Global Perspective.

PubMed

Almena-Aliste, Montserrat; Mietton, Bernard

2014-02-01

Cheese is one of the most fascinating, complex, and diverse foods enjoyed today. Three elements constitute the cheese ecosystem: ripening agents, consisting of enzymes and microorganisms; the composition of the fresh cheese; and the environmental conditions during aging. These factors determine and define not only the sensory quality of the final cheese product but also the vast diversity of cheeses produced worldwide. How we define and categorize cheese is a complicated matter. There are various approaches to cheese classification, and a global approach for classification and characterization is needed. We review current cheese classification schemes and the limitations inherent in each of the schemes described. While some classification schemes are based on microbiological criteria, others rely on descriptions of the technologies used for cheese production. The goal of this review is to present an overview of comprehensive and practical integrative classification models in order to better describe cheese diversity and the fundamental differences within cheeses, as well as to connect fundamental technological, microbiological, chemical, and sensory characteristics to contribute to an overall characterization of the main families of cheese, including the expanding world of American artisanal cheeses.

Microphytobenthos in ecotoxicology: a review of the use of marine benthic diatoms in bioassays.

PubMed

Araújo, Cristiano V M; Blasco, Julián; Moreno-Garrido, Ignacio

2010-08-01

Contamination in coastal zones is an increasing problem that adversely affects biological diversity and the functioning of coastal ecosystems. Sediment is an important compartment of these zones since large quantities of diverse contaminants can accumulate there. Whole-sediment toxicity assays are of increasing importance, and several assay methods using mainly invertebrates have been developed. However, an important part of the benthic community, the microphytobenthos (represented principally by benthic diatoms and cyanobacteria), has surprisingly been neglected. Recently, comprehensive studies have been conducted using benthic marine microalgae with the object of establishing a toxicity assay method for sediment samples. The main results published to date in the literature and obtained by our own team have been compiled and are discussed in this review. The value and feasibility of using certain organisms of the microphytobenthos group in ecotoxicology studies are also discussed, and a sediment quality guideline based on multivariate procedure has been derived from data obtained in previous studies. Finally, future perspectives for research in this field are discussed. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Toxicology and detection methods of the alkaloid neurotoxin produced by cyanobacteria, anatoxin-a.

PubMed

Osswald, Joana; Rellán, Sandra; Gago, Ana; Vasconcelos, Vitor

2007-11-01

Freshwater resources are under stress due to naturally occurring conditions and human impacts. One of the consequences is the proliferation of cyanobacteria, microphytoplankton organisms that are capable to produce toxins called cyanotoxins. Anatoxin-a is one of the main cyanotoxins. It is a very potent neurotoxin that was already responsible for some animal fatalities. In this review we endeavor to divulgate much of the internationally published information about toxicology, occurrence and detection methods of anatoxin-a. Cyanobacteria generalities, anatoxin-a occurrence and production as well as anatoxin-a toxicology and its methods of detection are the aspects focused in this review. Remediation of anatoxin-a occurrence will be addressed with a public health perspective. Final remarks call the attention for some important gaps in the knowledge about this neurotoxin and its implication to public health. Alterations of aquatic ecosystems caused by anatoxin-a is also addressed. Although anatoxin-a is not the more frequent cyanotoxin worldwide, it has to be regarded as a health risk that can be fatal to terrestrial and aquatic organisms because of its high toxicity.

Carbon budgets of biological soil crusts at micro-, meso-, and global scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sancho, Leopoldo G; Belnap, Jayne; Colesie, Claudia; Raggio, Jose; Weber, Bettina

2016-01-01

The importance of biocrusts in the ecology of arid lands across all continents is widely recognized. In spite of this broad distribution, contributions of biocrusts to the global biogeochemical cycles have only recently been considered. While these studies opened a new view on the global role of biocrusts, they also clearly revealed the lack of data for many habitats and of overall standards for measurements and analysis. In order to understand carbon cycling in biocrusts and the progress which has been made during the last 15 years, we offer a multi-scale approach covering different climatic regions. We also include a discussion on available measurement techniques at each scale: A micro-scale section focuses on the individual organism level, including modeling based on the combination of field and lab data. The meso-scale section addresses the CO2 exchange of a complete ecosystem or at the community level. Finally, we consider the contribution of biocrusts at a global scale, giving a general perspective of the most relevant findings regarding the role of biological soil crusts in the global terrestrial carbon cycle.

A (Mis)Match of User Needs, Science Priorities, and Funder Support: A Case Study of Arctic Sea Ice Knowledge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheffield Guy, L.; Wiggins, H. V.; Turner-Bogren, E. J.; Myers, B.

2016-12-01

Declining Arctic sea ice, and its impacts on the Arctic and globe, is a topic of increasing attention by scientists, diverse stakeholder groups, and the media. Research on Arctic sea ice is broad and inter-disciplinary, ranging from new technologies to monitor sea ice, to process studies, to examining the impacts of declining sea ice on ecosystems and people. There remain barriers, however, in transferring scientific knowledge of sea ice to serve decision-maker needs. This poster will examine possible causes of these barriers—including issues of communications across disciplines and perspectives, professional culture, funding agency restrictions, and the state of the science—through the lens of Arctic sea ice efforts that have occurred over the past several years. The poster will draw on experiences from the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (https://www.arcus.org/search-program/siwo), the Sea Ice Outlook (https://www.arcus.org/sipn/sea-ice-outlook), and various science planning exercises. Finally, the poster will synthesize relevant efforts in this arena and highlight opportunities for improvement.

Water, ecology and health: ecosystems as settings for promoting health and sustainability.

PubMed

Parkes, Margot W; Horwitz, Pierre

2009-03-01

Despite the proposed ecological and systems-based perspectives of the settings-based approach to health promotion, most initiatives have tended to overlook the fundamental nature of ecosystems. This paper responds to this oversight by proposing an explicit re-integration of ecosystems within the healthy settings approach. We make this case by focusing on water as an integrating unit of analysis. Water, on which all life depends, is not only an integral consideration for the existing healthy settings (schools, hospitals, workplaces) but also highlights the ecosystem context of health and sustainability. A focus on catchments (also know as watersheds and river basins) exemplifies the scaled and upstream/downstream nature of ecosystems and draws into sharp focus the cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary context of the social and environmental determinants of health. We position this work in relation to the converging agendas of health promotion and ecosystem management at the local, regional and global scales--and draw on evidence from international initiatives as diverse as the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Using water as a vehicle for understanding the systemic context for human wellbeing, health promotion and disease prevention draws inevitable attention to key challenges of scale, intersectoral governance and the complementary themes of promoting resilience and preventing vulnerability. We conclude by highlighting the importance of building individual and institutional capacity for this kind of integration--equipping a new generation of researchers, practitioners and decision-makers to be conversant with the language of ecosystems, capable of systemic thought and focused on settings that can promote both health and sustainability.

How complete is our knowledge of the ecosystem services impacts of Europe's top 10 invasive species?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLaughlan, C.; Gallardo, B.; Aldridge, D. C.

2014-01-01

Invasive non-native species have complex multilevel impacts on their introduced ecosystems, leading to far-ranging effects on fundamental ecosystem services, from the provision of food from that system, to human health and wellbeing. For this reason, there is an emerging interest in basing risk assessments not only on the species' ecological and economic impacts, but also on the effects related to ecosystem services. We investigated the quality and extent of baseline data detailing the effects that the top 10 of the 'worst' invasive species in Europe are having on their adopted ecosystems. The results were striking, as the 10 species showed a wide range of impacts on ecosystem services, a number of which were actually positive for ecosystems and human well-being. For instance, the bivalve Dreissena polymorpha is a prolific biofouler of pipes and boats, but it can improve water quality through its filtration of nuisance algae, a valuable effect that is often overlooked. We found that negative effects, particularly economic ones, were often assumed rather than quantitatively evidenced; for example, the cost of crop damage by species such as Myocastor coypus and Branta canadensis. In general, the evidence for impacts of these 'worst' invaders was severely lacking. We conclude that invasive species management requires prioritization, which should be based on informed and quantified assessment of the potential ecological and economic costs of species (both positive and negative), considered in the proper context of the invader and ecosystem. The Millennium Ecosystem Approach provides a useful framework to undertake such prioritization from a new perspective combining ecological and societal aspects. However, standard guidelines of evaluation are urgently needed in order to unify definitions, methods and evaluation scores.

Commander islands as the significant point for monitoring some dangerous changes in the Beringia ecosystem

Treesearch

Vladimir Sevostianov

2007-01-01

This paper explores the many natural, historical, and economic reasons the Commander Islands are an essential focal point for field expedition work and finally for conservation projects in the unique ecosystem of the North Pacific. Around the Commander Islands we can find a biologically productive and diverse marine environment. For example, it is one of the richest...

Future internet architecture and cloud ecosystem: A survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Man; Yin, Shiqun

2018-04-01

The Internet has gradually become a social infrastructure, the existing TCP/IP architecture faces many challenges. So future Internet architecture become hot research. This paper introduces two ways of idea about the future research of Internet structure system, probes into the future Internet architecture and the environment of cloud ecosystem. Finally, we focuses the related research, and discuss basic principles and problems of OpenStack.

Getting to the Root of Things

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lott, Debra

2008-01-01

This article introduces a new "perspective" on the typical landscape painting. It is an opportunity for art students to study the local ecosystem and native trees in their community. Other aspects of this assignment are the study of Symbolism and a new focus on the natural designs created by exposed tree roots. (Contains 1 web link.)

Factors Influencing Parent-Toddler Affiliative Interaction: Implications for Child Care Programming.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diana, Mark S.; Bobbitt, Norma S.

Literature on parent-toddler affiliative behavior which reflects the dynamic and reciprocal nature of parent-toddler interaction is reviewed in this paper, including an ecosystems perspective. Affiliative behaviors for parents and toddlers are defined with respect to the verbal and physical behaviors of both parent and toddler. Also, research…

Proceedings of the symposium on Giant Sequoias: their place in the ecosystem and society

Treesearch

Philip S. Aune

1994-01-01

These proceedings summarize the results of a blending of public perceptions, management, and research presented at a symposium on Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum), held in Visalia, California. Twenty-eight papers are included, focusing on six major topics: public values and perceptions, natural perspectives, disturbance environments, grove development,...

Tipping points in rangeland social-ecological systems of the Southwest US: Past and present

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background/Question/Methods: The advent of social-ecological system perspectives has led to new questions about the causes and consequences of global change. Nearly all research in rangeland ecosystems of the U.S. has focused on transitions in vegetation (such as grasslands to shrublands) casting h...

Higher Education Provision Using Systems Thinking Approach--Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dhukaram, Anandhi Vivekanandan; Sgouropoulou, Cleo; Feldman, Gerald; Amini, Ardavan

2018-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM)…

Different perspectives on economic base.

Treesearch

Lisa K. Crone; Richard W. Haynes; Nicholas E. Reyna

1999-01-01

Two general approaches for measuring the economic base are discussed. Each method is used to define the economic base for each of the counties included in the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project area. A more detailed look at four selected counties results in similar findings from different approaches. Limitations of economic base analysis also are...

New Practice Model for Latinos in Need of Social Work Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Organista, Kurt C.

2009-01-01

The practice model described in this article represents a new synthesis of some of the best and most pragmatic models and concepts in the cultural competence literature. The article begins by infusing the ecosystems perspective with Latino-relevant theories and research for enhancing cultural sensitivity, both heightened awareness of the Latino…

Curriculum-Based Ecosystems: Supporting Knowing from an Ecological Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barab, Sasha A.; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2006-01-01

The goal of this article is to advance an ecological theory of knowing, one that prioritizes engaged participation over knowledge acquisition. To this end, the authors begin by describing the environment in terms of "affordance networks": functionally bound potentials extended in time that can be acted upon to realize particular goals. Although…

Bringing an ecological view of change to Landsat-based remote sensing

Treesearch

Robert E. Kennedy; Serge Andrefouet; Warren B. Cohen; Cristina Gomez; Patrick Griffiths; Martin Hais; Sean P. Healey; Eileen H. Helmer; Patrick Hostert; Mitchell B. Lyons; Garrett W. Meigs; Dirk Pflugmacher; Stuart R. Phinn; Scott L. Powell; Peter Scarth; Susmita Sen; Todd A. Schroeder; Annemarie Schneider; Ruth Sonnenschein; James E. Vogelmann; Michael A. Wulder; Zhe Zhu

2014-01-01

When characterizing the processes that shape ecosystems, ecologists increasingly use the unique perspective offered by repeat observations of remotely sensed imagery. However, the concept of change embodied in much of the traditional remote-sensing literature was primarily limited to capturing large or extreme changes occurring in natural systems, omitting many more...

Restructuring of Educational Systems in the Digital Age from a Co-Evolutionary Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, N.; Eickelmann, B.; Zaka, P.

2013-01-01

There have been repeated calls for restructuring of schooling to take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICT). This article recognizes an increasing range of radical restructuring resulting from the co-evolution of education and digital technologies in school systems and related activity in the global ecosystem. Research of…

Evaluation of the ruminal bacterial diversity of cattle fed diets containing citrus pulp pellets

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rumen microbial ecosystem remains a mystery from a quantitative perspective. Dietary components and changes cause shifts in the ruminal microbial ecology that can play a role in animal health and productivity, but the magnitude of these changes remains unknown. The objective of this study was ...

Birds of the Southeastern United States: A Historical Perspective

Treesearch

James G. Dickson

1997-01-01

Historic freshwater aquatic and wetland ecosystems of the Southeastern United States were predominantly rivers and streams and associated natural bottomland forests. These systems have been drastically altered through the creation of reservoirs via damming, through other alterations of water courses and their associated forests, and through conversion to other uses. In...

Forest fuel reduction and biomass supply: perspectives from southern private landowners

Treesearch

Jianbang Gan; Adam Jarrett; Cassandra Johnson Gaither

2013-01-01

Removing excess biomass from fire-hazardous forests can serve dual purposes: enhancing the health and sustainability of forest ecosystems and supplying feedstock for energy production. The physical availability of this biomass is fairly well-known, yet availability does not necessarily translate into actual supply. We assess the perception and behavior of private...

Historical and pictorial perspective of the Upper Verde River [Chapter 2

Treesearch

Alvin L. Medina; Daniel G. Neary

2012-01-01

The UVR corridor is a diverse riverine ecosystem in central Arizona (see Chapter 1). Since European settlement, it has witnessed many events such as droughts, floods, construction of Sullivan Dam, groundwater withdrawals, cattle grazing, mining, nonnative fish introductions, native fish extinctions, and urbanization that are not fully understood. Geologically, the UVR...

Poultry litter application to loblolly pine forests: growth and nutrient containment

Treesearch

Alexander L. Friend; Scott D. Roberts; Stephen H. Schoenholtz; Juanita A. Mobley; Patrick D. Gerard

2006-01-01

Forestland application of poultry manure offers an alternative to the conventional practice of pastureland application. Before such a practice is considered viable, however, it must be demonstrated that the forest ecosystem is capable of absorbing the nutrients contained in poultry manure, especially nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). From the forestry perspective, it...

Supporting Upper-Level Undergraduate Students in Building a Systems Perspective in a Botany Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zangori, Laura; Koontz, Jason A.

2017-01-01

Undergraduate biology majors require biological literacy about the critical and dynamic relationships between plants and ecosystems and the effect human-made processes have on these systems. To support students in understanding systems relationships, we redesigned an undergraduate botany course using an ecological framework and embedded systems…

Changing perspectives on pearly mussels, North America's most imperiled animals

Treesearch

David L. Strayer; John A. Downing; Wendell R. Haag; Timothy L. King; James B. Layzer; Teresa J. Newton; S. Jerrine Nichols

2004-01-01

Pearly mussels (Unionacea) are widespread, abundant, and important in freshwater ecosystems around the world. Catastrophic declines in pearly mussel populations in North America and other parts of the world have led to a flurry of research on mussel biology, ecology, and conservation. Recent research on mussel feeding, life history, spatial...

A Creative Learning Ecosystem, Quality of Education and Innovative Capacity: A Perspective from Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crosling, Glenda; Nair, Mahendhiran; Vaithilingam, Santha

2015-01-01

Globally, governments recognize the importance of creativity and innovation for sustainable socioeconomic development, and many invest resources to develop learning environments that foster these capacities. This paper provides a systematic framework based on Nair's "Innovation Helix" model for studying the factors of a country's…

Valuation of ecosystem services of commercial shrub willow (Salix spp.) woody biomass crops.

PubMed

Bressler, Alison; Vidon, Philippe; Hirsch, Paul; Volk, Timothy

2017-04-01

The development of shrub willow as a bioenergy feedstock contributes to renewable energy portfolios in many countries with temperate climates and marginal croplands due to excessive moisture. However, to fully understand the potential of shrub willow as an alternative crop on marginal cropland, more research is needed to understand the potential of shrub willow for providing a variety of ecosystem services. At the same time, there is much need for research developing strategies to value ecosystem services beyond conventional valuation systems (e.g., monetary, intrinsic). In this context, this project investigates the ecosystem services of shrub willow woody biomass from an environmental science perspective, and proposes a new avenue to assess ecosystem services for management purposes based on the relative value of key ecosystem services under various land management strategies (i.e., willow vs. corn vs. hay). On marginal cropland in the US Northeast, shrub willow may be used to replace crops like corn or hay. Transitioning from conventional corn or hay to willow tends to reduce nutrient loss and erosion, improve biodiversity and adaptability to climate change, and increase access to recreational activities. However, it is unlikely to change soil carbon pools or greenhouse gas emissions at the soil-atmosphere interface. By encouraging decision makers to weigh the pros and cons of each management decision (i.e., willow vs. corn vs. hay) based on the situation, the ecosystems services valuation method used here provides a clear framework for decision making in a watershed management context.

Modeling dynamic interactions and coherence between marine zooplankton and fishes linked to environmental variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hui; Fogarty, Michael J.; Hare, Jonathan A.; Hsieh, Chih-hao; Glaser, Sarah M.; Ye, Hao; Deyle, Ethan; Sugihara, George

2014-03-01

The dynamics of marine fishes are closely related to lower trophic levels and the environment. Quantitatively understanding ecosystem dynamics linking environmental variability and prey resources to exploited fishes is crucial for ecosystem-based management of marine living resources. However, standard statistical models typically grounded in the concept of linear system may fail to capture the complexity of ecological processes. We have attempted to model ecosystem dynamics using a flexible, nonparametric class of nonlinear forecasting models. We analyzed annual time series of four environmental indices, 22 marine copepod taxa, and four ecologically and commercially important fish species during 1977 to 2009 on Georges Bank, a highly productive and intensively studied area of the northeast U.S. continental shelf ecosystem. We examined the underlying dynamic features of environmental indices and copepods, quantified the dynamic interactions and coherence with fishes, and explored the potential control mechanisms of ecosystem dynamics from a nonlinear perspective. We found: (1) the dynamics of marine copepods and environmental indices exhibiting clear nonlinearity; (2) little evidence of complex dynamics across taxonomic levels of copepods; (3) strong dynamic interactions and coherence between copepods and fishes; and (4) the bottom-up forcing of fishes and top-down control of copepods coexisting as target trophic levels vary. These findings highlight the nonlinear interactions among ecosystem components and the importance of marine zooplankton to fish populations which point to two forcing mechanisms likely interactively regulating the ecosystem dynamics on Georges Bank under a changing environment.

Biotic Processes Regulating the Carbon Balance of Desert Ecosystems - Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nowak, Robert S; Smith, Stanley D; Evans, Dave

2012-12-13

Our results from the 10-year elevated atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration study at the Nevada Desert FACE (Free-air CO{sub 2} Enrichment) Facility (NDFF) indicate that the Mojave Desert is a dynamic ecosystem with the capacity to respond quickly to environmental changes. The Mojave Desert ecosystem is accumulating carbon (C), and over the 10-year experiment, C accumulation was significantly greater under elevated [CO{sub 2}] than under ambient, despite great fluctuations in C inputs from year to year and even apparent reversals in which [CO{sub 2}] treatment had greater C accumulations.

A bottom-up perspective on ecosystem change in Mesozoic oceans

PubMed Central

Follows, Michael J.

