Ecosystem Approaches

Ecosystem Approaches

• A major conservation challenge is the fact ecosystems are vastly complex

• With populations growing and demand growing, more stress on ecosystems

• However, >1/3 of people still don’t have clean drinking water or enough food

• Consequently, conservation must take people into account

Ecosystem Approaches

• Furthermore, taking a single-species approach or even a single management unit, may fail to aid a larger suite of species within an ecosystem

Ecosystem Approaches

• Taking a large scale approach, some issues may require an ecosystem approach (e.g. coastal marine, watershed)

• The ecosystem approach includes ecological, socioeconomic and institutional

Ecosystem Approaches

• Conceptual model for management

• Concern for only a single area will not work

Ecosystem Approaches

• The ecosystem approach expands traditional resource management in 3 dimensions: space, time, and inclusion in decision making

• Time: health of system into the future• Space: larger landscape considered

(e.g. in marine environs, current patterns)

• Decisions: no single institution

Ecosystem Approaches

Ecosystem Approachesexamples

• Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (’80)

• Attempt to provide cooperative oversight of these resources

• Includes all nations that collectively set fishing targets (13.3)

• Both exploited and non-exploited sp are monitored by scientific committee

Ecosystem Approaches

• The CCAMLR boundary

• They manage all areas around Antarctica

Ecosystem Approaches

• Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was created in 1994 to manage late-successional forests for N. Spotted Owls

• Clinton Administration brokered a deal between agencies, timber, citizens and conservationists

• A system of reserves that includes connectivity among reserves and stream protection for salmon

Ecosystem Approaches

• In response to resolving many of these issues that impact multiple stakeholders the President created the Interagency Ecosystem Management Task Force characterized by: (9 specifics, but…)– More partners and greater collaboration– Broader spatio-temporal perspective– More dynamic planning process– Less reactive and more proactive

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

• In 2000 the CBD adopted an ecosystem approach to use in achieving goals set by the CBD

• The IUCN dedicated a Commission on Ecosystem Management to provide expert guidance on the implementation of integrated management ecosystems

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

• The central focus of planning and management becomes the fulfillment of principles 5,6 and 10

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

Ecosystem Approachesconvention on biodiversity

• Development of sustainable use requires careful attention to the current structure of incentives (& their influence)

• E.g. would subsidies cause people to work natural resources unsustainably?

• Give attention to how to connect sustainable practices to greater benefits

Biophysical Ecosystems

• What is a traditional ‘ecosystem’?• Thus it includes multiple communities

as well as abiotic components• People are also included• GYE is a good example

and the problems associated with bison, elk, cattle & people

Biophysical Ecosystems

• The GYE including the surrounding various lands is large enough to use spatially explicit landscapes to ecosystem management

Biophysical Ecosystems

• Three principles can drive this approach– 1) the spatial configuration of food

sources will influence which food sources will be used

– 2) resources may not always be available at a particular place, but his absence may be compensated somewhere else

– Some parts of the landscape may not be used because risk from predators is too great

Biophysical Ecosystems

• In the world’s oceans, the large marine ecosystem (LME) concept was developed to deal with the need to address environmental and resource management issues in the oceans on appropriate geophysical and sociopolitical scales (90% of fisheries in coastal waters)

Biophysical Ecosystems

• Watershed is managed for many purposes and all stakeholders should be involved for success

Ecosystem Dynamics and Resilience

• Ecosystems are dynamic and to properly manage them, it is important to understand the natural variation in them

• Furthermore, the dynamics should be considered at the proper scale– Tree replacement in a forest (1 vs 100 yr)

• While we can somewhat easily account for short term events, rare but extreme events are difficult to plan for

Ecosystem Dynamics and Resilience

• Resilience is the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed by the system before it is fundamentally changed

• We rarely think of natural disturbances as outside the range of resilience

• In fact, many systems depend on disturb in their cycle and virtually all can accommodate them

