Introduction to (The) Ecosystem Approach(es)

Introduction to (the) ECOSYSTEM APPROACH(es)

Most recent substantive changes: October 20, 2000

distinctions - ecosystem concept - variations on 'the' approach
references - thinking quotes&cartoons

distinguishing (the) ecosystem approach from other approaches ecosystem approach vs. ecosystem management vs. ecosystem-based management... [see Slocombe 1998 on this point, especially p 31-2]
consider what the term "ecosystem management" actually means → can we really "manage" ecosystems? [see below] → or can we only manage human behaviours (how we interact with ecosystems) and give consideration to the possible consequence of our actions on ecosystems and ourselves? [of course this depends on how one is defining 'ecosystem', especially whether or not it is inclusive of humans...] I prefer either "ecosystem-based management" or "ecosystem approach" "ecosystem-based" stresses the point that we are using the ecosystem concept as the basis for management ecosystem approach tends to have the same connotation - ecosystem-based approach might be a little clearer, however the former is becoming an accepted term implying ecosystem-based... [but there are still different varieties...] ecosystem approach vs. consensus-based or participatory decision-making... ecosystem approach is sometimes interpreted to mean → bring in all the stakeholders, let them hash it out, decide what to do, then do it... but → this does not necessarily mean that the ecosystem concept is being applied although I would argue that the ecosystem approach must involve collaborative/participatory decision-making the reverse is not the case: collaborative/participatory decision-making does not necessarily involve the ecosystem approach - the key difference is whether or not the concept of ecosystem is being applied...	Some people care rather strongly about differences among the terms "ecosystem approach," "ecosystem management," and "ecosystem-based management." Why do you think they might care? Who (generically speaking) do you think promotes which? What style of thinking or worldview do they work with? Which term would you promote? Why? What style of thinking or worldview do you work with? There are also differences among ecosystem approaches, collaborative/participatory approaches, adaptive management and other such alternatives. What would you advocate as the key distinction of an ecosystem approach - in comparison to other decision-making/planning processes? [This is one of those questions that is hard to get wrong because there are no 'right' answers...] Is the primary intention of an ecosystem approach to resolve conflict? or to manage resource use? or to do both? or?... Where/how does/should the "ecosystem" part come in?
*highlighting the core of (the) ECOSYSTEM* approach**
Defining the concept of "ecosystem" definitions of ecosystem vary according to how their attributes are conceptualized: components generally considered as including both biotic and abioitic of particular note, is the question of whether or not humans are included - and whether this inclusion is implicit or made explicit... processes are these considered as chaotic, self-organizing, predictable, responsive, controlled boundaries [my favorite question...!! :)] strict, permeable, fuzzy, existant? focus on relations among components instead?... nesting/hierarchical? systems within systems within systems... Acknowledging the role of the observer In addition to considering the way in which 'ecosystem' is conceptualized, it is critical to question the perspective that the system is being identified from.
recognizing variations of (the) 'ecosystem approach'
Although we often refer to "the" ecosystem approach, it is important to recognize that there are variations, which depend on a combination of factors: How is "ecosystem" conceptualized? does it include humans? does it incorporate recognition of complexity, uncertainty, unpredictability, self-organization? does it have boundaries? are they strict, permeable, fuzzy...? What is the basis for using the approach? What direction does promotion of the 'approach' come from? scientific? i.e. from developments in ecosystem theory, landscape ecology etc. political? e.g. from calls for more participatory approaches? or from experts attempting to exert power social? e.g. from concerns about conflicts over land-use, or sustainability What are the dominant themes in the political-social-scientific context? who tends to be 'in charge'? are processes in general: expert-driven, control oriented? participatory? collaborative? means for resolving conflict? or for 'managing' ecosystems? Different answers to these questions lead to various different approaches - each of which may be referred to (by their proponents or others) as "the ecosystem approach." The variations include: Integrated Resource Management as described in Mitchell (1997), Born and Sonzogni (1995) Margerum and Born (1995) Agroecosystem analysis as described in Mitchell (1997) David Waltner-Toews, U. of Guelph - who's research also incorporates complex systems considerations Complex systems based ecosystem approach based on recognizing ecosystems as complex self-organizing systems inclusive of humans James Kay, ERS, U.Waterloo comments on the ecosystem approach - which includes links to some papers a schematic of an ecosystem approach also see a variation on this diagram from my work I've also made two of my own papers available as rtf files - one is published, the other is only in draft form: Relinquishing Boundaries: Metaphors for conceptualizing institutional systems Exploring the human dimensions of ecological integrity: Applying a systems-based identification heuristic NWCoast Forestry based ecosystem approach although already in existence, this was popularized through concerns over the spotted owl and the Clinton Forest Plan - tends to take 'ecosystem science' as basic FEMAT Report. 