2016-01-01

Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic marine animals across multiple phyla record secular trends in morphology, environmental distribution, and inferred behaviour that are parsimoniously explained in terms of increased selection pressure from durophagous predators. Another systemic change in Mesozoic marine ecosystems, less widely appreciated than the first, may help to explain the observed animal record. Fossils, biomarker molecules, and molecular clocks indicate a major shift in phytoplankton composition, as mixotrophic dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids and, later, diatoms radiated across shelves. Models originally developed to probe the ecology and biogeography of modern phytoplankton enable us to evaluate the ecosystem consequences of these phytoplankton radiations. In particular, our models suggest that the radiation of mixotrophic dinoflagellates and the subsequent diversification of marine diatoms would have accelerated the transfer of primary production upward into larger size classes and higher trophic levels. Thus, phytoplankton evolution provides a mechanism capable of facilitating the observed evolutionary shift in Mesozoic marine animals. PMID:27798303

A perspective on modern pesticides, pelagic fish declines, and unknown ecological resilience in highly managed ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Scholz, Nathaniel L.; Fleishman, Erica; Brown, Larry; Werner, Inge; Johnson, Michael L.; Brooks, Marjorie L.; Mitchelmore, Carys L.; Schlenk, Daniel

2012-01-01

Pesticides applied on land are commonly transported by runoff or spray drift to aquatic ecosystems, where they are potentially toxic to fishes and other nontarget organisms. Pesticides add to and interact with other stressors of ecosystem processes, including surface-water diversions, losses of spawning and rearing habitats, nonnative species, and harmful algal blooms. Assessing the cumulative effects of pesticides on species or ecological functions has been difficult for historical, legal, conceptual, and practical reasons. To explore these challenges, we examine current-use (modern) pesticides and their potential connections to the abundances of fishes in the San Francisco Estuary (California). Declines in delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and other species have triggered mandatory and expensive management actions in the urbanizing estuary and agriculturally productive Central Valley. Our inferences are transferable to other situations in which toxics may drive changes in ecological status and trends.

Discontinuities, cross-scale patterns, and the organization of ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nash, Kirsty L.; Allen, Craig R.; Angeler, David G.; Barichievy, Chris; Eason, Tarsha; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Graham, Nicholas A.J.; Granholm, Dean; Knutson, Melinda; Nelson, R. John; Nystrom, Magnus; Stow, Craig A.; Sandstrom, Shana M.

2014-01-01

Ecological structures and processes occur at specific spatiotemporal scales, and interactions that occur across multiple scales mediate scale-specific (e.g., individual, community, local, or regional) responses to disturbance. Despite the importance of scale, explicitly incorporating a multi-scale perspective into research and management actions remains a challenge. The discontinuity hypothesis provides a fertile avenue for addressing this problem by linking measureable proxies to inherent scales of structure within ecosystems. Here we outline the conceptual framework underlying discontinuities and review the evidence supporting the discontinuity hypothesis in ecological systems. Next we explore the utility of this approach for understanding cross-scale patterns and the organization of ecosystems by describing recent advances for examining nonlinear responses to disturbance and phenomena such as extinctions, invasions, and resilience. To stimulate new research, we present methods for performing discontinuity analysis, detail outstanding knowledge gaps, and discuss potential approaches for addressing these gaps.

Exposure to violence across the social ecosystem and the development of aggression: a test of ecological theory in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

PubMed

Boxer, Paul; Rowell Huesmann, L; Dubow, Eric F; Landau, Simha F; Gvirsman, Shira Dvir; Shikaki, Khalil; Ginges, Jeremy

2013-01-01

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model proposes that events in higher order social ecosystems should influence human development through their impact on events in lower order social ecosystems. This proposition was tested with respect to ecological violence and the development of children's aggression via analyses of 3 waves of data (1 wave yearly for 3 years) from 3 age cohorts (starting ages: 8, 11, and 14) representing three populations in the Middle East: Palestinians (N = 600), Israeli Jews (N = 451), and Israeli Arabs (N = 450). Results supported a hypothesized model in which ethnopolitical violence increases community, family, and school violence and children's aggression. Findings are discussed with respect to ecological and observational learning perspectives on the development of aggressive behavior. © 2012 The Authors. Child Development © 2012 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

A bottom-up perspective on ecosystem change in Mesozoic oceans.

PubMed

Knoll, Andrew H; Follows, Michael J

2016-10-26

Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic marine animals across multiple phyla record secular trends in morphology, environmental distribution, and inferred behaviour that are parsimoniously explained in terms of increased selection pressure from durophagous predators. Another systemic change in Mesozoic marine ecosystems, less widely appreciated than the first, may help to explain the observed animal record. Fossils, biomarker molecules, and molecular clocks indicate a major shift in phytoplankton composition, as mixotrophic dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids and, later, diatoms radiated across shelves. Models originally developed to probe the ecology and biogeography of modern phytoplankton enable us to evaluate the ecosystem consequences of these phytoplankton radiations. In particular, our models suggest that the radiation of mixotrophic dinoflagellates and the subsequent diversification of marine diatoms would have accelerated the transfer of primary production upward into larger size classes and higher trophic levels. Thus, phytoplankton evolution provides a mechanism capable of facilitating the observed evolutionary shift in Mesozoic marine animals. © 2016 The Authors.

Managing consequences of climate-driven species redistribution requires integration of ecology, conservation and social science.

PubMed

Bonebrake, Timothy C; Brown, Christopher J; Bell, Johann D; Blanchard, Julia L; Chauvenet, Alienor; Champion, Curtis; Chen, I-Ching; Clark, Timothy D; Colwell, Robert K; Danielsen, Finn; Dell, Anthony I; Donelson, Jennifer M; Evengård, Birgitta; Ferrier, Simon; Frusher, Stewart; Garcia, Raquel A; Griffis, Roger B; Hobday, Alistair J; Jarzyna, Marta A; Lee, Emma; Lenoir, Jonathan; Linnetved, Hlif; Martin, Victoria Y; McCormack, Phillipa C; McDonald, Jan; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Mitchell, Nicola; Mustonen, Tero; Pandolfi, John M; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Possingham, Hugh; Pulsifer, Peter; Reynolds, Mark; Scheffers, Brett R; Sorte, Cascade J B; Strugnell, Jan M; Tuanmu, Mao-Ning; Twiname, Samantha; Vergés, Adriana; Villanueva, Cecilia; Wapstra, Erik; Wernberg, Thomas; Pecl, Gretta T

2018-02-01

Climate change is driving a pervasive global redistribution of the planet's species. Species redistribution poses new questions for the study of ecosystems, conservation science and human societies that require a coordinated and integrated approach. Here we review recent progress, key gaps and strategic directions in this nascent research area, emphasising emerging themes in species redistribution biology, the importance of understanding underlying drivers and the need to anticipate novel outcomes of changes in species ranges. We highlight that species redistribution has manifest implications across multiple temporal and spatial scales and from genes to ecosystems. Understanding range shifts from ecological, physiological, genetic and biogeographical perspectives is essential for informing changing paradigms in conservation science and for designing conservation strategies that incorporate changing population connectivity and advance adaptation to climate change. Species redistributions present challenges for human well-being, environmental management and sustainable development. By synthesising recent approaches, theories and tools, our review establishes an interdisciplinary foundation for the development of future research on species redistribution. Specifically, we demonstrate how ecological, conservation and social research on species redistribution can best be achieved by working across disciplinary boundaries to develop and implement solutions to climate change challenges. Future studies should therefore integrate existing and complementary scientific frameworks while incorporating social science and human-centred approaches. Finally, we emphasise that the best science will not be useful unless more scientists engage with managers, policy makers and the public to develop responsible and socially acceptable options for the global challenges arising from species redistributions. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Assessing health in agriculture--towards a common research framework for soils, plants, animals, humans and ecosystems.

PubMed

Vieweger, Anja; Döring, Thomas F

2015-02-01

In agriculture and food systems, health-related research includes a vast diversity of topics. Nutritional, toxicological, pharmacological, epidemiological, behavioural, sociological, economic and political methods are used to study health in the five domains of soils, plants, livestock, humans and ecosystems. An idea developed in the early founding days of organic agriculture stated that the health of all domains is one and indivisible. Here we show that recent research reveals the existence and complex nature of such health links among domains. However, studies of health aspects in agriculture are often separated by disciplinary boundaries. This restrains the understanding of health in agricultural systems. Therefore we explore the opportunities and limitations of bringing perspectives together from the different domains. We review current approaches to define and assess health in agricultural contexts, comparing the state of the art of commonly used approaches and bringing together the presently disconnected debates in soil science, plant science, veterinary science and human medicine. Based on a qualitative literature analysis, we suggest that many health criteria fall into two paradigms: (1) the Growth Paradigm, where terms are primarily oriented towards continued growth; (2) the Boundary Paradigm, where terms focus on maintaining or coming back to a status quo, recognising system boundaries. Scientific health assessments in agricultural and food systems need to be explicit in terms of their position on the continuum between Growth Paradigm and Boundary Paradigm. Finally, we identify areas and concepts for a future direction of health assessment and research in agricultural and food systems. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Vulnerability and impacts of climate change on forest and freshwater wetland ecosystems in Nepal: A review.

PubMed

Lamsal, Pramod; Kumar, Lalit; Atreya, Kishor; Pant, Krishna Prasad

2017-12-01

Climate change (CC) threatens ecosystems in both developed and developing countries. As the impacts of CC are pervasive, global, and mostly irreversible, it is gaining worldwide attention. Here we review vulnerability and impacts of CC on forest and freshwater wetland ecosystems. We particularly look at investigations undertaken at different geographic regions in order to identify existing knowledge gaps and possible implications from such vulnerability in the context of Nepal along with available adaptation programs and national-level policy supports. Different categories of impacts which are attributed to disrupting structure, function, and habitat of both forest and wetland ecosystems are identified and discussed. We show that though still unaccounted, many facets of forest and freshwater wetland ecosystems of Nepal are vulnerable and likely to be impacted by CC in the near future. Provisioning ecosystem services and landscape-level ecosystem conservation are anticipated to be highly threatened with future CC. Finally, the need for prioritizing CC research in Nepal is highlighted to close the existing knowledge gap along with the implementation of adaptation measures based on existing location specific traditional socio-ecological system.

Trait-based approaches for understanding microbial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

PubMed Central

Krause, Sascha; Le Roux, Xavier; Niklaus, Pascal A.; Van Bodegom, Peter M.; Lennon, Jay T.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Grossart, Hans-Peter; Philippot, Laurent; Bodelier, Paul L. E.

2014-01-01

In ecology, biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has seen a shift in perspective from taxonomy to function in the last two decades, with successful application of trait-based approaches. This shift offers opportunities for a deeper mechanistic understanding of the role of biodiversity in maintaining multiple ecosystem processes and services. In this paper, we highlight studies that have focused on BEF of microbial communities with an emphasis on integrating trait-based approaches to microbial ecology. In doing so, we explore some of the inherent challenges and opportunities of understanding BEF using microbial systems. For example, microbial biologists characterize communities using gene phylogenies that are often unable to resolve functional traits. Additionally, experimental designs of existing microbial BEF studies are often inadequate to unravel BEF relationships. We argue that combining eco-physiological studies with contemporary molecular tools in a trait-based framework can reinforce our ability to link microbial diversity to ecosystem processes. We conclude that such trait-based approaches are a promising framework to increase the understanding of microbial BEF relationships and thus generating systematic principles in microbial ecology and more generally ecology. PMID:24904563

Hydrogeology and groundwater ecology: Does each inform the other?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humphreys, W. F.

2009-02-01

The known, perceived and potential relationships between hydrogeology and groundwater ecology are explored, along with the spatial and temporal scale of these relations, the limit of knowledge and areas in need of research. Issues concerned with the subterranean part of the water cycle are considered from the perspective of the biology of those invertebrate animals that live, of necessity, in groundwater and the microbiological milieu essential for their survival. Groundwater ecosystems are placed in a hydrogeological context including the groundwater evolution along a flowpath, the significance of the biodiversity and of the ecosystem services potentially provided. This is considered against a background of three major components essential to the functioning of groundwater ecosystems, each of which can be affected by activities over which hydrogeologists often have control, and each, in turn, may have implications for groundwater management; these are, a place to live, oxygen and food (energy). New techniques and increasing awareness amongst hydrogeologists of the diversity and broad distribution of groundwater ecosystems offer new opportunities to develop cross disciplinary work between hydrogeologists and groundwater ecologists, already demonstrated to be a field for collaboration with broad benefits.

Medicine for the City: Perspective and Solidarity as Tools for Making Urban Health.

PubMed

Fullilove, Mindy Thompson; Cantal-Dupart, Michel

2016-06-01

The United States has pursued policies of urban upheaval that have undermined social organization, dispersed people, particularly African Americans, and increased rates of disease and disorder. Healthcare institutions have been, and can be, a part of this problem or a part of the solution. This essay addresses two tools that healthcare providers can use to repair the urban ecosystem-perspective and solidarity. Perspective addresses both our ability to envision solutions and our ability to see in the space in which we move. Solidarity is our ability to appreciate our fellowship with other people, a mindset that is at the heart of medical practice. These two tools lay the foundation for structurally competent healthcare providers to act in a restorative manner to create a health-giving built environment.

Coordinating ecological restoration options analysis and risk assessment to improve environmental outcomes.

PubMed

Kapustka, Lawrence A; Bowers, Keith; Isanhart, John; Martinez-Garza, Cristina; Finger, Susan; Stahl, Ralph G; Stauber, Jenny

2016-04-01

Ecological risk assessment as currently practiced has hindered consideration of ecosystem services endpoints and restoration goals in the environmental management process. Practitioners have created barriers between procedures to clean up contaminated areas and efforts to restore ecosystem functions. In this article, we examine linkages between contaminant risk assessment approaches and restoration efforts with the aim of identifying ways to improve environmental outcomes. We advocate that project managers and other stakeholders use an ecological planning framework, with restoration options included upfront in the risk assessment. We also considered the opportunities to incorporate ecosystem services as potential assessment endpoints in the Problem Formulation stages of a risk assessment. Indeed, diverse perspectives of stakeholders are central to understand the relevance of social, cultural, economic, and regional ecology as influences on future use options for the landscape being restored. The measurement endpoints used to characterize the existing ecological conditions for selected ecosystem services can also be used to evaluate restoration success. A regional, landscape, or seascape focus is needed throughout the risk assessment process, so that restoration efforts play a more prominent role in enhancing ecosystem services. In short, we suggest that practitioners begin with the question of "how can the ecological risk assessment inform the decision on how best to restore the ecosystem?" © 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

[Terrain gradient effect of ecosystem service value in middle reach of Yangtze River, China].

PubMed

Yang, Suo Hua; Hu, Shou Geng; Qu, Shi Jin

2018-03-01

Using land use data in the year 1995, 2005 and 2014, this study estimated the ecosystem service value (ESV) in each county located in the middle reach of Yangtze River and analyzed its spatiotemporal variation features and terrain gradient effects based on "the equivalent value per unit area of ecosystem services in China". The results showed that ESV in the middle reach of Yangtze River was generally higher in mountainous area but lower in plain region, with an obvious terrain gradient effect. Specifically, the relationship of the relief degree of land surface (RDLS) and the ESV showed significant logarithm function at county scale with a high curve fitting degree of 0.53. The ESV increased from 400.35×10 4 yuan·km -2 to 554.57×10 4 yuan·km -2 with the increasing RDLS (grade 1-5) in 2014. During 1995-2004, the ecosystem service value variation changed from decreasing to stable with the increases of the RDLS. With a perspective of ecosystem service values, the value of food production and waste treatment service value decreased with the increase of the RDLS, while the others increased in general, such as the production of raw materials and gas regulation service value, because of the influences of dynamic land use structure in varied topography and distinct dominant ecosystem services from different land types.

Assessment of water supply as an ecosystem service in a rural-urban watershed in southwestern Mexico City.

PubMed

Jujnovsky, Julieta; González-Martínez, Teresa Margarita; Cantoral-Uriza, Enrique Arturo; Almeida-Leñero, Lucia

2012-03-01

Studies from the ecosystem services perspective can provide a useful framework because they allow us to fully examine the benefits that humans obtain from socio-ecological systems. Mexico City, the second largest city in the world, has faced severe problems related to water shortages, which have worsened due to increasing population. Demand for space has forced changes in land cover, including covering areas that are essential for groundwater recharge. The city has 880 km(2) of forest areas that are crucial for the water supply. The Magdalena River Watershed was chosen as a model because it is a well-preserved zone within Mexico City and it provides water for the population. The general aim of this study was to assess the ecosystem service of the water supply in the Magdalena River Watershed by determining its water balance (SWAT model) and the number of beneficiaries of the ecosystem services. The results showed that the watershed provides 18.4 hm(3) of water per year. Baseflow was dominant, with a contribution of 85%, while surface runoff only accounted for 15%. The zone provides drinking water to 78,476 inhabitants and could supply 153,203 potential beneficiaries. This work provides an example for understanding how ecosystem processes determine the provision of ecosystem services and benefits to the population in a rural-urban watershed in Mexico City.

The robustness of ecosystems to the species loss of community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Qing; Liu, Jiming

2016-10-01

To study the robustness of ecosystems is crucial to promote the sustainable development of human society. This paper aims to analyze the robustness of ecosystems from an interesting viewpoint of the species loss of community. Unlike the existing definitions, we first introduce the notion of a community as a population of species belonging to the same trophic level. We then put forward a novel multiobjective optimization model which can be utilized to discover community structures from arbitrary unipartite networks. Because an ecosystem is commonly represented as a multipartite network, we further introduce a mechanism of competition among species whereby a multipartite network is transformed into a unipartite signed network without loss of species interaction information. Finally, we examine three strategies to test the robustness of an ecosystem. Our experiments indicate that ecosystems are robust to random species loss of community but fragile to target ones. We also investigate the relationships between the robustness of an ecosystem and that of its community composed network both to species loss. Our experiments indicate that the robustness analysis of a large-scale ecosystem to species loss may be akin to that of its community composed network which is usually small in size.

A framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Felipe-Lucia, María R; Comín, Francisco A; Escalera-Reyes, Javier

2015-05-01

Methods to assess ecosystem services using ecological or economic approaches are considerably better defined than methods for the social approach. To identify why the social approach remains unclear, we reviewed current trends in the literature. We found two main reasons: (i) the cultural ecosystem services are usually used to represent the whole social approach, and (ii) the economic valuation based on social preferences is typically included in the social approach. Next, we proposed a framework for the social valuation of ecosystem services that provides alternatives to economics methods, enables comparison across studies, and supports decision-making in land planning and management. The framework includes the agreements emerged from the review, such as considering spatial-temporal flows, including stakeholders from all social ranges, and using two complementary methods to value ecosystem services. Finally, we provided practical recommendations learned from the application of the proposed framework in a case study.

Multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem processes: Exploring the joint influence of intraspecific, specific and interspecific diversity.

PubMed

Eduardo, Anderson A

2016-09-07

The positive influence of biodiversity on ecosystem processes was the focus of intense debate in ecology throughout the recent decades, becoming accepted and treated as a new paradigm in contemporary ecology. However, the available literature in this research field extensively explores species richness as an unidimensional measure for biodiversity. The present study explores how different components of biological diversity (number of genotypes, species, and functional groups) can influence an ecosystem process (biomass fixation). A mathematical model was employed and the simulation results showed that species richness per se does not affect the ecosystem productivity. Genotypic richness affected positively the ecosystem, but only if the genotypes are functionally complementary. The functional groups richness always affected positively the simulated ecosystem process. When together, richness at the different components of biological diversity showed stronger effect on ecosystem, and the scenarios with high species, genotypes and functional groups richness were the most productive ones. The results also allowed to observe that the ecosystems which are diverse in terms of functional groups and genotypes can be less susceptible to species loss. Finally, it is argued that a multiple dimension approach to biodiversity is relevant to advance the current knowledge on the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolving demand for ecosystem services and their impact in a coastal New England watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wollheim, W. M.; Green, M. B.; Pellerin, B. A.; Duncan, J. M.; Gettel, G. M.; Hopkinson, C.; Polsky, C.; Pontius, R.