Ecosystem Dynamics and Resilience

• Holling’s model where systems go through 4 distinct stages

Ecosystem Dynamics and Resilience

• Holling’s model appears to work well for a number of systems, inlcuding fire-prone systems

• However, other systems (e.g. riparian or coastal) may be better characterized by shorter, pulsing patterns

• E.g. Lake Powell

Adaptive Management

• Since most ecosystems are extremely dynamic, it should follow that the management of those systems also needs to be dynamic

• Because of the relatively unique combination of ecological, socioeconomic and institutional factors, a dynamic and unique approach may be necessary

Adaptive Management

• For example, USFS now sets broad goals, but offers considerable local flexibility in achieving those goals

• Part of achieving long-term goals is an active monitoring program to determine the status and trajectory of actions

Adaptive Management

Adaptive Managementanalytical approaches

• There is a lot of investments in adaptive management strategies and a key component of AM is making informed decisions and changes to plans

• Consequently, analytical tools are needed to properly evaluate the success or failure of the project

Adaptive Managementanalytical approaches

• One such tool are a suite of mass-balance models that create tropically linked “pools” of resources (e.g. sp, functional groups, guilds) and project how these resources will change when subjected to different harvest regimes or management policies

Adaptive Managementanalytical approaches

• Ecopath is a mass-balanced model

• Attempting to account for human exploitation of 2 sp of fish

Ecosystems Mimic Natural Processes?

• When, and in what manner, should ecological managers intervene to restore natural processes?

• While one may understand the historical frequency of a disturbance (e.g. fire), it may be more important to know how frequent fire may be introduced before the systems changes too much and ‘permanently’

Ecosystems Mimic Natural Processes?

• While we may get a grasp of the frequency, intensity may be more problematic to estimate

• Additionally, systems have changed and as such, historical disturbances may impact modern systems very differently and in an unpredictable manner

• Can you think of some things that have changed?

Ecosystems Mimic Natural Processes?

• Consider the following historical example in the semiarid highland (4 corners area) are bison and elk populations representative of historic numbers?

• Due to two factors, unlikely;– 1) water tanks in arid areas– 2) reduced/altered hunting practices

Ecosystems Mimic Natural Processes?

• Consequently, what is a modern manager to do?

• Restore numbers back to ‘historical’ numbers, restore migration routes and occasionally have rather large culls?

Participatory Decision-Making

• In US, decision making tradtionally kept within the respective agency

• Only deviation occurred with either a)scientists or b) ranchers, miners…

• The ESA, NEPA and other policies opened up the process to the public

Participatory Decision-Making

• Principal stakeholders (e.g. livelihoods, residents, or financial interests) should play major roles in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the ecosystem management plan

• Participation by minor stakeholders is best served through forums for public commentary (read Box 13.2)

Participatory Decision-Making

• Overall, the ecosystem approach requires all stakeholders (and the definition of such may have to broaden) to work more frequently and better together

• Of course, there needs to be a commitment on all parties to dedicate resources to expand and develop these partnerships

Participatory Decision-Making

• Broad-based financial support has two important consequences

• 1) risk of losing financial support is spread among the various sources of funds, thereby reducing dependency on government appropriations (leverage)

• 2) managers may be freer to develop innovative programs when they are less dependent on restrictive funds

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation • While much of the ecosystem based

conservation is strongly people based, there is a need for scientists

• 1) develop a clear hypotheses about the nature of structuring factors in ecosystems and how management of those factors affects community structure and the outcomes for human social and economic welfare

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation • 2) explicitly model ecosystem-human

interactions and test management with such models

• 3) execute the best in adaptive management in which we set up monitoring and management as experiments as much as possible via instituting controls, and pre- and post-management data collection

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation • 4) explicity confront uncertainty

through sensitivity analyses, and “what if” discussions

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation • Ecosystems do NOT replace species

and landscape approaches, they complement them

• It is an opportunity to plan at larger scales (time and space) and incorporate all the stakeholders

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation

Future Direction of Ecosystem-based

Conservation