Defining Ecosystem Management
Ecosystem Management must include the following:
1. long-term sustainability as fundamental value2. clear, operational goals
3. sound ecological models and understanding
4. understanding complexity and interconnectedness
5. recognition of the dynamic character of ecosystems
6. attention to context and scale
7. acknowledgment of humans as ecosystem components
8. commitment to adaptability and accountability
1. Sustainability. Ecosystem management assumes intergenerational sustainability (Lubchenco et al. 1991) as a precondition for management rather than an afterthought. Thus, the manager accepts the responsibility up front of managing in such a way as to ensure provision of the opportunities and resources we enjoy today to future generations.
2. Goals. Ecosystem management is as applicable to intensive utilitarian objectives as it is to the conservation of pristine wilderness; however, goals should not focus exclusively on "deliverables" such as board feet of timber, total catch, or visitor days. Goals must be explicitly stated in terms of specific "desired future trajectories" and "desired future behaviors" for the ecosystem components and processes necessary for sustainability. Furthermore, these goals should be stated in terms that can be measured and monitored.
3. Sound ecological models and understanding. Ecosystem management is based on sound ecological principles and emphasizes the role of processes and interconnections. Ecosystem management should be rooted in the best current models of ecosystem function. The name "Ecosystem Management" is confusing and has been taken by some to suggest that only science done at the ecosystem level is relevant. Ecosystem Management depends on research performed at all levels of organization, from investigations of the morphology, physiology and behavior of individual organisms, through studies of the structure and dynamics of populations and communities, to analysis of patterns and processes at the level of ecosystems and landscapes.
4. Complexity and connectedness. The importance of ecosystem complexity and the vast array of interconnections that underlie ecosystem function is certainly one of the most important lessons of ten decades of ecological research and natural resource management experience (Peterson 1993). Biological diversity and structural complexity of ecosystems are critical to such ecosystem processes as primary production and nutrient cycling. Complexity and diversity also impart resistance to and resilience from disturbance, and provide the genetic resources necessary to adapt to longterm change. Extractive or utilitarian management systems such as agriculture, aquaculture or plantation forestry that explicitly reduce complexity and diversity in order to increase productivity of particular ecosystem components may be deficient in key ecosystem processes and, therefore, less stable and less sustainable than intact and diverse natural ecosystems.
With complexity comes uncertainty. Some of our uncertainty regarding or lack of precision in predicting ecosystem behavior derives from the fact that we do indeed have more to learn. However, we must recognize that there will always be limits to the precision of our predictions set by the complex nature of ecosystem interactions and strive to understand the nature of those limits. Ecosystem management cannot eliminate surprises or uncertainty; rather, it acknowledges that, given sufficient time and space, unlikely events are certain to happen.
5. Recognition of the dynamic character of ecosystems. Sustainability does not imply maintenance of the status quo. Indeed, change and evolution are inherent characteristics of ecosystems, and attempts to "freeze" ecosystems in a particular state or configuration are generally futile in the short term and certainly doomed to failure in the long term. Crises associated with the management of our forests, fisheries, and wildlife have driven home the points that individual resources cannot be managed outside of the context of the full array of ecosystem components and processes and that the spatial and temporal domains of critical ecological processes are rarely congruent with the spatial boundaries and temporal schedules of management.
6. Context and scale. Ecosystem processes operate over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales, and their behavior at any given location is very much affected by the status and behavior of the systems or landscape that surrounds them (e.g., Levin 1992). There is no single appropriate scale or timeframe for management. Our ignorance of the importance of processes operating over ranges of spatial and temporal scale permitted society to define the boundaries of management jurisdictions with little or no reference to such processes. The importance of context in determining the behavior of ecosystems at a particular location has been the impetus for the advocacy of a "landscape approach" in terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., Noss 1983, Noss and Harris 1986) and the development of the "large marine ecosystem concept" (Sherman et al. 1990).
7. Humans as ecosystem components. Ecosystem Management acknowledges the role of humans, not only as the cause of the most significant challenges to sustainability, but as integral ecosystem components who must be engaged to achieve sustainable management goals (McDonnell and Pickett 1993, Peterson 1993). Human effects on ecosystems are ubiquitous. Although we should strive to reduce deleterious impacts, current trends in population growth and demand for natural resources will undoubtedly require more intensive and wiser management, particularly to support human needs in a sustainable way. Thus, identifying and engaging stakeholders in the development of management plans is a key ecosystem management strategy. Humans who are part of the ecosystems will, of necessity, define the future of those ecosystems. Ecosystem management is a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving long-term sustainability. We must also address such daunting issues as human population growth, poverty, and human perceptions regarding the use of energy and natural resources.
8. Adaptability and accountability. As in all areas of science, current models and paradigms of ecosystem function are provisional and subject to change. Ecosystem managers must acknowledge that our knowledge base is incomplete and subject to change. Management goals and strategies must be viewed as hypotheses to be tested by research and monitoring programs that compare specific expectations against objective measures of results (Holling 1978, Walters 1986, Likens 1992).
Adaptability and accountability are central elements of ecosystem management. Managers must be able to adapt to the unique features of needs of a particular area and to inevitable temporal changes as well. Management must also be able to adapt to new information and understanding. To be adaptable and accountable, management objectives and expectations must be explicitly stated in operational terms, informed by the best models of ecosystem functioning, and tested by carefully designed monitoring programs that provide accessible and timely feedback to managers. Public understanding and acceptance of the experimental nature of all natural resource management are critical to the implementation of ecosystem management protocols.
Our own impacts on this planet's ecosystems make such adaptive management all the more compelling. The earth's ecosystems are being modified in new ways and at faster rates than at any other time in their nearly four billion year history. These new and rapid changes present significant challenges to our ability to predict the inherently uncertain responses and behaviors of ecosystems.
Ecological Society of America - http://esa.sdsc.edu/ecmtext.htm
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