2009-12-01

Human demands for ecosystem services (e.g. provision of food and water; regulation of waste) change over space and time as society, economy, and environment evolve. The distribution of population relative to watershed boundaries determines supply and demand of ecosystem services, which in turn affects watershed water and nutrient budgets. A watershed perspective is helpful to assess whether such services are sustainable with respect to freshwater and coastal ecosystems. We determined how demand for three ecosystem services (ES): food production, clean water supply, and removal of excess nutrients has changed over the last two hundred years (1800-present) in the watersheds draining to Plum Island Sound (drainage area = ~600 km2), located in Essex County MA., part of the Boston Metropolitan Area. The watersheds have gone through three distinct phases of ES demand over this period: 1) provision of food and fiber during the agricultural period (1600-1800’s), 2) increasing provision of water during the period of forest regrowth and agricultural abandonment (1880 - 1950), and 3) regulation of nitrogen pollution and provision of water during the suburban period (1950-present). As a result of changing ES, net interbasin nitrogen transfers out of the basin peaked in the mid 1800’s, water exports peaked 1960-1980 (averaging 27% of annual runoff), and net nitrogen transfers into the basin peaked in the 1960’s and stabilized thereafter (averaging 2.5x atmospheric deposition rates). ES provided by the Plum Island basins disproportionately benefited people living outside the basin prior to 1950 (e.g. internal water use was < 10% of total water extracted for domestic consumption), but were increasingly used by people living within the basin in the late 20th century (e.g. internal water use about 25-30% of total withdrawal). However, demands for ES from the Plum Island watersheds have not been accelerating in the recent suburban period despite continued population growth. With respect to water supply, demand has not been accelerating in part because summer-low flows have led to the import of alternative water supplies available outside the basin, suggesting that feedbacks between biophysical effects and society occur when the limits of ES have been reached and tradeoffs that would occur with further acceleration are unacceptable. A watershed and historical perspective extended to the contemporary period is helpful for understanding how competing demands for ecosystem services evolve over time, how they influence downstream ecosystems, and how biogeophysical changes feed back to influence human actions.

Causes and consequences of ecosystem service regionalization in a coastal suburban watershed

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wollheim, Wilfred M.; Mark B. Green,; Pellerin, Brian A.; Morse, Nathaniel B.; Hopkinson, Charles S.

2015-01-01

The demand for ecosystem services and the ability of natural ecosystems to provide those services evolve over time as population, land use, and management practices change. Regionalization of ecosystem service activity, or the expansion of the area providing ecosystem services to a population, is a common response in densely populated coastal regions, with important consequences for watershed water and nitrogen (N) fluxes to the coastal zone. We link biophysical and historical information to explore the causes and consequences of change in ecosystem service activity—focusing on water provisioning and N regulation—from 1850 to 2010 in a coastal suburban watershed, the Ipswich River watershed in northeastern Massachusetts, USA. Net interbasin water transfers started in the late 1800s due to regionalization of water supply for use by larger populations living outside the Ipswich watershed boundaries, reaching a peak in the mid-1980s. Over much of the twentieth century, about 20 % of river runoff was diverted from reaching the estuary, with greater proportions during drought years. Ongoing regionalization of water supply has contributed to recent declines in diversions, influenced by socioecological feedbacks resulting from the river drying and fish kills. Similarly, the N budget has been greatly perturbed since the suburban era began in the 1950s due to food and lawn fertilizer imports and human waste release. However, natural ecosystems are able to remove most of this anthropogenic N, mitigating impacts on the coastal zone. We propose a conceptual model whereby the amount and type of ecosystem services provided by coastal watersheds in urban regions expand and contract over time as regional population expands and ecosystem services are regionalized. We hypothesize that suburban watersheds can be hotspots of ecosystem service sources because they retain sufficient ecosystem function to still produce services that meet increasing demand from the local population and nearby urban centers. Historical reconstruction of ecosystem service activity provides a perspective that may help to better understand coupled human–natural system processes and lead to more sustainable management of coastal ecosystems.

The quest for a mechanistic understanding of biodiversity–ecosystem services relationships

PubMed Central

Duncan, Clare; Thompson, Julian R.; Pettorelli, Nathalie

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services (ES) approaches to biodiversity conservation are currently high on the ecological research and policy agendas. However, despite a wealth of studies into biodiversity's role in maintaining ES (B–ES relationships) across landscapes, we still lack generalities in the nature and strengths of these linkages. Reasons for this are manifold, but can largely be attributed to (i) a lack of adherence to definitions and thus a confusion between final ES and the ecosystem functions (EFs) underpinning them, (ii) a focus on uninformative biodiversity indices and singular hypotheses and (iii) top-down analyses across large spatial scales and overlooking of context-dependency. The biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (B–EF) field provides an alternate context for examining biodiversity's mechanistic role in shaping ES, focusing on species' characteristics that may drive EFs via multiple mechanisms across contexts. Despite acknowledgements of a need for B–ES research to look towards underlying B–EF linkages, the connections between these areas of research remains weak. With this review, we pull together recent B–EF findings to identify key areas for future developments in B–ES research. We highlight a means by which B–ES research may begin to identify how and when multiple underlying B–EF relationships may scale to final ES delivery and trade-offs. PMID:26468240

The quest for a mechanistic understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem services relationships.

PubMed

Duncan, Clare; Thompson, Julian R; Pettorelli, Nathalie

2015-10-22

Ecosystem services (ES) approaches to biodiversity conservation are currently high on the ecological research and policy agendas. However, despite a wealth of studies into biodiversity's role in maintaining ES (B-ES relationships) across landscapes, we still lack generalities in the nature and strengths of these linkages. Reasons for this are manifold, but can largely be attributed to (i) a lack of adherence to definitions and thus a confusion between final ES and the ecosystem functions (EFs) underpinning them, (ii) a focus on uninformative biodiversity indices and singular hypotheses and (iii) top-down analyses across large spatial scales and overlooking of context-dependency. The biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (B-EF) field provides an alternate context for examining biodiversity's mechanistic role in shaping ES, focusing on species' characteristics that may drive EFs via multiple mechanisms across contexts. Despite acknowledgements of a need for B-ES research to look towards underlying B-EF linkages, the connections between these areas of research remains weak. With this review, we pull together recent B-EF findings to identify key areas for future developments in B-ES research. We highlight a means by which B-ES research may begin to identify how and when multiple underlying B-EF relationships may scale to final ES delivery and trade-offs. © 2015 The Author(s).

Spatial and temporal trends of drought effects in a heterogeneous semi-arid forest ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Assal, Timothy J.; Anderson, Patrick J.; Sibold, Jason

2016-01-01

Drought has long been recognized as a driving mechanism in the forests of western North America and drought-induced mortality has been documented across genera in recent years. Given the frequency of these events are expected to increase in the future, understanding patterns of mortality and plant response to severe drought is important to resource managers. Drought can affect the functional, physiological, structural, and demographic properties of forest ecosystems. Remote sensing studies have documented changes in forest properties due to direct and indirect effects of drought; however, few studies have addressed this at local scales needed to characterize highly heterogeneous ecosystems in the forest-shrubland ecotone. We analyzed a 22-year Landsat time series (1985–2012) to determine changes in forest in an area that experienced a relatively dry decade punctuated by two years of extreme drought. We assessed the relationship between several vegetation indices and field measured characteristics (e.g. plant area index and canopy gap fraction) and applied these indices to trend analysis to uncover the location, direction and timing of change. Finally, we assessed the interaction of climate and topography by forest functional type. The Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), a measure of canopy water content, had the strongest correlation with short-term field measures of plant area index (R2 = 0.64) and canopy gap fraction (R2 = 0.65). Over the entire time period, 25% of the forested area experienced a significant (p-value < 0.05) negative trend in NDMI, compared to less than 10% in a positive trend. Coniferous forests were more likely to be associated with a negative NDMI trend than deciduous forest. Forests on southern aspects were least likely to exhibit a negative trend while north aspects were most prevalent. Field plots with a negative trend had a lower live density, and higher amounts of standing dead and down trees compared to plots with no trend. Our analysis identifies spatially explicit patterns of long-term trends anchored with ground based evidence to highlight areas of forest that are resistant, persistent or vulnerable to severe drought. The results provide a long-term perspective for the resource management of this area and can be applied to similar ecosystems throughout western North America.

The UNH Earth Systems Observatory: A Regional Application in Support of GEOSS Global-Scale Objectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorosmarty, C. J.; Braswell, B.; Fekete, B.; Glidden, S.; Hartmann, H.; Magill, A.; Prusevich, A.; Wollheim, W.; Blaha, D.; Justice, D.; Hurtt, G.; Jacobs, J.; Ollinger, S.; McDowell, W.; Rock, B.; Rubin, F.; Schloss, A.

2006-12-01

The Northeast corridor of the US is emblematic of the many changes taking place across the nation's and indeed the world's watersheds. Because ecosystem and watershed change occurs over many scales and is so multifaceted, transferring scientific knowledge to applications as diverse as remediation of local ground water pollution, setting State-wide best practices for non-point source pollution control, enforcing regional carbon sequestration treaties, or creating public/private partnerships for protecting ecosystem services requires a new generation of integrative environmental surveillance systems, information technology, and information transfer to the user community. Geographically complex ecosystem interactions justify moving toward more integrative, regionally-based management strategies to deal with issues affecting land, inland waterways, and coastal waterways. A unified perspective that considers the full continuum of processes which link atmospheric forcings, terrestrial responses, watershed exports along drainage networks, and the final delivery to the coastal zone, nearshore, and off shore waters is required to adequately support the management challenge. A recent inventory of NOAA-supported environmental surveillance systems, IT resources, new sensor technologies, and management-relevant decision support systems shows the community poised to formulate an integrated and operational picture of the environment of New England. This paper presents the conceptual framework and early products of the newly-created UNH Earth Systems Observatory. The goal of the UNH Observatory is to serve as a regionally-focused yet nationally-prominent platform for observation-based, integrative science and management of the New England/Gulf of Maine's land, air, and ocean environmental systems. Development of the UNH Observatory is being guided by the principles set forth under the Global Earth Observation System of Systems and is cast as an end-to-end prototype for GEOSS, targeting the monitoring in near real time of regional ecosystem state. The UNH Earth Systems Observatory consists of five interacting components. These "pillars" include (1) the Observatory data holdings themselves, (2) IT informatics backbone with standards-compliant data and map services, (3) community engagement through User Working Groups (UWGs), (4) an Advisory Board (drawn from local, regional, and national entities), and (5) education and public outreach. The structure is designed to capitalize on "operations-ready" capabilities, to identify emerging opportunities for new data integration, and to use the Observatory as a regional "launchpad" from which data-intensive science and management activities can be tested and implemented operationally.

Using ecosystem services in decision-making to support sustainable development: Critiques, model development, a case study, and perspectives.

PubMed

Zagonari, Fabio

2016-04-01

In this paper, I propose a general, consistent, and operational approach that accounts for ecosystem services in a decision-making context: I link ecosystem services to sustainable development criteria; adopt multi-criteria analysis to measure ecosystem services, with weights provided by stakeholders used to account for equity issues; apply both temporal and spatial discount rates; and adopt a technique to order performance of the possible solutions based on their similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) to account for uncertainty about the parameters and functions. Applying this approach in a case study of an offshore research platform in Italy (CNR Acqua Alta) revealed that decisions depend non-linearly on the degree of loss aversion, to a smaller extent on a global focus (as opposed to a local focus), and to the smallest extent on social concerns (as opposed to economic or environmental concerns). Application of the general model to the case study leads to the conclusion that the ecosystem services framework is likely to be less useful in supporting decisions than in identifying the crucial features on which decisions depend, unless experts from different disciplines are involved, stakeholders are represented, and experts and stakeholders achieve mutual understanding. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Predator transitory spillover induces trophic cascades in ecological sinks

PubMed Central

Casini, Michele; Blenckner, Thorsten; Möllmann, Christian; Gårdmark, Anna; Lindegren, Martin; Llope, Marcos; Kornilovs, Georgs; Plikshs, Maris; Stenseth, Nils Christian

2012-01-01

Understanding the effects of cross-system fluxes is fundamental in ecosystem ecology and biological conservation. Source-sink dynamics and spillover processes may link adjacent ecosystems by movement of organisms across system boundaries. However, effects of temporal variability in these cross-system fluxes on a whole marine ecosystem structure have not yet been presented. Here we show, using 35 y of multitrophic data series from the Baltic Sea, that transitory spillover of the top-predator cod from its main distribution area produces cascading effects in the whole food web of an adjacent and semi-isolated ecosystem. At varying population size, cod expand/contract their distribution range and invade/retreat from the neighboring Gulf of Riga, thereby affecting the local prey population of herring and, indirectly, zooplankton and phytoplankton via top-down control. The Gulf of Riga can be considered for cod a “true sink” habitat, where in the absence of immigration from the source areas of the central Baltic Sea the cod population goes extinct due to the absence of suitable spawning grounds. Our results add a metaecosystem perspective to the ongoing intense scientific debate on the key role of top predators in structuring natural systems. The integration of regional and local processes is central to predict species and ecosystem responses to future climate changes and ongoing anthropogenic disturbances. PMID:22505739

Metals in mangrove ecosystems and associated biota: A global perspective.

PubMed

Kulkarni, Rasika; Deobagkar, Deepti; Zinjarde, Smita

2018-05-30

Mangrove forests prevalent along the intertidal regions of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines are inimitable and dynamic ecosystems. They protect and stabilize coastal areas from deleterious consequences of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis. Although there are reviews on ecological aspects, industrial uses of mangrove-associated microorganisms and occurrence of pollutants in a region-specific manner, there is no exclusive review detailing the incidence of metals in mangrove sediments and associated biota in these ecosystems on a global level. In this review, mangrove forests have been classified in a continent-wise manner. Most of the investigations detail the distribution of metals such as zinc, chromium, arsenic, copper, cobalt, manganese, nickel, lead and mercury although in some cases levels of vanadium, strontium, zirconium and uranium have also been studied. Seasonal, tidal, marine, riverine, and terrestrial components are seen to influence occurrence, speciation, bioavailability and fate of metals in these ecosystems. In most of the cases, associated plants and animals also accumulate metals to different extents and are of ecotoxicological relevance. Levels of metals vary in a region specific manner and there is disparity in the pollution status of different mangrove areas. Protecting these vulnerable ecosystems from metal pollutants is important from environmental safety point of view. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Whole-ecosystem experimental manipulations of tropical forests.

PubMed

Fayle, Tom M; Turner, Edgar C; Basset, Yves; Ewers, Robert M; Reynolds, Glen; Novotny, Vojtech

2015-06-01

Tropical forests are highly diverse systems involving extraordinary numbers of interactions between species, with each species responding in a different way to the abiotic environment. Understanding how these systems function and predicting how they respond to anthropogenic global change is extremely challenging. We argue for the necessity of 'whole-ecosystem' experimental manipulations, in which the entire ecosystem is targeted, either to reveal the functioning of the system in its natural state or to understand responses to anthropogenic impacts. We survey the current range of whole-ecosystem manipulations, which include those targeting weather and climate, nutrients, biotic interactions, human impacts, and habitat restoration. Finally we describe the unique challenges and opportunities presented by such projects and suggest directions for future experiments. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Quantifying the pedo-ecohydrological structure and function of degraded, grassland ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brazier, Richard E.

2015-04-01

Grassland ecosystems cover significant areas of the terrestrial land mass, across a range of geoclimates, from arctic tundra, through temperate and semi-arid landscapes. In very few locations, such grasslands may be termed 'pristine' in that they remain undamaged by human activities and resilient to changing climates. In far more cases, grasslands are being degraded, often irreversibly so, with significant implications for a number of ecosystem services related to water resources, soil quality, nutrient cycles, and therefore both global food and water security. This paper draws upon empirical research that has been undertaken over the last decade to characterise a range of different grasslands in terms of soil properties, vegetation structure and geomorphology and to understand how these structures or patterns might interact or control how the grassland ecosystems function. Particular emphasis is placed upon quantifying fluxes of water, within and from grasslands, but also fluxes of sediment, via the processes of soil erosion and finally fluxes of the macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Carbon from the landscape to surface waters. Data are presented from semi-arid grasslands, which are subject to severe encroachment by woody species, temperate upland grasslands that have been 'improved' via drainage to support grazing, temperate lowland grasslands, that are unimproved (Culm or Rhôs pastures) and finally intensively managed grasslands in temperate regions, that have been significantly modified via land management practices to improve productivity. It is hypothesised that, once degraded, the structure and function of these very diverse grassland ecosystems follows the same negative trajectory, resulting in depleted soil depths, nutrient storage capacities and therefore reduced plant growth and long-term carbon sequestration. Results demonstrate that similar, but highly complex and non-linear responses to perturbation of the ecosystem are observed, regardless of the environmental setting or wider climatic conditions that the grasslands experience. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the relatively stable ecosystem state that has prevailed in the 'pristine' grasslands studied, is in fact very fragile and may be easily altered, either by anthropogenic forcing, due to land management or by 'semi-natural' processes, related to climate change or changes in the incidence of wildfires (for example). Once structurally altered, it is also shown that positive feedbacks will occur to accelerate the loss of critical resources (topsoil and nutrients) from the ecosystem, in particular in drylands, resulting in widespread land degradation that cannot be reversed. In the temperate grasslands studied, it is shown that anthropogenic intervention may halt or even to some degree reverse the degradation of the soil-vegetation-water continuum. However, such 'landscape restoration' approaches are costly and require long-term management commitment if they are to succeed. degrade these critical ecosystems further. Finally, analysis of water, sediment and nutrient fluxes from this range of grasslands also demonstrates how critical ecosystem services that grasslands can provide; including soil water storage to buffer downstream flooding, soil carbon storage and enhanced biodiversity are reduced, often to the point where restoration of the original (pristine) landscape function is impossible. To conclude, discussion is made of how we can learn across grass landscapes globally, to ensure that those ecosystems that might be restored to build resilient landscapes under future climates are well understood and that future efforts to manage grasslands for increased food production do not degrade these critical ecosystems further.

Old growth revisited: integrating social, economic, and ecological perspectives

Treesearch

Marie Oliver; Thomas Spies; Sally.   Duncan

2009-01-01

How should old-growth forests be managed? Should they be managed? Stakeholders with differing values and agendas have debated these questions for years. Over time, the debate has evolved: now there is greater awareness about the complexity of old-growth ecosystems and different ways humans value them. A scientist at the Pacific Northwest Research Station has co-edited...

Measuring environmental change in forest ecosystems by repeated soil sampling: A North American perspective

Treesearch

Gregory B. Lawrence; Ivan J. Fernandez; Daniel D. Richter; Donald S. Ross; Paul W. Hazlett; Scott W. Bailey; Rock Ouimet; Richard A. F. Warby; Arthur H. Johnson; Henry Lin; James M. Kaste; Andrew G. Lapenis; Timothy J. Sullivan

2013-01-01

Environmental change is monitored in North America through repeated measurements of weather, stream and river flow, air and water quality, and most recently, soil properties. Some skepticism remains, however, about whether repeated soil sampling can effectively distinguish between temporal and spatial variability, and efforts to document soil change in forest...

Biological diversity, ecological integrity, and neotropical migrants: New perspectives for wildlife management

Treesearch

Brian A. Maurer

1993-01-01

New initiatives in wildlife management have come from the realization that birds can be used as indicators of ecosystem health. Conceptually, biological diversity includes processes working at all scales in biological hierarchies that compose the natural world. Recent advances in the understanding of ecological systems suggest they are nonequilibrium systems, and must...

Forest health monitoring in the United States: focus on national reports

Treesearch

Kurt Riitters; Kevin Potter

2013-01-01

The health and sustainability of United States forests have been monitored for many years from several different perspectives. The national Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program was established in 1990 by Federal and State agencies to develop a national system for monitoring and reporting on the status and trends of forest ecosystem health. We describe and illustrate...

A conceptual framework for adaptive forest management under climate change

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Steve McNulty; James M. Vose; Jeffrey P. Prestemon; Harbin Li

2014-01-01

The consensus among most scientists is that the global climate is changing in response to a rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions over the past 150 years. This perspective has prompted research on potential changes in future forest conditions so that management interventions might be developed to protect desired ecosystem services. Some of the most significant...

