Values, Policy, and Ecosystem Health

Lackey, Robert T.

doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0437:vpaeh]2.0.co;2

Cited by 182 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Although both ecological knowledge and preferences for certain states of ecosystems lie in the mental and social worlds, it is important to distinguish social values from ecological facts and theories because they relate to different sorts of 'validity claims' (Habermas 1984). This does not mean that ecological knowledge should only be used instrumentally, to guide actions decided by political processes (Lackey 2001, Davis & Slobodkin 2004). Our view is that science must inform debate as well as help implement its outcome.…”

Section: Nature Of Ecosystems and Aims Of Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framework for understanding marine ecosystem health

Tett¹,

Gowen²,

Painting³

et al. 2013

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

168

104

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Although the terms 'health' and 'healthy' are often applied to marine ecosystems and communicate information about holistic condition (e.g. as required by the Ecosystem Approach), their meaning is unclear. Ecosystems have been understood in various ways, from non-interacting populations of species to complex integrated systems. Health has been seen as a metaphor, an indicator that aggregates over system components, or a non-localized emergent system property. After a review, we define good ecosystem health as: 'the condition of a system that is self-maintaining, vigorous, resilient to externally imposed pressures, and able to sustain services to humans. It contains healthy organisms and populations, and adequate functional diversity and functional response diversity. All expected trophic levels are present and well interconnected, and there is good spatial connectivity amongst subsystems.' We equate this condition with good ecological or environmental status, e.g. as referred to by recent EU Directives. Resilience is central to health, but difficult to measure directly. Ecosystems under anthropogenic pressure are at risk of losing resilience, and thus of suffering regime shifts and loss of services. For monitoring whole ecosystems, we propose an approach based on 'trajectories in ecosystem state space', illustrated with time-series from the northwestern North Sea. Change is visualized as Euclidian distance from an arbitrary reference state. Variability about a trend in distance is used as a proxy for inverse resilience. We identify the need for institutional support for long time-series to underpin this approach, and for research to establish state space co-ordinates for systems in good health.

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Section: Nature Of Ecosystems and Aims Of Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framework for understanding marine ecosystem health

Tett¹,

Gowen²,

Painting³

et al. 2013

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

168

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many experts and scholars have put forward different definitions [8,9] and various indicators [10][11][12] to analyze ecosystem health. Ecosystem health research has tended to examine single-ecosystem scales, such as forests [13,14], wetlands [15,16], river basins [17][18][19], marine environments [20,21], farmlands [22,23], mines [24], and cities [25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative Evaluation of Ecosystem Health in a Karst Area of South China

et al. 2016

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Abstract:The purpose of this study is to propose a GIS-based mechanism for diagnosing karst rocky desertification (KRD) ecosystem health. Using the Huajiang Demonstration Area in Guizhou Province as a case study, this research offers a multi-factor indicator system for diagnosing KRD ecosystem health. A set of geologic, environmental, and socio-economic health indicators were developed based on remote sensing images from field-investigation, hydrological, and meteorological monitoring data. With the use of grid GIS technology, this study gives an indicator for diagnosing the spatial expression of desertification at a 5 m × 5 m grid scale. Using spatial overlaying technology based on grid data, the temporal and spatial dynamics of ecosystem health in the Huajiang Demonstration Area were tracked over a 10 year time span. The results of the analysis indicate that ecosystem health in the Huajiang Demonstration Area varies regionally, and has overall improved over time. The proportion of healthy area increased from 3.7% in 2000 to 8.2% in 2010. However, unhealthy and middle-health areas still accounted for 78.7% of the total area by 2010. The most obvious improvement of ecosystem health was in an area where comprehensive control measures for curbing KRD were implemented. These results suggest that comprehensive control of KRD can effectively mitigate ecosystem deterioration and improve ecosystem health in karst regions of South China.

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“…A strong correlation between ecosystem health and human health can be demonstrated and many new approaches to monitoring and environmental conduction are possible (Lackey RT, 2001). There are four principle categories of ecosystem functions upon which human health is dependant (De Groot, 1992).…”

Section: Interdependence Of Ecosystem Health and Human Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%