Reading Nature from a "Bottom-Up" Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magntorn, Ola; Hellden, Gustav

2007-01-01

This paper reports on a study of ecology teaching and learning in a Swedish primary school class (age 10-11 yrs). A teaching sequence was designed to help students read nature in a river ecosystem. The teaching sequence had a "bottom up" approach, taking as its starting point a common key organism--the freshwater shrimp. From this…

Our Voice Counts: Adolescents' View on Their Future in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steyn, Miemsie; Badenhorst, Jo; Kamper, Geritt

2010-01-01

We focus on the impact of societal change and related societal problems on the youth of post-apartheid South Africa. Within the parameters of an eco-systemic model, it is argued that adolescents' perspectives on their future in this country could be negatively influenced by the extent of societal problems that are currently experienced in South…

The ecosystem approach to health is a promising strategy in international development: lessons from Japan and Laos.

PubMed

Asakura, Takashi; Mallee, Hein; Tomokawa, Sachi; Moji, Kazuhiko; Kobayashi, Jun

2015-02-16

An ecological perspective was prominently present in the health promotion movement in the 1980s, but this seems to have faded. The burden of disease the developing world is facing cannot be addressed solely by reductionist approaches. Holistic approaches are called for that recognize the fundamentally interdependent nature of health and other societal, developmental, and ecosystem related factors in human communities. An ecosystem approach to human health (ecohealth) provides a good starting point to explore these interdependencies. Development assistance is often based on the assumption that developed countries can serve as models for developing ones. Japan has provided lavish assistance to Laos for example, much of it going to the development of transport networks. However, there is little sign that there is an awareness of the potentially negative environmental and health impacts of this assistance. We argue that the health consequences of environmental degradation are not always understood, and that developing countries need to consider these issues. The ecohealth approach is useful when exploring this issue. We highlight three implications of the ecohealth approach: (1) The WHO definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being emphasized that health is more than the absence of disease. However, because this approach may involve an unattainable goal, we suggest that health should be defined in the ecosystem context, and the goal should be to attain acceptable and sustainable levels of health through enabling people to realize decent livelihoods, and to pursue their life purpose; (2) The increasing interconnectedness of ecosystems in a globalizing world requires an ethical approach that considers human responsibility for the global biosphere. Here, ecohealth could be a countervailing force to our excessive concentration on economy and technology; and (3) If ecohealth is to become a positive agent of change in the global health promotion movement, it will have to find a secure place in the educational curriculum. This article presents a brief case study of Japan's development assistance to Laos, and its environmental and health implications, as an illustration of the ecohealth approach. We highlight three implications of the ecohealth perspective.

TERRECO: A Flux-Based Approach to Understanding Landscape Change, Potentials of Resilience and Sustainability in Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenhunen, J. D.; Kang, S.

2011-12-01

The Millenium Assessment has provided a broad perspective on the ways and degree to which global change has stressed ecosystems and their potential to deliver goods and services to mankind. Management of natural resources at regional scale requires a clear understanding of the ways that ongoing human activities modify or create new system stressors, leading to net gains or losses in ecosystem services. Ever since information from the International Biological Program (IBP) was summarized in the 1960s, we know that ecosystem stress response, recovery and resilience are related to changes in ecosystem turnover of materials, nutrient retention or loss, resource use efficiencies, and additional ecosystem properties that determine fluxes of carbon, water and nutrients. At landscape or regional scale, changes in system drivers influence land-surface to atmosphere gas exchange (water, carbon and trace gas emissions), the seasonal course of soil resource stores, hydrology, and transport of nutrients and carbon into and through river systems. In today's terminology, shifts in these fluxes indicate a modification of potential ecosystem services provided to us by the landscape or region of interest, and upon which we depend. Ongoing modeling efforts of the TERRECO project carried out in S. Korea focus on describing landscape and regional level flow networks for carbon, water, and nutrients, but in addition monetary flows associated with gains and losses in ecosystem services (cf. Fig. 1). The description is embedded within a framework which examines the trade-offs between agricultural intensification versus yield of high quality water to reservoirs for drinking water supply. The models also quantify hypothetical changes in flow networks that would occur in the context of climate, land use and social change scenarios.

Extreme temperatures, foundation species, and abrupt ecosystem change: an example from an iconic seagrass ecosystem.

PubMed

Thomson, Jordan A; Burkholder, Derek A; Heithaus, Michael R; Fourqurean, James W; Fraser, Matthew W; Statton, John; Kendrick, Gary A

2015-04-01

Extreme climatic events can trigger abrupt and often lasting change in ecosystems via the reduction or elimination of foundation (i.e., habitat-forming) species. However, while the frequency/intensity of extreme events is predicted to increase under climate change, the impact of these events on many foundation species and the ecosystems they support remains poorly understood. Here, we use the iconic seagrass meadows of Shark Bay, Western Australia--a relatively pristine subtropical embayment whose dominant, canopy-forming seagrass, Amphibolis antarctica, is a temperate species growing near its low-latitude range limit--as a model system to investigate the impacts of extreme temperatures on ecosystems supported by thermally sensitive foundation species in a changing climate. Following an unprecedented marine heat wave in late summer 2010/11, A. antarctica experienced catastrophic (>90%) dieback in several regions of Shark Bay. Animal-borne video footage taken from the perspective of resident, seagrass-associated megafauna (sea turtles) revealed severe habitat degradation after the event compared with a decade earlier. This reduction in habitat quality corresponded with a decline in the health status of largely herbivorous green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the 2 years following the heat wave, providing evidence of long-term, community-level impacts of the event. Based on these findings, and similar examples from diverse ecosystems, we argue that a generalized framework for assessing the vulnerability of ecosystems to abrupt change associated with the loss of foundation species is needed to accurately predict ecosystem trajectories in a changing climate. This includes seagrass meadows, which have received relatively little attention in this context. Novel research and monitoring methods, such as the analysis of habitat and environmental data from animal-borne video and data-logging systems, can make an important contribution to this framework. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrating ecosystem services into risk management decisions: case study with Spanish citrus and the insecticide chlorpyrifos.

PubMed

Deacon, Samantha; Norman, Steve; Nicolette, Joseph; Reub, Gregory; Greene, Gretchen; Osborn, Rachel; Andrews, Paul

2015-02-01

The European regulatory system for the approval of pesticides includes a thorough evaluation of risks to the environment and is designed to be protective of ecosystems. However, a decision to ban an agrochemical could also potentially have a negative impact on the value of ecosystem services, if resulting changes in crop management are damaging to ecosystems or result in negative socio-economic impacts. To support regulatory decision-making, consideration of ecosystem services to identify best environmental management options could be a way forward. There is generally a growing trend for the consideration of ecosystem services in decision making. Ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food, regulate water and provide wildlife habitats; these, amongst others, are known as ecosystem services. The objectives of this case study were to bring a holistic approach to decision making by valuing the environmental, social and economic benefits derived from the use of chlorpyrifos in Valencian citrus production. Spanish growers harvest between 5 and 6 milliont of citrus annually, worth an estimated €5 to 7 billion in food markets throughout Europe. The approach highlighted the potential for unintended negative consequences of regulatory decisions if the full context is not considered. In this study, rather than a regulatory restriction, the best option was the continued use of chlorpyrifos together with vegetated conservation patches as refuges for non-target insects. The conservation patches offset potential insecticidal impacts to insects whilst maintaining citrus production, farm income and the amenity value of the citrus landscape of Valencia. This was an initial proof-of-concept study and illustrates the importance of a wider perspective; other cases may have different outcomes depending on policies, the pesticide, crop scenarios, farm economics and the region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns

PubMed Central

Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural “green-loop” communities to urban “red-loop” societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales. PMID:27695120

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns.

PubMed

Hamann, Maike; Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural "green-loop" communities to urban "red-loop" societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales.

Microbiome engineering: Current applications and its future.

PubMed

Foo, Jee Loon; Ling, Hua; Lee, Yung Seng; Chang, Matthew Wook

2017-03-01

Microbiomes exist in all ecosystems and are composed of diverse microbial communities. Perturbation to microbiomes brings about undesirable phenotypes in the hosts, resulting in diseases and disorders, and disturbs the balance of the associated ecosystems. Engineering of microbiomes can be used to modify structures of the microbiota and restore ecological balance. Consequently, microbiome engineering has been employed for improving human health and agricultural productivity. The importance and current applications of microbiome engineering, particularly in humans, animals, plants and soil is reviewed. Furthermore, we explore the challenges in engineering microbiome and the future of this field, thus providing perspectives and outlook of microbiome engineering. Copyright © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Theoretical microbial ecology without species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikhonov, Mikhail

2017-09-01

Ecosystems are commonly conceptualized as networks of interacting species. However, partitioning natural diversity of organisms into discrete units is notoriously problematic and mounting experimental evidence raises the intriguing question whether this perspective is appropriate for the microbial world. Here an alternative formalism is proposed that does not require postulating the existence of species as fundamental ecological variables and provides a naturally hierarchical description of community dynamics. This formalism allows approaching the species problem from the opposite direction. While the classical models treat a world of imperfectly clustered organism types as a perturbation around well-clustered species, the presented approach allows gradually adding structure to a fully disordered background. The relevance of this theoretical construct for describing highly diverse natural ecosystems is discussed.

The role of the atmosphere in the provision of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Cooter, Ellen J; Rea, Anne; Bruins, Randy; Schwede, Donna; Dennis, Robin

2013-03-15

Solving the environmental problems that we are facing today requires holistic approaches to analysis and decision making that include social and economic aspects. The concept of ecosystem services, defined as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems, is one potential tool to perform such assessments. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the need for an integrated approach that explicitly includes the contribution of atmospheric processes and functions to the quantification of air-ecosystem services. First, final and intermediate air-ecosystem services are defined. Next, an ecological production function for clean and clear air is described, and its numerical counterpart (the Community Multiscale Air Quality model) is introduced. An illustrative numerical example is developed that simulates potential changes in air-ecosystem services associated with the conversion of evergreen forest land in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia to commercial crop land. This one-atmosphere approach captures a broad range of service increases and decreases. Results for the forest to cropland conversion scenario suggest that although such change could lead to increased biomass (food) production services, there could also be coincident, seasonally variable decreases in clean and clear air-ecosystem services (i.e., increased levels of ozone and particulate matter) associated with increased fertilizer application. Metrics that support the quantification of these regional air-ecosystem changes require regional ecosystem production functions that fully integrate biotic as well as abiotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, and do so on finer temporal scales than are used for the assessment of most ecosystem services. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Biogeoscience from a Metallomic and Proteomic Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anbar, A. D.; Shock, E.

2004-12-01

In the wake of the genomics revolution, life scientists are expanding their focus from the genome to the "proteome" - the assemblage of all proteins in a cell - and the "metallome" - the distribution of inorganic species in a cell. The proteome and metallome are tightly connected because proteins and protein products are intimately involved in the transport and homeostasis of inorganic elements, and because many enzymes depend on inorganic elements for catalytic activity. Together, they are at the heart of metabolic function. Unlike the relatively static genome, the proteome and metallome are extremely dynamic, changing rapidly in response to environmental cues. They are substantially more complex than the genome; for example, in humans, some 30,000 genes code for approximately 500,000 proteins. Metaphorically, the proteome and metallome constitute the complex, dynamic "language" by which the genome and the environment communicate. Therefore biogeochemists, like life scientists, are moving beyond a strictly genomic perspective. Research guided by proteomic and metallomic perspectives and methodologies should provide new insights into the connections between life and the inorganic Earth in modern environments, and the evolution of these connections through time. For example, biogeochemical research in modern environments, such as Yellowstone hot springs, is hindered by the gap between genomic determinations of metabolic potential in ecosystems and geochemical characterizations of the energetic boundary conditions faced by these ecosystems; genomics tells us "who is there" and geochemistry tells us "what they might be doing", but neither genomics nor geochemistry easily provide quantitative information about which metabolisms are actually active or a framework for understanding why ecosystems do not fully exploit the energy available in their surroundings. Such questions are fundamentally kinetic rather than thermodynamic and therefore demand that we characterize and understand the proteins and inorganic elements used by organisms to catalyze reactions and capture energy from their surroundings. Similar challenges are faced when attempting to map the evolutionary relationships inferred from phylogenetic analyses of genomes to ecological histories determined by geochemists and paleobiologists - for example, ongoing efforts to understand the evolutionary history of eukaryotes and metazoa - because the driving forces for the evolution and ecological radiation of organisms lie at the intersection of metabolism and environment, and hence in the gap between genomes and geochemistry. Future progress in understanding the biogeochemistry of modern and ancient environments will be spurred by integrating proteomic and metallomic methods and perspectives.

Creating a Liveable City - Eco-services, Systems and Place

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, R. J.; Dean, M.; Birtles, P. J.; Hore, J.; Dahlenburg, J.

2014-12-01

The use of an ecosystem service framework for natural resource management has gained increasing traction in the public sector. This is of especial interest in cities as residual ecosystems - typically located along creeks and estuaries, or remaining in scattered pockets throughout the urban area - offer some of the highest value social and economic returns per capita for the land area they occupy, yet are often impractical to manage from more traditional approaches to conservation. We posit that the well-being of humans and other species is the outcome of healthy, functioning ecosystems, and that, from a policy perspective, it is essential to consider services in this context. We arrange ecosystem services into three categories: life-enabling, life-sustaining and life-fulfilling, in a modification to the categories of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and identify additional eco-services unique to urban areas. At local scale, these contribute to the well-being of city residents and positively affect quality of life, forming essential elements of urban liveability. However, dynamics of co-located built and natural environments challenge the capacity of ecosystems to function and provide their full suite of services. Using Sydney as an example, we outline a modular framework of socio-ecological systems and places to show how eco-services supporting liveability can be considered in conceptual and physical space. At a policy level, framing systems-based management objectives that protect, improve and re-discover desirable ecosystem services within the city (as opposed to further increasing the environmental footprint outside), will allow for unique, positive, socially-enabling outcomes for urban centres, in Australia, and globally.

Coastal Wetland Ecosystem Responses to Climate Change: the Role of Macroclimatic Drivers along the Northern Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osland, M. J.; Enwright, N.; Day, R. H.; Gabler, C. A.; Stagg, C. L.; From, A. S.

2014-12-01

Across the globe, macroclimatic drivers greatly influence coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. However, changing macroclimatic conditions are rarely incorporated into coastal wetland vulnerability assessments. Here, we quantify the influence of macroclimatic drivers upon coastal wetland ecosystems along the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) coast. From a global perspective, the NGOM coast provides several excellent opportunities to examine the effects of climate change upon coastal wetlands. The abundant coastal wetland ecosystems in the region span two major climatic gradients: (1) a winter temperature gradient that crosses temperate to tropical climatic zones; and (2) a precipitation gradient that crosses humid to semi-arid zones. We present analyses where we used geospatial data (historical climate, hydrology, and coastal wetland coverage) and field data (soil, elevation, and plant community composition and structure) to quantify climate-mediated ecological transitions. We identified winter climate and precipitation-based thresholds that separate mangrove forests from salt marshes and vegetated wetlands from unvegetated wetlands, respectively. We used simple distribution and abundance models to evaluate the potential ecological effects of alternative future climate change scenarios. Our results illustrate and quantify the importance of macroclimatic drivers and indicate that climate change could result in landscape-scale changes in coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. These macroclimate-mediated ecological changes could affect the supply of some ecosystem goods and services as well as the resilience of these ecosystems to stressors, including accelerated sea level rise. Collectively, our findings highlight the importance of incorporating macroclimatic drivers within future-focused coastal wetland vulnerability assessments.

Reconsideration of Plant Morphological Traits: From a Structure-Based Perspective to a Function-Based Evolutionary Perspective

PubMed Central

Bai, Shu-Nong

2017-01-01

This opinion article proposes a novel alignment of traits in plant morphogenesis from a function-based evolutionary perspective. As a member species of the ecosystem on Earth, we human beings view our neighbor organisms from our own sensing system. We tend to distinguish forms and structures (i.e., “morphological traits”) mainly through vision. Traditionally, a plant was considered to be consisted of three parts, i.e., the shoot, the leaves, and the root. Based on such a “structure-based perspective,” evolutionary analyses or comparisons across species were made on particular parts or their derived structures. So far no conceptual framework has been established to incorporate the morphological traits of all three land plant phyta, i.e., bryophyta, pteridophyta and spermatophyta, for evolutionary developmental analysis. Using the tenets of the recently proposed concept of sexual reproduction cycle, the major morphological traits of land plants can be aligned into five categories from a function-based evolutionary perspective. From this perspective, and the resulting alignment, a new conceptual framework emerges, called “Plant Morphogenesis 123.” This framework views a plant as a colony of integrated plant developmental units that are each produced via one life cycle. This view provided an alternative perspective for evolutionary developmental investigation in plants. PMID:28360919

Proceedings of a Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Workshop for the Western United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thorsteinson, Lyman; Hirsch, Derrick; Helweg, David; Dhanju, Amardeep; Barmenski, Joan; Ferrero, Richard

2011-01-01

Recent scientific and ocean policy assessments demonstrate that a fundamental change in our current management system is required to achieve the long-term health of our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes in order to sustain the services and benefits they provide to society. The present (2011) species- and sector-centric way we manage these ecosystems cannot account properly for cumulative effects, sustaining multiple ecosystem services, and holistically and explicitly evaluating the tradeoffs associated with proposed alternative and multiple human uses. A transition to an ecosystem-based approach to management and conservation of coastal and marine resources is needed. Competing uses and activities such as commerce, recreation, cultural practices, energy development, conservation, and national security are increasing pressure for new and expanded resource usage in coastal marine ecosystems. Current management efforts use a sector-by-sector approach that mostly focuses on a limited range of tools and outcomes [for example, oil and gas leases, fishery management plans, and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)]. A comprehensive, ecosystem-based, and proactive approach to planning and managing these uses and activities is needed. Further, scientific understanding and information are essential to achieve an integrated decision-making process that includes knowledge of ecosystem services, existing and possible future conditions, and potential consequences of natural and anthropogenic events. Because no single government agency has executive authority for coastal or ocean resources, conflicting objectives around competing uses abound. In recent years, regional- and state-level initiatives in Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) have emerged to coordinate management activities. In some respects, the components and steps of the overall CMSP process are similar to how existing ocean resources are regulated and managed. For example, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) uses spatial planning exercises in State Renewable Energy Task Force meetings to identify competing and conflicting ocean uses, and to delineate areas suitable for renewable energy development. Similarly terrestrial areas such as in national parks and national wildlife refuges managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) prepare management plans for preservation and restoration of species and habitats of concern, some of which are protected by law. The analogy to CMSP is clear - multiple users and multiple expectations, resulting in the requirement to establish spatial plans for management of different resources and different ecosystem services. A two-day workshop on December 1-2, 2010, was convened for DOI representatives and several key non-DOI participants with roles in CMSP as a step toward clarifying national perspectives and consequences of the National Ocean Policy for the West (appendix 1). Discussions helped to develop an understanding of CMSP from the federal perspective and to identify regional priorities. An overarching theme was to promote a better understanding of current and future science needs. The workshop format included briefings by key Federal agencies on their understanding of the national focus followed by discussion of regional issues, including the needs for scientific information and coordination. The workshop also explored potential science contributions by Federal agencies and others; utilizing current capabilities, data, and information systems; and provided a foundation for possible future regional workshops focusing in turn on the West Coast Region (California, Oregon, and Washington), Pacific Islands (sometimes referred to as Oceania) and Alaska. Participants were asked to share information in the following areas, recognizing that the purpose would be to learn more about the national perspective (see appendixes 2-4): Explore how the Western U.S. (Alaska, Pacific Islands, and West Coast Region) migh

The Stigma of Poverty; A Critique of Poverty Theories and Policies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waxman, Chaim I.

This study examines both the cultural and situational explanations of poverty. It also demonstrates the ideological implications of both, and finally it suggests a new perspective, the relational perspective. Chapter 1 examines the cultural perspective, according to which the lower class is seen as manifesting patterns of behavior and values which…

Exploring the Capacity of Water Framework Directive Indices to Assess Ecosystem Services in Fluvial and Riparian Systems: Towards a Second Implementation Phase.

PubMed

Vidal-Abarca, M R; Santos-Martín, F; Martín-López, B; Sánchez-Montoya, M M; Suárez Alonso, M L

2016-06-01

We explored the capacity of the biological and hydromorphological indices used in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) to assess ecosystem services by evaluating the ecological status of Spanish River Basins. This analysis relies on an exhaustive bibliography review which showed scientific evidence of the interlinkages between some ecosystem services and different hydromorphological and biological elements which have been used as indices in the WFD. Our findings indicate that, of a total of 38 ecosystem services analyzed, biological and hydromorphological indices can fully evaluate four ecosystem services. In addition, 18 ecosystem services can be partly evaluated by some of the analyzed indices, while 11 are not related with the indices. While Riparian Forest Quality was the index that was able to assess the largest number of ecosystem services (N = 12), the two indices of macrophytes offered very poor guarantees. Finally, biological indices related to diatoms and aquatic invertebrates and the Fluvial Habitat Index can be related with 7, 6, and 6 ecosystem services, respectively. Because the WFD indices currently used in Spain are not able to assess most of the ecosystem services analyzed, we suggest that there is potential to develop the second phase of the WFD implementation taking this approach into consideration. The incorporation of the ecosystem services approach into the WFD could provide the framework for assess the impacts of human activities on the quality of fluvial ecosystems and could give insights for water and watershed management in order to guarantee the delivery of multiple ecosystem services.

A comparative assessment of tools for ecosystem services quantification and valuation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Semmens, Darius; Waage, Sissel; Winthrop, Robert

2013-01-01

To enter widespread use, ecosystem service assessments need to be quantifiable, replicable, credible, flexible, and affordable. With recent growth in the field of ecosystem services, a variety of decision-support tools has emerged to support more systematic ecosystem services assessment. Despite the growing complexity of the tool landscape, thorough reviews of tools for identifying, assessing, modeling and in some cases monetarily valuing ecosystem services have generally been lacking. In this study, we describe 17 ecosystem services tools and rate their performance against eight evaluative criteria that gauge their readiness for widespread application in public- and private-sector decision making. We describe each of the tools′ intended uses, services modeled, analytical approaches, data requirements, and outputs, as well time requirements to run seven tools in a first comparative concurrent application of multiple tools to a common location – the San Pedro River watershed in southeast Arizona, USA, and northern Sonora, Mexico. Based on this work, we offer conclusions about these tools′ current ‘readiness’ for widespread application within both public- and private-sector decision making processes. Finally, we describe potential pathways forward to reduce the resource requirements for running ecosystem services models, which are essential to facilitate their more widespread use in environmental decision making.

Competition favors elk over beaver in a riparian willow ecosystem

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baker, B.W.; Peinetti, H.R.; Coughenour, M.C.; Johnson, T.L.

2012-01-01

Beaver (Castor spp.) conservation requires an understanding of their complex interactions with competing herbivores. Simulation modeling offers a controlled environment to examine long-term dynamics in ecosystems driven by uncontrollable variables. We used a new version of the SAVANNA ecosystem model to investigate beaver (C. Canadensis) and elk (Cervus elapses) competition for willow (Salix spp.). We initialized the model with field data from Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA, to simulate a 4-ha riparian ecosystem containing beaver, elk, and willow. We found beaver persisted indefinitely when elk density was or = 30 elk km_2. The loss of tall willow preceded rapid beaver declines, thus willow condition may predict beaver population trajectory in natural environments. Beaver were able to persist with slightly higher elk densities if beaver alternated their use of foraging sites in a rest-rotation pattern rather than maintained continuous use. Thus, we found asymmetrical competition for willow strongly favored elk over beaver in a simulated montane ecosystem. Finally, we discuss application of the SAVANNA model and mechanisms of competition relative to beaver persistence as metapopulations, ecological resistance and alternative state models, and ecosystem regulation.

Value of ecosystem hydropower service and its impact on the payment for ecosystem services.

PubMed

Fu, B; Wang, Y K; Xu, P; Yan, K; Li, M

2014-02-15

Hydropower is an important service provided by ecosystems. We surveyed all the hydropower plants in the Zagunao River Basin, Southwest China. Then, we assessed the hydropower service by using the InVEST (The Integrated Value and Tradeoff of Ecosystem Service Tools) model. Finally, we discussed the impact on ecological compensation. The results showed that: 1) hydropower service value of ecosystems in the Zagunao River Basin is 216.29 Euro/hm(2) on the average, of which the high-value area with more than 475.65 Euro/hm(2) is about 750.37 km(2), accounting for 16.12% of the whole watershed, but it provides 53.47% of the whole watershed service value; 2) ecosystem is an ecological reservoir with a great regulation capacity. Dams cannot completely replace the reservoir water conservation function of ecosystems, and has high economic and environmental costs that must be paid as well. Compensation for water conservation services should become an important basis for ecological compensation of hydropower development. 3) In the current PES cases, the standard of compensation is generally low. Cascade development makes the value of upstream ecosystem services become more prominent, reflecting the differential rent value, and the value of ecosystem services should be based on the distribution of differentiated ecological compensation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Global biodiversity, stoichiometry and ecosystem function responses to human-induced C-N-P imbalances.

PubMed

Carnicer, Jofre; Sardans, Jordi; Stefanescu, Constantí; Ubach, Andreu; Bartrons, Mireia; Asensio, Dolores; Peñuelas, Josep

2015-01-01

Global change analyses usually consider biodiversity as a global asset that needs to be preserved. Biodiversity is frequently analysed mainly as a response variable affected by diverse environmental drivers. However, recent studies highlight that gradients of biodiversity are associated with gradual changes in the distribution of key dominant functional groups characterized by distinctive traits and stoichiometry, which in turn often define the rates of ecosystem processes and nutrient cycling. Moreover, pervasive links have been reported between biodiversity, food web structure, ecosystem function and species stoichiometry. Here we review current global stoichiometric gradients and how future distributional shifts in key functional groups may in turn influence basic ecosystem functions (production, nutrient cycling, decomposition) and therefore could exert a feedback effect on stoichiometric gradients. The C-N-P stoichiometry of most primary producers (phytoplankton, algae, plants) has been linked to functional trait continua (i.e. to major axes of phenotypic variation observed in inter-specific analyses of multiple traits). In contrast, the C-N-P stoichiometry of higher-level consumers remains less precisely quantified in many taxonomic groups. We show that significant links are observed between trait continua across trophic levels. In spite of recent advances, the future reciprocal feedbacks between key functional groups, biodiversity and ecosystem functions remain largely uncertain. The reported evidence, however, highlights the key role of stoichiometric traits and suggests the need of a progressive shift towards an ecosystemic and stoichiometric perspective in global biodiversity analyses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem Health Disorders - changing perspectives in clinical medicine and nutrition.

PubMed

Wahlqvist, Mark L

2014-01-01

The inseparability of people from their ecosystem without biological change is increasingly clear. The discrete species concept is becoming more an approximation as the interconnectedness of all things, animate and inanimate, becomes more apparent. Yet this was evident even to our earliest Homo Sapiens sapiens ancestors as they hunted and gathered from one locality to another and migrated across the globe. During a rather short 150-200,000 years of ancestral history, we have changed the aeons-old planet and our ecology with dubious sustainability. As we have changed the ecosystems of which we are a part, with their opportunities for shelter, rest, ambulation, discourse, food, recreation and their sensory inputs, we have changed our shared biology and our health prospects. The rate of ecosystem change has increased quantitatively and qualitatively and so will that of our health patterns, depending on our resilience and how linear, non-linear or fractal-like the linkage. Our health-associated ecosystem trajectories are uncertain. The interfaces between us and our environment are blurred, but comprise time, biorhythms, prokaryotic organisms, sensory (auditory, visual, tactile, taste and smell), conjoint movement, endocrine with various external hormonal through food and contaminants, the reflection of soil and rock composition in the microbes, plants, insects and animals that we eat (our biogeology) and much more. We have sought ways to optimise our health through highly anthropocentric means, which have proven inadequate. Accumulated ecosystem change may now overwhelm our health. On these accounts, more integrative approaches and partnerships for health care practice are required.

Carbon and water cycling in flooded and rainfed rice (Oryza Sativa) ecosystem: Disentangling agronomical and ecological aspects of water use efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nay-Htoon, Bhone; Xue, Wei; Dubbert, Maren; Lindner, Steve; Cuntz, Matthias; Ko, Jonghan; Tenhunen, John; Werner, Christiane

2015-04-01

Agricultural crops play an important role in the global carbon and water cycling process and there is intense research to understand and predict carbon and water fluxes, productivity and water use of cultivated crops under climate change. Mechanistic understanding of the trade of between ecosystem water use efficiency and agronomic water use efficiency to maintain higher crop yield and productive water loss is necessary for the ecosystem sustainability. . We compared water and carbon fluxes of paddy and rainfed rice by canopy scale gas exchange measurements, crop growth, and daily evapotranspiration, transpiration and carbon flux modeling. According to our findings, evaporation contributed strongly (maximum 100% to minimum 45%) to paddy rice evapotranspiration while transpiration of rainfed is almost 50 % of daily evapotranspiration. Water use efficiency (WUE) was higher in rainfed rice both from an agronomic (WUEagro, i.e. grain yield per evapotranspiration) and ecosystem (WUEeco, i.e. gross primary production per evapotranspiration) perspective. However, rainfed rice showed also high ecosystem respiration losses and a slightly lower crop yield, demonstrating that higher WUE in rainfed rice comes at the expense of higher respiration losses of assimilated carbon and lower plant production, compared to paddy rice. Our results highlighted the need to partition water and carbon fluxes to improve our mechanistic understanding of water use efficiency and environmental impact of different agricultural practices. Keywords: Rainfed rice, Paddy rice, water use efficiency, Transpiration/Evapotranspiration, ecosystem WUE, agronomic WUE, Evapotranspiration

Assessment of rural ecosystem health and type classification in Jiangsu province, China.

PubMed

Meng, Lingran; Huang, Jiu; Dong, Jihong

2018-02-15

Quantitative analysis of rural ecosystem health (REH) is required to comprehend the spatial differentiation of rural landscape and promote rural sustainable development under the pressure of urbanization and industrialization, especially those with dramatic changes in rural ecology of China and other developing countries. In this study, taking Jiangsu province as the case study, appropriate indicators were selected in the perspective of compound ecosystem and the rural ecosystem health index (REHI) was developed including four rural ecological subsystems of resource, environmental, social and economic. The comprehensive indicator assessment models and geographic information system (GIS) spatial methods were used to analyze the REH status and spatial differentiation of 57 counties in Jiangsu province. The REH scores of 57 rural counties were in a higher range of 0.686-0.882 and fluctuating increased from north to south, indicating that the rural ecosystem in Jiangsu province was at a relatively healthy level and counties in southern Jiangsu were healthier than those in central and northern regions. The spatial concentration of REH in Jiangsu was poor and the spatial distribution of four subsystems health levels were significantly different by spatial Gini coefficient analysis. The REH of 57 counties in Jiangsu province were classified into 13 types according to the identification of the health levels and quantity of four subsystems. Moreover, we analyzed the influencing factors of each type and proposed paths to promote the development and management of rural ecosystem. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tools and perspectives for a unified approach to understanding microbial ecology in the critical zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallery, R. E.; Aronson, E. L.; Fairbanks, D.; Murphy, M. A.; Rich, V. I.; Hart, S. C.

2015-12-01

Microbial communities that control nutrient transformation and storage in ecosystems are themselves influenced by landscape topography and vegetative cover. Globally, disturbances such as fires and insect outbreaks are increasing in frequency and severity with enormous impacts on global carbon cycling. The resiliency of soil microbial communities to these heterogeneous disturbances determines rates of nutrient transformations as well as ecosystem structure and recovery. Natural and anthropogenic disturbances are a common thread throughout Critical Zone Observatories and ecosystems in general. Using the 2013 Thompson Ridge Fire in the Jemez River Basin CZO as a case study, we examine the effect of a wildfire disturbance regime on successional changes in soil microbiota and ecosystem fluxes across a landscape with high topographic variation. We find that, layered over the topographic controls of hotspots of biogeochemical activity, fire alters organic substrate quality, microbial biomass, community structure, and activity. For example, fire increases soil pH, which is commonly found as an explanatory variable describing bacterial community structure. Soil microbes excrete exoenzymes to decompose polymers and acquire nutrients, and these activities can indicate changing microbial function or soil quality. In these mixed conifer forests, we find shifts from carbon to nitrogen-dominated exoenzyme activities in burned forests with alkaline soils, suggesting shifts of microbial taxa and function that correspond with recovering soil microbial biomass. More generally we ask - what combination of tools and perspectives is needed to fully understand soil microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of the critical zone? Results from an NSF Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) CZO Network Biogeochemistry Workshop highlight the importance of incorporating a standard suite of microbial activity and community assays along with soil biogeochemical and flux measurements to enable comparisons across the broader CZO network. These characterizations would provide regional microbial function and biodiversity data in a standardized framework that can be used to enable more effective management and valuation of critical zone services and inform projections under global change scenarios.

Models for Forest Ecosystem Management: A European Perspective

PubMed Central

Pretzsch, H.; Grote, R.; Reineking, B.; Rötzer, Th.; Seifert, St.

2008-01-01

Background Forest management in Europe is committed to sustainability. In the face of climate change and accompanying risks, however, planning in order to achieve this aim becomes increasingly challenging, underlining the need for new and innovative methods. Models potentially integrate a wide range of system knowledge and present scenarios of variables important for any management decision. In the past, however, model development has mainly focused on specific purposes whereas today we are increasingly aware of the need for the whole range of information that can be provided by models. It is therefore assumed helpful to review the various approaches that are available for specific tasks and to discuss how they can be used for future management strategies. Scope Here we develop a concept for the role of models in forest ecosystem management based on historical analyses. Five paradigms of forest management are identified: (1) multiple uses, (2) dominant use, (3) environmentally sensitive multiple uses, (4) full ecosystem approach and (5) eco-regional perspective. An overview of model approaches is given that is dedicated to this purpose and to developments of different kinds of approaches. It is discussed how these models can contribute to goal setting, decision support and development of guidelines for forestry operations. Furthermore, it is shown how scenario analysis, including stand and landscape visualization, can be used to depict alternatives, make long-term consequences of different options transparent, and ease participation of different stakeholder groups and education. Conclusions In our opinion, the current challenge of forest ecosystem management in Europe is to integrate system knowledge from different temporal and spatial scales and from various disciplines. For this purpose, using a set of models with different focus that can be selected from a kind of toolbox according to particular needs is more promising than developing one overarching model, covering ecological, production and landscape issues equally well. PMID:17954471

Detecting the unexpected: a research framework for ocean acidification.

PubMed

Pfister, Catherine A; Esbaugh, Andrew J; Frieder, Christina A; Baumann, Hannes; Bockmon, Emily E; White, Meredith M; Carter, Brendan R; Benway, Heather M; Blanchette, Carol A; Carrington, Emily; McClintock, James B; McCorkle, Daniel C; McGillis, Wade R; Mooney, T Aran; Ziveri, Patrizia

2014-09-02

The threat that ocean acidification (OA) poses to marine ecosystems is now recognized and U.S. funding agencies have designated specific funding for the study of OA. We present a research framework for studying OA that describes it as a biogeochemical event that impacts individual species and ecosystems in potentially unexpected ways. We draw upon specific lessons learned about ecosystem responses from research on acid rain, carbon dioxide enrichment in terrestrial plant communities, and nitrogen deposition. We further characterize the links between carbon chemistry changes and effects on individuals and ecosystems, and enumerate key hypotheses for testing. Finally, we quantify how U.S. research funding has been distributed among these linkages, concluding that there is an urgent need for research programs designed to anticipate how the effects of OA will reverberate throughout assemblages of species.

Use of an ecosystem model for testing ecosystem response to inaccuracies of root and microflora productivity estimates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Petersen, H.; O'Neill, R.V.; Gardner, R.H.

1984-01-01

A seventy-compartment model for a Danish beech forest ecosystem is described in outline. The unmodified model predicts considerable accumulation of wood litter and decreasing accumulation through secondary to final decomposition products. Increment rates are similar for all components of the detritus based food chain. Modification of fine root production rate produces strong, positive response for root litter, and less, but still significant, response for detritus, humus and the components of the decomposer food chain. Increase of microbial biomass with adjustments of metabolism and production causes reduced accumulation of detritus and humus. The soil organisms respond according to food source. Themore » use of the model for testing the sensitivity of the ecosystem to inaccuracies of rroot- and microflora estimates is discussed. 21 references, 3 figures, 1 table.« less

Valuing ecological systems and services

PubMed Central

Kubiszewski, Ida; Ervin, David; Bluffstone, Randy; Boyd, James; Brown, Darrell; Chang, Heejun; Dujon, Veronica; Granek, Elise; Polasky, Stephen; Shandas, Vivek; Yeakley, Alan

2011-01-01

Making trade-offs between ecological services and other contributors to human well-being is a difficult but critical process that requires valuation. This allows both better recognition of the ecological, social, and economic trade-offs and also allows us to bill those who use up or destroy ecological services and reward those that produce or enhance them. It also aids improved ecosystems policy. In this paper we clarify some of the controversies in defining the contributions to human well-being from functioning ecosystems, many of which people are not even aware of. We go on to describe the applicability of the various valuation methods that can be used in estimating the benefits of ecosystem services. Finally, we describe some recent case studies and lay out the research agenda for ecosystem services analysis, modeling, and valuation going forward. PMID:21876725

Collaboration processes and perceived effectiveness of integrated care projects in primary care: a longitudinal mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Valentijn, Pim P; Ruwaard, Dirk; Vrijhoef, Hubertus J M; de Bont, Antoinette; Arends, Rosa Y; Bruijnzeels, Marc A

2015-10-09

Collaborative partnerships are considered an essential strategy for integrating local disjointed health and social services. Currently, little evidence is available on how integrated care arrangements between professionals and organisations are achieved through the evolution of collaboration processes over time. The first aim was to develop a typology of integrated care projects (ICPs) based on the final degree of integration as perceived by multiple stakeholders. The second aim was to study how types of integration differ in changes of collaboration processes over time and final perceived effectiveness. A longitudinal mixed-methods study design based on two data sources (surveys and interviews) was used to identify the perceived degree of integration and patterns in collaboration among 42 ICPs in primary care in The Netherlands. We used cluster analysis to identify distinct subgroups of ICPs based on the final perceived degree of integration from a professional, organisational and system perspective. With the use of ANOVAs, the subgroups were contrasted based on: 1) changes in collaboration processes over time (shared ambition, interests and mutual gains, relationship dynamics, organisational dynamics and process management) and 2) final perceived effectiveness (i.e. rated success) at the professional, organisational and system levels. The ICPs were classified into three subgroups with: 'United Integration Perspectives (UIP)', 'Disunited Integration Perspectives (DIP)' and 'Professional-oriented Integration Perspectives (PIP)'. ICPs within the UIP subgroup made the strongest increase in trust-based (mutual gains and relationship dynamics) as well as control-based (organisational dynamics and process management) collaboration processes and had the highest overall effectiveness rates. On the other hand, ICPs with the DIP subgroup decreased on collaboration processes and had the lowest overall effectiveness rates. ICPs within the PIP subgroup increased in control-based collaboration processes (organisational dynamics and process management) and had the highest effectiveness rates at the professional level. The differences across the three subgroups in terms of the development of collaboration processes and the final perceived effectiveness provide evidence that united stakeholders' perspectives are achieved through a constructive collaboration process over time. Disunited perspectives at the professional, organisation and system levels can be aligned by both trust-based and control-based collaboration processes.

Impact of socioeconomic development on ecosystem services and its conservation strategies: a case study of Shandong Province, China.

PubMed

Wang, Shujun; Liu, Jian; Wang, Renqing; Ni, Zirong; Xu, Shipeng; Sun, Yueyao

2012-05-01

Ecosystems and their components provide a lot of benefits for the welfare of human beings. Coupled with increasing socioeconomic development, most of the rapidly developing and transitional countries and regions have been experiencing dramatic land use changes. This has resulted in a large amount of forestland, grassland, and wetland being occupied as residential and industrial land or reclaimed for arable land, which in turn results in a sharp deterioration of ecosystem services around the world. Shandong Province, an economically powerful province of China, was chosen as a case study in order to capture the impact of socioeconomic development on ecosystem services. By way of the study, land uses and their changes were categorized between 1980 and 2006, and the ecosystem services capital and changes of 111 counties of Shandong Province in different phases were evaluated, as well as the total ecosystem services capital, followed by the zoning of ecosystem services function region of Shandong Province. We found that the counties in mountainous areas and wetlands, where generally the prefectural-level cities are located with a rapid socioeconomic development, experienced a successive deterioration of ecosystem services especially during the 2000s. Finally, three conservation strategies for managing and improving ecosystem services were proposed and discussed with the aim of achieving coordinate and sustainable development of the socioeconomy, environment, and ecosystems not only in Shandong Province but also in other provinces of China, as well as in other developing and transitional countries and regions.

Game Engineering a Multiagent Systems Perspective

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-21

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0260 Game Engineering A Multiagent Systems Perspective Jason Marden REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO THE 3100 MARINE ST...21-06-2016 2. REPORT TYPE Final Report 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 07/01/2012 - 06/30/2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Game Engineering A Multiagent...for public release. AFOSR  Project  Final  Summary   Jason  R.  Marden   Contract/Grant  Title:     Game Engineering A Multiagent

Quantifying the pedo-ecohydrological structure and function of degraded, grassland ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brazier, Richard E.

2015-04-01

Grassland ecosystems cover significant areas of the terrestrial land mass, across a range of geoclimates, from arctic tundra, through temperate and semi-arid landscapes. In very few locations, such grasslands may be termed 'pristine' in that they remain undamaged by human activities and resilient to changing climates. In far more cases, grasslands are being degraded, often irreversibly so, with significant implications for a number of ecosystem services related to water resources, soil quality, nutrient cycles, and therefore both global food and water security. This paper draws upon empirical research that has been undertaken over the last decade to characterise a range of different grasslands in terms of soil properties, vegetation structure and geomorphology and to understand how these structures or patterns might interact or control how the grassland ecosystems function. Particular emphasis is placed upon quantifying fluxes of water, within and from grasslands, but also fluxes of sediment, via the processes of soil erosion and finally fluxes of the macronutrients Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Carbon from the landscape to surface waters. Data are presented from semi-arid grasslands, which are subject to severe encroachment by woody species, temperate upland grasslands that have been 'improved' via drainage to support grazing, temperate lowland grasslands, that are unimproved (Culm or Rhôs pastures) and finally intensively managed grasslands in temperate regions, that have been significantly modified via land management practices to improve productivity. It is hypothesised that, once degraded, the structure and function of these very diverse grassland ecosystems follows the same negative trajectory, resulting in depleted soil depths, nutrient storage capacities and therefore reduced plant growth and long-term carbon sequestration. Results demonstrate that similar, but highly complex and non-linear responses to perturbation of the ecosystem are observed, regardless of the environmental setting or wider climatic conditions that the grasslands experience. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the relatively stable ecosystem state that has prevailed in the 'pristine' grasslands studied, is in fact very fragile and may be easily altered, either by anthropogenic forcing, due to land management or by 'semi-natural' processes, related to climate change or changes in the incidence of wildfires (for example). Once structurally altered, it is also shown that positive feedbacks will occur to accelerate the loss of critical resources (topsoil and nutrients) from the ecosystem, in particular in drylands, resulting in widespread land degradation that cannot be reversed. In the temperate grasslands studied, it is shown that anthropogenic intervention may halt or even to some degree reverse the degradation of the soil-vegetation-water continuum. However, such 'landscape restoration' approaches are costly and require long-term management commitment if they are to succeed. Finally, analysis of water, sediment and nutrient fluxes from this range of grasslands also demonstrates how critical ecosystem services that grasslands can provide; including soil water storage to buffer downstream flooding, soil carbon storage and enhanced biodiversity are reduced, often to the point where restoration of the original (pristine) landscape function is impossible. To conclude, discussion is made of how we can learn across grass landscapes globally, to ensure that those ecosystems that might be restored to build resilient landscapes under future climates are well understood and that future efforts to manage grasslands for increased food production do not degrade these critical ecosystems further.

The Moving Edge: Perspectives on the Southern Wildland-Urban Interface

Treesearch

Martha C. Monroe; Alison W. Bowers; L. Annie Hermansen

2003-01-01

To better understand the wildland-urban interface across the 13 Southern States and to identify issues to be covered in the USDA Forest Service report, "Human Influences on Forest Ecosystems: The Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment," 12 focus groups were conducted in 6 of the Southern States in May and June 2000. The groups were guided through a...

An Ecosystems and Vulnerable Populations Perspective on Solastalgia and Psychological Distress After a Wildfire

Treesearch

David Eisenman; Sarah McCaffrey; Ian Donatello; Grant Marshal

2015-01-01

We studied the relationship between psychological distress and relative resource and risk predictors, including loss of solace from the landscape (solastalgia), one year after the Wallow Fire, in Arizona, United States. Solastalgia refers to the distress caused by damage to the surrounding natural environment and it has not been examined for its relationship to...

Forest Health in North America: Some Perspectives on Actual and Potential Roles of Climate and Air Pollution

Treesearch

S. McLaughlin; K. Percy

1999-01-01

The perceived health of forest ecosystems over large temporal and spatial scales can be strongly influenced by the frames of reference chosen to evaluate both forest condition and the functional integrity of sustaining forest processes. North American forests are diverse in range, species composition, past disturbance history, and current management practices....

Perspectives on the age and distribution of large wood in riparian carbon pools

Treesearch

Richard P. Guyette; William G. Cole; Daniel C. Dey; Rose-Marie Muzkia

2002-01-01

Most knowledge of carbon budgets is derived from the productivity and sequestration of carbon in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Less is known of carbon stored in riparian areas associated with lakes and rivers. Case studies of the age distribution of carbon in aquatic large wood (C1w) from two different landscapes with different drainage...

Defining social acceptability in ecosystem management: a workshop proceedings; 1992 June 23-25; Kelso, WA.

Treesearch

Mark W. Brunson; Linda E. Kruger; Catherine B. Tyler; Susan A. Schroeder

1996-01-01

This compendium of papers was developed in response to the assumption that implementing an ecological approach to forest management requires an understanding of socially acceptable forestry—what it is and the implications of doing it. The papers in this collection bring to bear perspectives from a variety of social science disciplines and question whether the...

Approaching environmental health disparities and green spaces: An ecosystem services perspective

Treesearch

Viniece Jennings; Cassandra Johnson Gaither

2015-01-01

Health disparities occur when adverse health conditions are unequal across populations due in part to gaps in wealth. These disparities continue to plague global health. Decades of research suggests that the natural environment can play a key role in sustaining the health of the public. However, the influence of the natural environment on health disparities is not well...

Modeling for Policy Change: A Feedback Perspective on Improving the Effectiveness of Coastal and Marine Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robadue, Donald D., Jr.

2012-01-01

Those advocating for effective management of the use of coastal areas and ecosystems have long aspired for an approach to governance that includes information systems with the capability to predict the end results of various courses of action, monitor the impacts of decisions and compare results with those predicted by computer models in order to…

Land Stewardship in the 21st Century: The Contributions of Watershed Management; 2000 March 13-16; Tucson, AZ

Treesearch

Peter F. Ffolliott; Malchus B. Baker; Carleton B. Edminster; Madelyn C. Dillon; Karen L. Mora

2000-01-01

The purpose of this conference was to increase awareness through exploration and evaluation of global, national, and regional perspectives about the potential contributions that watershed management can make to the conservation, sustainable development, and use of natural resources in ecosystem-based land stewardship in the 21st century. The conference consisted of 2...

Entropy dynamics in cone production of longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

Xiongwen Chen; Dale G. Brockway; Qinfeng Guo

2016-01-01

Sporadic temporal patterns of seed production are a challenge for the regeneration and restoration of longleaf pine, which is a keystone component of an endangered ecosystem in the southeastern United States. In this study, long-term data for longleaf pine cone production, collected at six sites across the southeastern region, was examined from the perspective of...

Evaluation of the ruminal bacterial diversity of cattle fed diets containing citrus pulp pellets (CPP) using bacterial tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rumen microbial ecosystem has been extensively studied, but remains a mystery from a quantitative perspective. Dietary components and changes cause shifts in the ruminal microflora that can affect animal health and productivity, but the majority of these changes remain unknown. The objective of ...

Carbon exchange between ecosystems and atmosphere in the Czech Republic is affected by climate factors.

PubMed

Marek, Michal V; Janouš, Dalibor; Taufarová, Klára; Havránková, Kateřina; Pavelka, Marian; Kaplan, Věroslav; Marková, Irena

2011-05-01

By comparing five ecosystem types in the Czech Republic over several years, we recorded the highest carbon sequestration potential in an evergreen Norway spruce forest (100%) and an agroecosystem (65%), followed by European beech forest (25%) and a wetland ecosystem (20%). Because of a massive ecosystem respiration, the final carbon gain of the grassland was negative. Climate was shown to be an important factor of carbon uptake by ecosystems: by varying the growing season length (a 22-d longer season in 2005 than in 2007 increased carbon sink by 13%) or by the effect of short- term synoptic situations (e.g. summer hot and dry days reduced net carbon storage by 58% relative to hot and wet days). Carbon uptake is strongly affected by the ontogeny and a production strategy which is demonstrated by the comparison of seasonal course of carbon uptake between coniferous (Norway spruce) and deciduous (European beech) stands. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Re-establishing an ecological discourse in the policy debate over how to value ecosystems and biodiversity.

PubMed

Spash, Clive L; Aslaksen, Iulie

2015-08-15

In this paper we explore the discourses of ecology, environmental economics, new environmental pragmatism and social ecological economics as they relate to the value of ecosystems and biodiversity. Conceptualizing biodiversity and ecosystems as goods and services that can be represented by monetary values in policy processes is an economic discourse being increasingly championed by ecologists and conservation biologists. The latter promote a new environmental pragmatism internationally as hardwiring biodiversity and ecosystems services into finance. The approach adopts a narrow instrumentalism, denies value pluralism and incommensurability, and downplays the role of scientific knowledge. Re-establishing an ecological discourse in biodiversity policy implies a crucial role for biophysical indicators as independent policy targets, exemplified in this paper by the Nature Index for Norway. Yet, there is a recognisable need to go beyond a traditional ecological approach to one recognising the interconnections of social, ecological and economic problems. This requires reviving and relating to a range of alternative ecologically informed discourses, including an ecofeminist perspective, in order to transform the increasingly dominant and destructive relationship of humans separated from and domineering over Nature. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A review on the geoenvironmental and geoecological integrated technology for environmental remediation in Vietnam: approaches, contributions, challenges and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trong Nhuan, Mai; Hoang Ha, Nguyen Thi; Hoai, Ta Thi; Dang Quy, Tran

2017-06-01

Geoenvironmental and geoecological integrated technology (GGIT) is a cost-effective and environment-friendly technology that encompasses the applications of earth science principles and functions of geological environment and ecosystems to assimilate and minimize the spread of pollutants, to enhance the sorption capacity and environmental remediation. On the basis of the integrated approaches such as system, anthropogenic activities - ecosystem - environment interaction, effectiveness and feasibility, GGIT has provided significant applications in Vietnam such as waste containment and remediation and environmental protection. The results of a pilot scale using iron mine drainage sludge and common reed (Phragmites australis) for wastewater treatment in a Pb-Zn mine in northern Vietnam indicated the effective and potential application of GGIT. However, GGIT has many challenges in limited funding conditions, constraints in the initial development of GGIT, incomplete transfer to users, and quantitative assessment of pollutant cleanup by natural environments and ecosystems. Environmental pollution quote, impacts to exposed organisms, increasing demands for application of low-cost technologies, the availability of potential sorbents, indigenous plants, and ecosystems for environmental remediation, and collaboration will promote development, contribution, and implementation of GGIT applications in Vietnam.

Residents' perspectives on the final year of medical school

PubMed Central

Obrien, Bridget; Niehaus, Brian; Teherani, Arianne; Young, John Q.

2012-01-01

Objectives To characterize junior residents’ perspectives on the purpose, value, and potential improvement of the final year of medical school. Methods Eighteen interviews were conducted with junior residents who graduated from nine different medical schools and who were in internal medicine, surgery, and psychiatry programs at one institution in the United States. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed inductively for themes. Results Participants’ descriptions of the purpose of their recently completed final year of medical school contained three primary themes: residency-related purposes, interest- or need-based purposes, and transitional purposes. Participants commented on the most valued aspects of the final year. Themes included opportunities to: prepare for residency; assume a higher level of responsibility in patient care; pursue experiences of interest that added breadth of knowledge, skills and perspective; develop and/or clarify career plans; and enjoy a period of respite. Suggestions for improvement included enhancing the learning value of clinical electives, augmenting specific curricular content, and making the final year more purposeful and better aligned with career goals. Conclusions The final year of medical school is a critical part of medical education for most learners, but careful attention is needed to ensure that the year is developmentally robust. Medical educators can facilitate this by creating structures to help students define personal and professional goals, identify opportunities to work toward these goals, and monitor progress so that the value of the final year is optimized and not exclusively focused on residency preparation. PMID:28029642

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in national parks, nature reserves and protected areas worldwide: a strategic perspective for their in situ conservation.

PubMed

Turrini, Alessandra; Giovannetti, Manuela

2012-02-01

Soil fungi play a crucial role in producing fundamental ecosystem services such as soil fertility, formation and maintenance, nutrient cycling and plant community dynamics. However, they have received little attention in the field of conservation biology. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are beneficial soil symbionts fulfilling a key function in the complex networks of belowground/aboveground biotic interactions as they live in association with the roots of most (80%) land plant families and influence not only soil fertility but also plant nutrition, diversity and productivity. The diversity of AMF communities can decline due to habitat loss and anthropogenic disturbance, especially in agro-ecosystems, and many valuable ecotypes could become extinct before they are even discovered. Consequently, long-term strategies are urgently needed to ensure their conservation in habitats where they naturally occur and have evolved. Protected areas, where living organisms are under the care of national and international authorities, represent an appropriate place for the in situ conservation of AMF, providing them with adapted situations together with established complex networks of interactions with different components within each specific ecosystem. Here, we review data available about the main present-day threats to AMF and the current state of knowledge about their occurrence in protected sites worldwide, providing a checklist of national parks and nature reserves where they have been reported. The aim was to offer a strategic perspective to increase awareness of the importance of conserving these beneficial plant symbionts and of preserving their biodiversity in the years to come.

Conserving social-ecological systems in Indonesia: human-nonhuman primate interconnections in Bali and Sulawesi.

PubMed

Riley, Erin P; Fuentes, Agustín

2011-01-01

An important question asked by primatologists and conservationists alike is: what is the relevance of primates and primate conservation for ecosystem conservation? The goal of this article is to contribute to this dialogue by advocating the use of a research perspective that focuses on the dynamics of human-nonhuman primate sympatry and interaction (i.e., ethnoprimatology) in order to better understand complex social-ecological systems and to inform their conservation management. This perspective/approach is based largely on the recognition that human primates are important components of all ecological systems and that niche construction is a fundamental feature of their adaptive success. To demonstrate the relevance of the human-nonhuman primate interface for ecosystem conservation, we provide examples from our research from two islands in the Indonesian archipelago: Bali and Sulawesi. In Bali, humans and long-tail macaques coexist in a system that creates favorable environments for the macaques. This anthropogenic landscape and the economic and ecological relationships between humans and monkeys on Bali provide insight into sustainable systems of human/nonhuman primate coexistence. In Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi, villagers and Tonkean macaques overlap in their use of both forest and cultivated resources. The finding that the Arenga pinnata palm is extremely important for both villagers and macaques points to a conservation management recommendation that may help protect the overall ecosystem; the cultivation and propagation of mutually important tree species at forest-agricultural ecotone as a means to curb crop raiding and to alleviate farmer's perceived need to clear additional forest.

Wasp waist or beer belly? Modeling food web structure and energetic control in Alaskan marine ecosystems, with implications for fishing and environmental forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaichas, Sarah; Aydin, Kerim; Francis, Robert C.

2015-11-01

The Eastern Bering Sea (EBS) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) continental shelf ecosystems show some similar and some distinctive groundfish biomass dynamics. Given that similar species occupy these regions and fisheries management is also comparable, similarities might be expected, but to what can we attribute the differences? Different types of ecosystem structure and control (e.g. top-down, bottom-up, mixed) can imply different ecosystem dynamics and climate interactions. Further, the structural type identified for a given ecosystem may suggest optimal management for sustainable fishing. Here, we use information on the current system state derived from food web models of both the EBS and the GOA combined with dynamic ecosystem models incorporating uncertainty to classify each ecosystem by its structural type. We then suggest how this structure might be generally related to dynamics and predictability. We find that the EBS and GOA have fundamentally different food web structures both overall, and when viewed from the perspective of the same commercially and ecologically important species in each system, walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus). EBS food web structure centers on a large mass of pollock, which appears to contribute to relative system stability and predictability. In contrast, GOA food web structure features high predator biomass, which contributes to a more dynamic, less predictable ecosystem. Mechanisms for climate influence on pollock production in the EBS are increasingly understood, while climate forcing mechanisms contributing to the potentially destabilizing high predator biomass in the GOA remain enigmatic. We present results of identical pollock fishing and climate-driven pollock recruitment simulations in the EBS and GOA which show different system responses, again with less predictable response in the GOA. Overall, our results suggest that identifying structural properties of fished food webs is as important for sustainable fisheries management as attempting to predict climate and fisheries effects within each ecosystem.

Modeling leaf phenology variation by groupings of species within and across ecosystems in northern Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Euskirchen, E. S.; Carman, T. B.; McGuire, A. D.

2012-12-01

The phenology of arctic ecosystems is driven primarily by abiotic forces, with temperature acting as the main determinant of growing season onset and leaf budburst and in the spring. However, while the plant species in arctic ecosystems require differing amounts of accumulated heat for leaf-out, dynamic vegetation models simulated over a regional to global scale typically assume some average leaf-out for all of the species within an ecosystem. Here, we make use of air temperature records and observational data of spring leaf phenology collected across dominant groupings of species (dwarf birch shrubs, willow shrubs, other deciduous shrubs, grasses, sedges, and forbs) in arctic and ecotonal boreal ecosystems in Alaska. We then parameterize a dynamic vegetation model based on these data for four types of tundra ecosystems (heath tundra, shrub tundra, wet sedge tundra, and tussock tundra), as well as ecotonal boreal white spruce forest. This implementation improves the timing of the onset of carbon uptake in the spring, permitting a more accurate assessment of the contribution of each grouping of species to ecosystem performance. Furthermore, this implementation provides a more nuanced perspective on light competition among species and across ecosystems. For example, in the shrub tundra, the sedges and grasses leaf-out before the shade-inducing willow and dwarf birch, thereby providing the sedges and grasses time to accumulate biomass before shading effects arise. Also in the shrub tundra, the forbs leaf-out last, and are therefore, more prone to shading impacts by the taller willow and dwarf birch shrubs. However, in the wet sedge and heath tundra ecosystems, the forbs leaf-out before the shrubs, and are therefore less prone to shading impacts early in the growing season. These findings indicate the importance of leaf phenology data collection by species and across the various ecosystem types within the highly heterogeneous Arctic landscape. These findings also demonstrate that high-latitude dynamic vegetation models should consider variation in leaf-out by groupings of species within and across ecosystems in order to provide more accurate projections of future plant distributions in Arctic regions.

Effects of ecological interactions and environmental conditions on community dynamics in an estuarine ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H.; Minello, T.; Sutton, G.

2016-02-01

Coastal marine ecosystems are both productive and vulnerable to human and natural stressors. Examining the relative importance of fishing, environmental variability, and habitat alteration on ecosystem dynamics is challenging. Intensive harvest and habitat loss have resulted in widespread concerns related to declines in fisheries production, but causal mechanisms are rarely clear. In this study, we modeled trophic dynamics in Galveston Bay, Texas, using fishery-independent catch data for blue crab, shrimp, red drum, Atlantic croaker and spotted seatrout along with habitat information collected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department during 1984 - 2014. We developed a multispecies state-space model to examine ecological interactions and partition the relative effects of trophic interactions and environmental conditions on the community dynamics. Preliminary results showed the importance of salinity, density-dependence, and trophic interactions. We are continuing to explore these results from a perspective of fish community compensatory responses to exploitation, reflecting both direct and indirect effects of harvesting under the influence of climate variability.

Bioaerosols in the Earth system: Climate, health, and ecosystem interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fröhlich-Nowoisky, Janine; Kampf, Christopher J.; Weber, Bettina; Huffman, J. Alex; Pöhlker, Christopher; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Lang-Yona, Naama; Burrows, Susannah M.; Gunthe, Sachin S.; Elbert, Wolfgang; Su, Hang; Hoor, Peter; Thines, Eckhard; Hoffmann, Thorsten; Després, Viviane R.; Pöschl, Ulrich

2016-12-01

Aerosols of biological origin play a vital role in the Earth system, particularly in the interactions between atmosphere, biosphere, climate, and public health. Airborne bacteria, fungal spores, pollen, and other bioparticles are essential for the reproduction and spread of organisms across various ecosystems, and they can cause or enhance human, animal, and plant diseases. Moreover, they can serve as nuclei for cloud droplets, ice crystals, and precipitation, thus influencing the hydrological cycle and climate. The sources, abundance, composition, and effects of biological aerosols and the atmospheric microbiome are, however, not yet well characterized and constitute a large gap in the scientific understanding of the interaction and co-evolution of life and climate in the Earth system. This review presents an overview of the state of bioaerosol research, highlights recent advances, and outlines future perspectives in terms of bioaerosol identification, characterization, transport, and transformation processes, as well as their interactions with climate, health, and ecosystems, focusing on the role bioaerosols play in the Earth system.

'Ecosystem service opportunities': A practice-oriented framework for identifying economic instruments to enhance biodiversity and human livelihoods.

PubMed

Rode, Julian; Wittmer, Heidi; Emerton, Lucy; Schröter-Schlaack, Christoph

2016-09-01

Economic instruments that promise "win-win" solutions for both biodiversity conservation and human livelihoods have become increasingly popular over recent years. There however remains a gap in terms of practical and policy-relevant guidance about appropriate approaches that take into account the local needs and the specific cultural, legal, and ecological context in which such instruments are being developed and applied. This paper presents a step-by-step framework that helps conservation and development planners and practitioners to identify economic instruments that can promote pro-conservation behaviour in a specific setting. The concept of 'ecosystem service opportunities' builds on, and brings together, general economic principles and an ecosystem services perspective. The framework was designed to also address a number of concerns regarding economic approaches in order to help practitioners recognise the potentials and limits of economic approaches to nature conservation. The framework is illustrated by its application within the realm of a biodiversity conservation project in Thailand.

The effect of range changes on the functional turnover, structure and diversity of bird assemblages under future climate scenarios.

PubMed

Barbet-Massin, Morgane; Jetz, Walter

2015-08-01

Animal assemblages fulfill a critical set of ecological functions for ecosystems that may be altered substantially as climate change-induced distribution changes lead to community disaggregation and reassembly. We combine species and community perspectives to assess the consequences of projected geographic range changes for the diverse functional attributes of avian assemblages worldwide. Assemblage functional structure is projected to change highly unevenly across space. These differences arise from both changes in the number of species and changes in species' relative local functional redundancy or distinctness. They sometimes result in substantial losses of functional diversity that could have severe consequences for ecosystem health. Range expansions may counter functional losses in high-latitude regions, but offer little compensation in many tropical and subtropical biomes. Future management of local community function and ecosystem services thus relies on understanding the global dynamics of species distributions and multiscale approaches that include the biogeographic context of species traits. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Belowground Microbiota and the Health of Tree Crops.

PubMed

Mercado-Blanco, Jesús; Abrantes, Isabel; Barra Caracciolo, Anna; Bevivino, Annamaria; Ciancio, Aurelio; Grenni, Paola; Hrynkiewicz, Katarzyna; Kredics, László; Proença, Diogo N

2018-01-01

Trees are crucial for sustaining life on our planet. Forests and land devoted to tree crops do not only supply essential edible products to humans and animals, but also additional goods such as paper or wood. They also prevent soil erosion, support microbial, animal, and plant biodiversity, play key roles in nutrient and water cycling processes, and mitigate the effects of climate change acting as carbon dioxide sinks. Hence, the health of forests and tree cropping systems is of particular significance. In particular, soil/rhizosphere/root-associated microbial communities (known as microbiota) are decisive to sustain the fitness, development, and productivity of trees. These benefits rely on processes aiming to enhance nutrient assimilation efficiency (plant growth promotion) and/or to protect against a number of (a)biotic constraints. Moreover, specific members of the microbial communities associated with perennial tree crops interact with soil invertebrate food webs, underpinning many density regulation mechanisms. This review discusses belowground microbiota interactions influencing the growth of tree crops. The study of tree-(micro)organism interactions taking place at the belowground level is crucial to understand how they contribute to processes like carbon sequestration, regulation of ecosystem functioning, and nutrient cycling. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between roots and their associate microbiota can also facilitate the design of novel sustainable approaches for the benefit of these relevant agro-ecosystems. Here, we summarize the methodological approaches to unravel the composition and function of belowground microbiota, the factors influencing their interaction with tree crops, their benefits and harms, with a focus on representative examples of Biological Control Agents (BCA) used against relevant biotic constraints of tree crops. Finally, we add some concluding remarks and suggest future perspectives concerning the microbiota-assisted management strategies to sustain tree crops.

Belowground Microbiota and the Health of Tree Crops

PubMed Central

Mercado-Blanco, Jesús; Abrantes, Isabel; Barra Caracciolo, Anna; Bevivino, Annamaria; Ciancio, Aurelio; Grenni, Paola; Hrynkiewicz, Katarzyna; Kredics, László; Proença, Diogo N.

2018-01-01

Trees are crucial for sustaining life on our planet. Forests and land devoted to tree crops do not only supply essential edible products to humans and animals, but also additional goods such as paper or wood. They also prevent soil erosion, support microbial, animal, and plant biodiversity, play key roles in nutrient and water cycling processes, and mitigate the effects of climate change acting as carbon dioxide sinks. Hence, the health of forests and tree cropping systems is of particular significance. In particular, soil/rhizosphere/root-associated microbial communities (known as microbiota) are decisive to sustain the fitness, development, and productivity of trees. These benefits rely on processes aiming to enhance nutrient assimilation efficiency (plant growth promotion) and/or to protect against a number of (a)biotic constraints. Moreover, specific members of the microbial communities associated with perennial tree crops interact with soil invertebrate food webs, underpinning many density regulation mechanisms. This review discusses belowground microbiota interactions influencing the growth of tree crops. The study of tree-(micro)organism interactions taking place at the belowground level is crucial to understand how they contribute to processes like carbon sequestration, regulation of ecosystem functioning, and nutrient cycling. A comprehensive understanding of the relationship between roots and their associate microbiota can also facilitate the design of novel sustainable approaches for the benefit of these relevant agro-ecosystems. Here, we summarize the methodological approaches to unravel the composition and function of belowground microbiota, the factors influencing their interaction with tree crops, their benefits and harms, with a focus on representative examples of Biological Control Agents (BCA) used against relevant biotic constraints of tree crops. Finally, we add some concluding remarks and suggest future perspectives concerning the microbiota-assisted management strategies to sustain tree crops. PMID:29922245

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Gary E.; Thom, Ronald M.; Whiting, Allan H.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in coordination with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and NOAA Fisheries, originated this project (BPA Project No. 2002-076; Contract No. DE-AC06-76RL01830, Release No. 652-24). Their intent was to develop a useful habitat restoration plan for the lower Columbia River and estuary to help guide restoration efforts and fulfill Reasonable and Prudent Alternative Action 159 of the 2000 National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Opinion on operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System. This document focuses on salmon habitat, although its ecosystem-based approach necessarily affects other species as well. Salmon habitat restoration ismore » best undertaken within the context of other biota and physical processes using an ecosystem perspective. The anticipated audience for the plan includes entities responsible for, interested in, or affected by habitat restoration in the lower Columbia River and estuary. Timeframes to apply this plan extend from the immediate (2003-2004) to the near-term (2005-2006) to the long-term (2007 and beyond). We anticipate and encourage that the plan be revised as new knowledge and experience are attained. A team comprised of the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST), the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) wrote this document. The BPA and the COE, as the responsible Action Agencies, provided technical oversight. The Estuary Partnership's Science Work Group, NOAA Fisheries Habitat Conservation Division, Northwest Power Planning Council (NPPC) staff, and state and tribal fisheries management agencies reviewed drafts. The Independent Scientific Advisory Board of the NPPC reviewed and commented on the 90% draft. Revisions were incorporated into the final draft document subsequently released for public review. Extensive efforts were made to ensure a sound technical and policy basis and to solicit input from all interested parties.« less

The SAMCO Web-platform for resilience assessment in mountainous valleys impacted by landslide risks.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grandjean, Gilles; Thomas, Loic; Bernardie, Severine

2016-04-01

The ANR-SAMCO project aims to develop a proactive resilience framework enhancing the overall resilience of societies on the impacts of mountain risks. The project aims to elaborate methodological tools to characterize and measure ecosystem and societal resilience from an operative perspective on three mountain representative case studies. To achieve this objective, the methodology is split in several points: (1) the definition of the potential impacts of global environmental changes (climate system, ecosystem e.g. land use, socio-economic system) on landslide hazards, (2) the analysis of these consequences in terms of vulnerability (e.g. changes in the location and characteristics of the impacted areas and level of their perturbation) and (3) the implementation of a methodology for quantitatively investigating and mapping indicators of mountain slope vulnerability exposed to several hazard types, and the development of a GIS-based demonstration platform available on the web. The strength and originality of the SAMCO project lies in the combination of different techniques, methodologies and models (multi-hazard assessment, risk evolution in time, vulnerability functional analysis, and governance strategies) that are implemented in a user-oriented web-platform, currently in development. We present the first results of this development task, architecture and functions of the web-tools, the case studies database showing the multi-hazard maps and the stakes at risks. Risk assessment over several area of interest in Alpine or Pyrenean valleys are still in progress, but the first analyses are presented for current and future periods for which climate change and land-use (economical, geographical and social aspects) scenarios are taken into account. This tool, dedicated to stakeholders, should be finally used to evaluate resilience of mountainous regions since multiple scenarios can be tested and compared.

Responses of alpine grassland on Qinghai-Tibetan plateau to climate warming and permafrost degradation: a modeling perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Shuhua; Wang, Xiaoyun; Qin, Yu; Xiang, Bo; Ding, Yongjian

2014-07-01

Permafrost plays a critical role in soil hydrology. Thus, the degradation of permafrost under warming climate conditions may affect the alpine grassland ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Previous space-for-time studies using plot and basin scales have reached contradictory conclusions. In this study, we applied a process-based ecosystem model (DOS-TEM) with a state-of-the-art permafrost hydrology scheme to examine this issue. Our results showed that 1) the DOS-TEM model could properly simulate the responses of soil thermal and hydrological dynamics and of ecosystem dynamics to climate warming and spatial differences in precipitation; 2) the simulated results were consistent with plot-scale studies showing that warming caused an increase in maximum unfrozen thickness, a reduction in vegetation and soil carbon pools as a whole, and decreases in soil water content, net primary production, and heterotrophic respiration; and 3) the simulated results were also consistent with basin-scale studies showing that the ecosystem responses to warming were different in regions with different combinations of water and energy constraints. Permafrost prevents water from draining into water reservoirs. However, the degradation of permafrost in response to warming is a long-term process that also enhances evapotranspiration. Thus, the degradation of the alpine grassland ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (releasing carbon) cannot be mainly attributed to the disappearing waterproofing function of permafrost.

Global Patterns of Bacterial Beta-Diversity in Seafloor and Seawater Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Zinger, Lucie; Amaral-Zettler, Linda A.; Fuhrman, Jed A.; Horner-Devine, M. Claire; Huse, Susan M.; Welch, David B. Mark; Martiny, Jennifer B. H.; Sogin, Mitchell; Boetius, Antje; Ramette, Alban

2011-01-01

Background Marine microbial communities have been essential contributors to global biomass, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity since the early history of Earth, but so far their community distribution patterns remain unknown in most marine ecosystems. Methodology/Principal Findings The synthesis of 9.6 million bacterial V6-rRNA amplicons for 509 samples that span the global ocean's surface to the deep-sea floor shows that pelagic and benthic communities greatly differ, at all taxonomic levels, and share <10% bacterial types defined at 3% sequence similarity level. Surface and deep water, coastal and open ocean, and anoxic and oxic ecosystems host distinct communities that reflect productivity, land influences and other environmental constraints such as oxygen availability. The high variability of bacterial community composition specific to vent and coastal ecosystems reflects the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of these habitats. Both pelagic and benthic bacterial community distributions correlate with surface water productivity, reflecting the coupling between both realms by particle export. Also, differences in physical mixing may play a fundamental role in the distribution patterns of marine bacteria, as benthic communities showed a higher dissimilarity with increasing distance than pelagic communities. Conclusions/Significance This first synthesis of global bacterial distribution across different ecosystems of the World's oceans shows remarkable horizontal and vertical large-scale patterns in bacterial communities. This opens interesting perspectives for the definition of biogeographical biomes for bacteria of ocean waters and the seabed. PMID:21931760

Postfire management in forested public lands of the western USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beschta, R.L.; Rhodes, J.J.; Kauffman, J.B.; Gresswell, Robert E.; Minshall, G.W.; Frissell, C.A.; Perry, D.A.; Hauer, R.

2004-01-01

Forest ecosystems in the western United States evolved over many millennia in response to disturbances such as wildfires. Land use and management practices have altered these ecosystems, however, including fire regimes in some areas. Forest ecosystems are especially vulnerable to postfire management practices because such practices may influence forest dynamics and aquatic systems for decades to centuries. Thus, there is an increasing need to evaluate the effect of postfire treatments from the perspective of ecosystem recovery. We examined, via the published literature and our collective experience, the ecological effects of some common postfire treatments. Based on this examination, promising postfire restoration measures include retention of large trees, rehabilitation of firelines and roads, and, in some cases, planting of native species. The following practices are generally inconsistent with efforts to restore ecosystem functions after fire: seeding exotic species, livestock grazing, placement of physical structures in and near stream channels, ground-based postfire logging, removal of large trees, and road construction. Practices that adversely affect soil integrity, persistence or recovery of native species, riparian functions, or water quality generally impede ecological recovery after fire. Although research provides a basis for evaluating the efficacy of postfire treatments, there is a continuing need to increase our understanding of the effects of such treatments within the context of societal and ecological goals for forested public lands of the western United States.

Ecosystem services altered by human changes in the nitrogen cycle: a new perspective for US decision making.

PubMed

Compton, Jana E; Harrison, John A; Dennis, Robin L; Greaver, Tara L; Hill, Brian H; Jordan, Stephen J; Walker, Henry; Campbell, Holly V

2011-08-01

Human alteration of the nitrogen (N) cycle has produced benefits for health and well-being, but excess N has altered many ecosystems and degraded air and water quality. US regulations mandate protection of the environment in terms that directly connect to ecosystem services. Here, we review the science quantifying effects of N on key ecosystem services, and compare the costs of N-related impacts or mitigation using the metric of cost per unit of N. Damage costs to the provision of clean air, reflected by impaired human respiratory health, are well characterized and fairly high (e.g. costs of ozone and particulate damages of $28 per kg NO(x)-N). Damage to services associated with productivity, biodiversity, recreation and clean water are less certain and although generally lower, these costs are quite variable (<$2.2-56 per kg N). In the current Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, for example, the collection of available damage costs clearly exceeds the projected abatement costs to reduce N loads to the Bay ($8-15 per kg N). Explicit consideration and accounting of effects on multiple ecosystem services provides decision-makers an integrated view of N sources, damages and abatement costs to address the significant challenges associated with reducing N pollution. Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Improved global simulation of groundwater-ecosystem interactions via tight coupling of a dynamic global ecosystem model and a global hydrological model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braakhekke, Maarten; Rebel, Karin; Dekker, Stefan; Smith, Benjamin; Sutanudjaja, Edwin; van Beek, Rens; van Kampenhout, Leo; Wassen, Martin

2017-04-01

In up to 30% of the global land surface ecosystems are potentially influenced by the presence of a shallow groundwater table. In these regions upward water flux by capillary rise increases soil moisture availability in the root zone, which has a strong effect on evapotranspiration, vegetation dynamics, and fluxes of carbon and nitrogen. Most global hydrological models and several land surface models simulate groundwater table dynamics and their effects on land surface processes. However, these models typically have relatively simplistic representation of vegetation and do not consider changes in vegetation type and structure. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs), describe land surface from an ecological perspective, combining detailed description of vegetation dynamics and structure, and biogeochemical processes and are thus more appropriate to simulate the ecological and biogeochemical effects of groundwater interactions. However, currently virtually all DGVMs ignore these effects, assuming that water tables are too deep to affect soil moisture in the root zone. We have implemented a tight coupling between the dynamic global ecosystem model LPJ-GUESS and the global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB, which explicitly simulates groundwater dynamics. This coupled model allows us to explicitly account for groundwater effects on terrestrial ecosystem processes at global scale. Results of global simulations indicate that groundwater strongly influences fluxes of water, carbon and nitrogen, in many regions, adding up to a considerable effect at the global scale.

Consistent nutrient storage and supply mediated by diverse fish communities in coral reef ecosystems.

PubMed

Allgeier, Jacob E; Layman, Craig A; Mumby, Peter J; Rosemond, Amy D

2014-08-01

Corals thrive in low nutrient environments and the conservation of these globally imperiled ecosystems is largely dependent on mitigating the effects of anthropogenic nutrient enrichment. However, to better understand the implications of anthropogenic nutrients requires a heightened understanding of baseline nutrient dynamics within these ecosystems. Here, we provide a novel perspective on coral reef nutrient dynamics by examining the role of fish communities in the supply and storage of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). We quantified fish-mediated nutrient storage and supply for 144 species and modeled these data onto 172 fish communities (71 729 individual fish), in four types of coral reefs, as well as seagrass and mangrove ecosystems, throughout the Northern Antilles. Fish communities supplied and stored large quantities of nutrients, with rates varying among ecosystem types. The size structure and diversity of the fish communities best predicted N and P supply and storage and N : P supply, suggesting that alterations to fish communities (e.g., overfishing) will have important implications for nutrient dynamics in these systems. The stoichiometric ratio (N : P) for storage in fish mass (~8 : 1) and supply (~20 : 1) was notably consistent across the four coral reef types (but not seagrass or mangrove ecosystems). Published nutrient enrichment studies on corals show that deviations from this N : P supply ratio may be associated with poor coral fitness, providing qualitative support for the hypothesis that corals and their symbionts may be adapted to specific ratios of nutrient supply. Consumer nutrient stoichiometry provides a baseline from which to better understand nutrient dynamics in coral reef and other coastal ecosystems, information that is greatly needed if we are to implement more effective measures to ensure the future health of the world's oceans. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem.

PubMed

Adner, Ron

2006-04-01

High-definition televisions should, by now, be a huge success. Philips, Sony, and Thompson invested billions of dollars to develop TV sets with astonishing picture quality. From a technology perspective, they've succeeded: Console manufacturers have been ready for the mass market since the early 1990s. Yet the category has been an unmitigated failure, not because of deficiencies, but because critical complements such as studio production equipment were not developed or adopted in time. Under-performing complements have left console producers in the position of offering a Ferrari in a world without gasoline or highways--an admirable engineering feat, but not one that creates value for customers. The HDTV story exemplifies the promise and peril of innovation ecosystems--the collaborative arrangements through which firms combine their individual offers into a coherent, customer-facing solution. When they work, innovation ecosystems allow companies to create value that no one firm could have created alone. The benefits of these systems are real. But for many organizations the attempt at ecosystem innovation has been a costly failure. This is because, along with new opportunities, innovation ecosystems also present a new set of risks that can brutally derail a firm's best efforts. Innovation ecosystems are characterized by three fundamental types of risk: initiative risks--the familiar uncertainties of managing a project; interdependence risks--the uncertainties of coordinating with complementary innovators; and integration risks--the uncertainties presented by the adoption process across the value chain. Firms that assess ecosystem risks holistically and systematically will be able to establish more realistic expectations, develop a more refined set of environmental contingencies, and arrive at a more robust innovation strategy. Collectively, these actions will lead to more effective implementation and more profitable innovation.

Aerosols in atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles of nutrients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanakidou, Maria; Myriokefalitakis, Stelios; Tsigaridis, Kostas

2018-06-01

Atmospheric aerosols have complex and variable compositions and properties. While scientific interest is centered on the health and climatic effects of atmospheric aerosols, insufficient attention is given to their involvement in multiphase chemistry that alters their contribution as carriers of nutrients in ecosystems. However, there is experimental proof that the nutrient equilibria of both land and marine ecosystems have been disturbed during the Anthropocene period. This review study first summarizes our current understanding of aerosol chemical processing in the atmosphere as relevant to biogeochemical cycles. Then it binds together results of recent modeling studies based on laboratory and field experiments, focusing on the organic and dust components of aerosols that account for multiphase chemistry, aerosol ageing in the atmosphere, nutrient (N, P, Fe) emissions, atmospheric transport, transformation and deposition. The human-driven contribution to atmospheric deposition of these nutrients, derived by global simulations using past and future anthropogenic emissions of pollutants, is put into perspective with regard to potential changes in nutrient limitations and biodiversity. Atmospheric deposition of nutrients has been suggested to result in human-induced ecosystem limitations with regard to specific nutrients. Such modifications favor the development of certain species against others and affect the overall functioning of ecosystems. Organic forms of nutrients are found to contribute to the atmospheric deposition of the nutrients N, P and Fe by 20%–40%, 35%–45% and 7%–18%, respectively. These have the potential to be key components of the biogeochemical cycles since there is initial proof of their bioavailability to ecosystems. Bioaerosols have been found to make a significant contribution to atmospheric sources of N and P, indicating potentially significant interactions between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. These results deserve further experimental and modeling studies to reduce uncertainties and understand the feedbacks induced by atmospheric deposition of nutrients to ecosystems.

Wetland ecosystem health assessment through integrating remote sensing and inventory data with an assessment model for the Hangzhou Bay, China.

PubMed

Sun, Tengteng; Lin, Wenpeng; Chen, Guangsheng; Guo, Pupu; Zeng, Ying

2016-10-01

Due to rapid urbanization, industrialization and population growth, wetland area in China has shrunk rapidly and many wetland ecosystems have been reported to degrade during recent decades. Wetland health assessment could raise the public awareness of the wetland condition and guide policy makers to make reasonable and sustainable policies or strategies to protect and restore wetland ecosystems. This study assessed the health levels of wetland ecosystem at the Hangzhou Bay, China using the pressure-state-response (PSR) model through synthesizing remote sensing and statistical data. Ten ecological and social-economic indicators were selected to build the wetland health assessment system. Weights of these indicators and PSR model components as well as the normalized wetland health score were assigned and calculated based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. We analyzed the spatio-temporal changes in wetland ecosystem health status during the past 20years (1990-2010) from the perspectives of ecosystem pressure, state and response. The results showed that the overall wetland health score was in a fair health level, but displayed large spatial variability in 2010. The wetland health score declined from good health level to fair health level from 1990 to 2000, then restored slightly from 2000 to 2010. Overall, wetland health levels showed a decline from 1990 to 2010 for most administrative units. The temporal change patterns in wetland ecosystem health varied significantly among administrative units. Our results could help to clarify the administrative responsibilities and obligations and provide scientific guides not only for wetland protection but also for restoration and city development planning at the Hangzhou Bay area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New perspectives in fire management in South American savannas: The importance of intercultural governance.

PubMed

Mistry, Jayalaxshmi; Schmidt, Isabel Belloni; Eloy, Ludivine; Bilbao, Bibiana

2018-05-11

Wildfires continue to cause damage to property, livelihoods and environments around the world. Acknowledging that dealing with wildfires has to go beyond fire-fighting, governments in countries with fire-prone ecosystems have begun to recognize the multiple perspectives of landscape burning and the need to engage with local communities and their practices. In this perspective, we outline the experiences of Brazil and Venezuela, two countries where fire management has been highly contested, but where there have been recent advances in fire management approaches. Success of these new initiatives have been measured by the reduction in wildfire extent through prescribed burning, and the opening of a dialogue on fire management between government agencies and local communities. Yet, it is clear that further developments in community participation need to take place in order to avoid the appropriation of local knowledge systems by institutions, and to better reflect more equitable fire governance.

Effects of ship-induced waves on aquatic ecosystems.

PubMed

Gabel, Friederike; Lorenz, Stefan; Stoll, Stefan

2017-12-01

Most larger water bodies worldwide are used for navigation, and the intensity of commercial and recreational navigation is expected to further increase. Navigation profoundly affects aquatic ecosystems. To facilitate navigation, rivers are trained and developed, and the direct effects of navigation include chemical and biological impacts (e.g., inputs of toxic substances and dispersal of non-native species, respectively). Furthermore, propagating ships create hydrodynamic alterations, often simply summarized as waves. Although ship-induced waves are recognized as influential stressors, knowledge on their effects is poorly synthesized. We present here a review on the effects of ship-induced waves on the structure, function and services of aquatic ecosystems based on more than 200 peer reviewed publications and technical reports. Ship-induced waves act at multiple organizational levels and different spatial and temporal scales. All the abiotic and biotic components of aquatic ecosystems are affected, from the sediment and nutrient budget to the planktonic, benthic and fish communities. We highlight how the effects of ship-induced waves cascade through ecosystems and how different effects interact and feed back into the ecosystem finally leading to altered ecosystem services and human health effects. Based on this synthesis of wave effects, we discuss strategies for mitigation. This may help to develop scientifically based and target-oriented management plans for navigational waters that optimize abiotic and biotic integrity and their ecosystem services and uses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Biodiversity and disease: a synthesis of ecological perspectives on Lyme disease transmission.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Chelsea L.; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2013-01-01

Recent reviews have argued that disease control is among the ecosystem services yielded by biodiversity. Lyme disease (LD) is commonly cited as the best example of the ‘diluting’ effect of biodiversity on disease transmission, but many studies document the opposite relationship, showing that human LD risk can increase with forestation. Here, we unify these divergent perspectives and find strong evidence for a positive link between biodiversity and LD at broad spatial scales (urban to suburban to rural) and equivocal evidence for a negative link between biodiversity and LD at varying levels of biodiversity within forests. This finding suggests that, across zoonotic disease agents, the biodiversity–disease relationship is scale dependent and complex.

″The Anthropocene″, Ecosystem Management, and Environmental Virtue.

PubMed

Sandler, Ronald

2016-01-01

*Portions of this article are drawn from: Sandler, R. Environmental Ethics: Theory in Practice, Oxford University Press, New York, in press. In this article I consider contrasting views on the implications of rapid, macroscale anthropogenic change for environmental ethics, particularly ecosystem management, species conservation, and environmental virtue. I begin by reviewing the Anthropocene debate, which has become a primary point of discourse on whether we ought to embrace a more interventionist stance regarding ecosystem management and species conservation. I then discuss the challenges posed by rapid ecological change to predominant ecosystem management and species conservation practices. I argue that these challenges not withstanding, we ought not go all in on interventionist management, even as novel conservation and management techniques can be justified in particular cases. It is possible to adopt a more forward looking normative stance, without licensing robust interventionism. Finally, I discuss the implications of this for some environmental virtues.

National Ocean Sciences Bowl in 2014: A National Competition for High School Ocean Science Education

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-03-31

the 2014 National Finals Competition. The Finals were held May 1-4, 2014 in Seattle, WA with a theme of ocean acidification . A longitudinal study and...Washington (UW) in Seattle, WA on May 1-4, 2014. The theme for the 2014 Finals Competition was ocean acidification , exploring the progressive increase in...and environmental and societal effects of ocean acidification . They became more aware of ocean acidification’s potential to disrupt ecosystems in a

Sustaining Rare Marine Microorganisms: Macroorganisms As Repositories and Dispersal Agents of Microbial Diversity.

PubMed

Troussellier, Marc; Escalas, Arthur; Bouvier, Thierry; Mouillot, David

2017-01-01

Recent analyses revealed that most of the biodiversity observed in marine microbial communities is represented by organisms with low abundance but, nonetheless essential for ecosystem dynamics and processes across both temporal and spatial scales. Surprisingly, few studies have considered the effect of macroorganism-microbe interactions on the ecology and distribution dynamics of rare microbial taxa. In this review, we synthesize several lines of evidence that these relationships cannot be neglected any longer. First, we provide empirical support that the microbiota of macroorganisms represents a significant part of marine bacterial biodiversity and that host-microbe interactions benefit to certain microbial populations which are part of the rare biosphere (i.e., opportunistic copiotrophic organisms). Second, we reveal the major role that macroorganisms may have on the dispersal and the geographic distribution of microbes. Third, we introduce an innovative and integrated view of the interactions between microbes and macroorganisms, namely sustaining the rares , which suggests that macroorganisms favor the maintenance of marine microbial diversity and are involved in the regulation of its richness and dynamics. Finally, we show how this hypothesis complements existing theories in microbial ecology and offers new perspectives about the importance of macroorganisms for the microbial biosphere, particularly the rare members.

Improving Toxicity Assessment of Pesticide Mixtures: The Use of Polar Passive Sampling Devices Extracts in Microalgae Toxicity Tests

PubMed Central

Kim Tiam, Sandra; Fauvelle, Vincent; Morin, Soizic; Mazzella, Nicolas

2016-01-01

Complexity of contaminants exposure needs to be taking in account for an appropriate evaluation of risks related to mixtures of pesticides released in the ecosystems. Toxicity assessment of such mixtures can be made through a variety of toxicity tests reflecting different level of biological complexity. This paper reviews the recent developments of passive sampling techniques for polar compounds, especially Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers (POCIS) and Chemcatcher® and the principal assessment techniques using microalgae in laboratory experiments. The progresses permitted by the coupled use of such passive samplers and ecotoxicology testing as well as their limitations are presented. Case studies combining passive sampling devices (PSD) extracts and toxicity assessment toward microorganisms at different biological scales from single organisms to communities level are presented. These case studies, respectively, aimed (i) at characterizing the “toxic potential” of waters using dose-response curves, and (ii) at performing microcosm experiments with increased environmental realism in the toxicant exposure in term of cocktail composition and concentration. Finally perspectives and limitations of such approaches for future applications in the area of environmental risk assessment are discussed. PMID:27667986

Transforming Ecosystems: When, Where, and How to Restore Contaminated Sites

PubMed Central

Rohr, Jason R; Farag, Aïda M; Cadotte, Marc W; Clements, William H; Smith, James R; Ulrich, Cheryl P; Woods, Richard

2016-01-01

Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: “When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?” Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore—biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else—and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems. PMID:26033665

Transforming ecosystems: When, where, and how to restore contaminated sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rohr, Jason R.; Farag, Aïda M.; Cadotte, Marc W.; Clements, William H.; Smith, James R.; Ulrich, Cheryl P.; Woods, Richard

2016-01-01

Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: “When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?” Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore—biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else—and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems.

Using ground- and satellite-based measurements and models to quantify response to multiple disturbances and climate change in South African semi-arid ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falge, Eva; Brümmer, Christian; Schmullius, Christiane; Scholes, Robert; Twine, Wayne; Mudau, Azwitamisi; Midgley, Guy; Hickler, Thomas; Bradshaw, Karen; Lück, Wolfgang; Thiel-Clemen, Thomas; du Toit, Justin; Sankaran, Vaith; Kutsch, Werner

2016-04-01

Sub-Saharan Africa currently experiences significant changes in shrubland, savanna and mixed woodland ecosystems driving degradation, affecting fire frequency and water availability, and eventually fueling climate change. The project 'Adaptive Resilience of Southern African Ecosystems' (ARS AfricaE) conducts research and develops scenarios of ecosystem development under climate change, for management support in conservation or for planning rural area development. For a network of research clusters along an aridity gradient in South Africa, we measure greenhouse gas exchange, ecosystem structure and eco-physiological properties as affected by land use change at paired sites with natural and altered vegetation. We set up dynamic vegetation models and individual-based models to predict ecosystem dynamics under (post) disturbance managements. We monitor vegetation amount and heterogeneity using remotely sensed images and aerial photography over several decades to examine time series of land cover change. Finally, we investigate livelihood strategies with focus on carbon balance components to develop sustainable management strategies for disturbed ecosystems and land use change. Emphasis is given on validation of estimates obtained from eddy covariance, model approaches and satellite derivations. We envision our methodological approach on a network of research clusters a valuable means to investigate potential linkages to concepts of adaptive resilience.

A coordinated set of ecosystem research platforms open to international research in ecotoxicology, AnaEE-France.

PubMed

Mougin, Christian; Azam, Didier; Caquet, Thierry; Cheviron, Nathalie; Dequiedt, Samuel; Le Galliard, Jean-François; Guillaume, Olivier; Houot, Sabine; Lacroix, Gérard; Lafolie, François; Maron, Pierre-Alain; Michniewicz, Radika; Pichot, Christian; Ranjard, Lionel; Roy, Jacques; Zeller, Bernd; Clobert, Jean; Chanzy, André

2015-10-01

The infrastructure for Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems (AnaEE-France) is an integrated network of the major French experimental, analytical, and modeling platforms dedicated to the biological study of continental ecosystems (aquatic and terrestrial). This infrastructure aims at understanding and predicting ecosystem dynamics under global change. AnaEE-France comprises complementary nodes offering access to the best experimental facilities and associated biological resources and data: Ecotrons, seminatural experimental platforms to manipulate terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, in natura sites equipped for large-scale and long-term experiments. AnaEE-France also provides shared instruments and analytical platforms dedicated to environmental (micro) biology. Finally, AnaEE-France provides users with data bases and modeling tools designed to represent ecosystem dynamics and to go further in coupling ecological, agronomical, and evolutionary approaches. In particular, AnaEE-France offers adequate services to tackle the new challenges of research in ecotoxicology, positioning its various types of platforms in an ecologically advanced ecotoxicology approach. AnaEE-France is a leading international infrastructure, and it is pioneering the construction of AnaEE (Europe) infrastructure in the field of ecosystem research. AnaEE-France infrastructure is already open to the international community of scientists in the field of continental ecotoxicology.

Synthesis of Household Yard Area Dynamics in the City of San Juan Using Multi-Scalar Social-Ecological Perspectives

Treesearch

Elvia Melendez-Ackerman; Christopher Nytch; Luis Santiago-Acevedo; Julio Verdejo-Ortiz; Raul Santiago-Bartolomei; Luis Ramos-Santiago; Tischa Munoz-Erickson

2016-01-01

Urban sustainability discourse promotes the increased use of green infrastructure (GI) because of its contribution of important ecosystem services to city dwellers. Under this vision, all urban green spaces, including those at the household scale, are valued for their potential contributions to a city’s social-ecological functioning and associated benefits for human...

Studying the Effects of Hardwood Stand Modifications, Periodic Flooding, and Fire on Insect and Disease Communities in the Lower Mississippi River Ecosystem.

Treesearch

E.T. Nebeker; Theodor D. Leininger; J.S. Meadows

1998-01-01

Abstract - The relationship between stand modification and pest organisms (insects and diseases) has been noted in general with few specific studies to evaluate this relationship in the southern hardwoods. As a prerequisite to making the best improvement cut prescription, it is essential to have a perspective on thinning impacts that at present can...

Forest health monitoring: 2004 national technical report

Treesearch

John W. Coulston; Mark J. Ambrose; Kurt H. Riitters; Barbara L. Conkling

2005-01-01

The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Program’s annual national technical report presents results of forest health analyses from a national perspective using data from a variety of sources. Results presented in the report pertain to the Santiago Declaration’s Criterion 1— Conservation of Biological Diversity and Criterion 3—Maintenance of Forest Ecosystem Health and...

Ecosystem carbon storage and flux in upland/peatland watersheds in northern Minnesota. Chapter 9.

Treesearch

David F. Grigal; Peter C. Bates; Randall K. Kolka

2011-01-01

Carbon (C) storage and fluxes (inputs and outputs of C per unit time) are central issues in global change. Spatial patterns of C storage on the landscape, both that in soil and in biomass, are important from an inventory perspective and for understanding the biophysical processes that affect C fluxes. Regional and national estimates of C storage are uncertain because...

Perspectives on fire management in Mediterranean ecosystems of southern California

Treesearch

Philip J. Riggan; Scott E. Franklin; James A. Brass; Fred E. Brooks

1994-01-01

San Dimas Canyon seems a wild place beyond the reach of civilization. It is home to black bears, gray foxes, Anna's hummingbirds, scrub jays, and in early summer, a multitude of biting insects. Along the steep, northfacing hillsides, the chaparral has the appearance of an ancient forest. From within the canyon it is difficult to remember that one is less than 7 km...

Forest Dynamics at the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project viewed through stocking diagrams

Treesearch

David R. Larsen; John M. Kabrick; Stephen R. Shifley; Randy G. Jensen

2017-01-01

Stocking diagrams come in two forms, the Gingrich diagram and the density management diagram. While they both present the same information about a forest stand, they each provide a different perspective on the data being displayed. Density management diagrams have been around since the 1930s and the Gingrich diagram has been around since the 1960s, but applications of...

Organisms as cooperative ecosystem engineers in intertidal flats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passarelli, Claire; Olivier, Frédéric; Paterson, David M.; Meziane, Tarik; Hubas, Cédric

2014-09-01

The importance of facilitative interactions and organismal ecosystem engineering for establishing the structure of communities is increasingly being recognised for many different ecosystems. For example, soft-bottom tidal flats host a wide range of ecosystem engineers, probably because the harsh physico-chemical environmental conditions render these species of particular importance for community structure and function. These environments are therefore interesting when focusing on how ecosystem engineers interact and the consequences of these interactions on community dynamics. In this review, we initially detail the influence on benthic systems of two kinds of ecosystem engineers that are particularly common in tidal flats. Firstly, we examine species providing biogenic structures, which are often the only source of habitat complexity in these environments. Secondly, we focus on species whose activities alter sediment stability, which is a crucial feature structuring the dynamics of communities in tidal flats. The impacts of these engineers on both environment and communities were assessed but in addition the interaction between ecosystem engineers was examined. Habitat cascades occur when one engineer favours the development of another, which in turn creates or modifies and improves habitat for other species. Non-hierarchical interactions have often been shown to display non-additive effects, so that the effects of the association cannot be predicted from the effects of individual organisms. Here we propose the term of “cooperative ecosystem engineering” when two species interact in a way which enhances habitat suitability as a result of a combined engineering effect. Finally, we conclude by describing the potential threats for ecosystem engineers in intertidal areas, potential effects on their interactions and their influence on communities and ecosystem function.

Pollen, People and Place: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Ecosystem change at Amboseli, Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Githumbi, Esther N.; Kariuki, Rebecca; Shoemaker, Anna; Courtney-Mustaphi, Colin J.; Chuhilla, Maxmillian; Richer, Suzi; Lane, Paul; Marchant, Rob

2017-12-01

This study presents a multidisciplinary perspective for understanding environmental change and emerging socio-ecological interactions across the Amboseli region of southwestern Kenya. We focus on late Holocene (<5000 cal yr. BP) changes and continuities reconstructed from sedimentary, archaeological, historical records and socio-ecological models. We utilize multi-disciplinary approaches to understand environmental-ecosystem-social interactions over the longue durée and use this to simulate different land use scenarios supporting conservation and sustainable livelihoods using a socio-ecological model. Today the semi-arid Amboseli landscape supports a large livestock and wildlife population, sustained by a wide variety of plants and extensive rangelands regulated by seasonal rainfall and human activity. Our data provide insight into how large-scale and long-term interactions of climate, people, livestock, wildlife and external connections have shaped the ecosystems across the Amboseli landscape. Environmental conditions were dry between 5000–2000 cal yr. BP, followed by two wet periods at 2100–1500 and 1400–800 cal yr. BP with short dry periods; the most recent centuries were characterised by variable climate with alternative dry and wet phases with high spatial heterogeneity. Most evident in palaeo and historical records is the changing woody to grass cover ratio, driven by changes in climate and fire regimes entwined with fluctuating elephant, cattle and wild ungulate populations moderated by human activity, including elephant ivory trade intensification. Archaeological perspectives on the occupation of different groups (hunter-gatherers, pastoralists and farmers) in Amboseli region and the relationships between them are discussed. An overview of the known history of humans and elephants, expanding networks of trade, and the arrival and integration of metallurgy, livestock and domesticated crops in the wider region is provided. In recent decades, increased runoff and flooding have resulted in the expansion of wetlands and a reduction of woody vegetation, compounding problems created by increased enclosure and privatisation of these landscapes. However, most of the wetlands outside of the protected area are drying up because of the intensified water extraction by the communities surrounding the National Park and on the adjacent mountains areas, who have increased in numbers, become sedentary and diversified land use around the wetlands.