1993. Forest ecosystem management: An ecological, economic, and social assessment. Report of the Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team USDA-Forest Service, USDC-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service USDI-Bureau of Land Management USDI-Fish and Wildlife Service, USDI-National Park Service and EPA., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993-793-071. Background--The Northwest Forest Plan (some notes on FEMAT) Ecosystem Management: Federal Agency Activities The Report of the Ecological Society of America Committee on the Scientific Basis for Ecosystem Management - contains definitions of ecosystem and ecosystem management, principles of ecosystem management - based in ecosystems science - some recognition of uncertainty, humans-as-component Greater Ecosystem Conservation Planning e.g. in Canadian National Parks Ecosystem Conservation Plan for Georgian Bay Islands National Park, prepared by Gordon Nelson and Andy Skibicki, Heritage Resources Centre, UW e.g. in US National Parks (popularized through Yellowstone) Others... The Ecosystem Approach as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity
some references This list just provides a taste of references that I have found interesting. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or representative sample of references on ecosystem approaches. Inclusion on the list does not necessarily indicate my agreement with the views put forward by the authors... some bibliographies available on the web: *Crober, Andrew M. 1999 An Annotated Bibliography on the Ecosystem Approach to Ecosystem Management* University of Waterloo web doc Eckhardt. Carol, compiler 1998 The Human Factor in Ecological Research: An Annotated Bibliography Portland OR, USDA, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-429 web doc ERS 305 University of Waterloo web doc various representations or comments on ecosystem approaches *Allen, T.F.H., B.L. Bandurski, and A.W. King 1993 The Ecosystem Approach: theory and ecosystem integrity* International Joint Commission (Report on the Great Lakes Science Advisory Board) *Barsh, R. L. 2000 Taking Indigenous Science Seriously in Biodiversity in Canada, S. Bocking, ed. Francis, George 1993 Ecosystem Management Natural Resources Journal* 33 (2): 315-345 Galindo-Leal, C. and F.L. Bunnell 1995 Ecosystem management: Implications and opportunities of a new paradigm Forestry Chronicle 71(5): 601-606 *Grumbine, R. Edward 1994 What Is Ecosystem Management? Conservation Biology* 8(1): 27-38 *Grumbine, R. Edward 1997 Reflections on "What is Ecosystem Management?" Conservation Biology* 11 (1): 41-47 Gordon, J. C. 1993 Ecosystem Management: An Idosyncratic Overview in Defining Sustainable Forestry, G.H. Aplet, N. Johnson, J.T. Olson, and V.A. Sample, eds. 240-244 Gunderson, L. H., C. S. Holling and S. S. Light, eds. 1995 Barriers and Bridges to the Renewal of Ecosystems and Institutions Columbia University Press, New York Holling, C. S. and M. A. Goldberg 1971 Ecology and Planning Journal of American Institute of Planners 37(4): 221-230 *Jope, K. L. and J. C. Dunstan 1996 Ecosystem-Based Management: Natural Processes and Systems Theory in National Parks and Protected Areas: Their role in environmental protection, R. G. Wright, ed. Kay, J. J. and E. Schneider 1994 Embracing Complexity: The Challenge of the Ecosystem Approach Alternatives* 20(3): 33-39 web doc *Kay, J. J., H. A. Regier, M. Boyle, and G. Francis 1999 An ecosystem approach for sustainability: addressing the challenge of complexity Futures* 31(7): 721-742 web doc Kay, J.J. and Regier, H. 2000 Uncertainty, complexity, and ecological integrity: Insights from an ecosystem approach in Implementing Ecological Integrity: Restoring Regional and Global Environmental and Human Health, P. Crabbe, A. Holland, L. Ryszkowski and L. Westra, eds. web doc Skibicki, A. and J. G. Nelson 1993 A Human Ecological Approach to Biodiversity Planning and Management: Point Pelee, Rondeau and Long Point Peninsulas, Lake Erie, Canada Heritage Resources Centre, University of Waterloo Technical Paper #9 Slocombe, D. Scott 1998 Defining Goals and Criteria for Ecosystem-Based Management Environmental Management 22 (4): 483-493 Slocombe, D. Scott 1998 Lessons from experience with ecosystem-based management Landscape and Urban Planning 40: 31-39 Thomas, J. W. 1994 Forest ecosystem management assessment team: Objectives, processes, and options Journal of Forestry* 92: 12-19 Thomas, J. W. and M. Dombeck 1996 Ecosystem management in the Interior Columbia River Basis Wildlife Society Bulletin 24(2): 180-186 Wright, R. Gerald, ed. 1996 National Parks and Protected Areas: Their Role in Environmental Protection Blackwell Science variations or comments on the concept of ecosystem Christensen, Norman L. 1988 Succession and Natural Disturbance: Paradigms, Problems and Preservation of Natural Ecosystems in Ecosystem Management for Parks and Wilderness, Agee and Johnson eds. p 62-86 Costanza, R. 1992 Toward An Operational Definition of Ecosystem Health in Ecosystem Health, R. Costanza, B. G. Norton, and B. D. Haskell, eds. Franklin, J. F. 1993 Preserving biodiversity: Species, ecosystems, or landscapes Ecological Applications 3: 202-205 Franklin, J. F. 1993 The Fundamentals of Ecosystem Management with Applications in the Pacific Northwest in Defining Sustainable Forestry, G.H. Aplet, N. Johnson, J.T. Olson, and V.A. Sample, eds. 127-144 Golley, Frank B. 1993 History of the Ecosystem concept in ecology: more than the sum of the parts* Yale University Press, New Haven Haydon, R. J. 1997 A Look at How We Look at What is "Natural" Natural Area News 2(1): 2-5 Holling, C. S. 1986 The resilience of terrestrial ecosystems: local surprise and global change in Sustainable Development of the Biosphere, W.C. Clark and R.E. Mann, eds. Parks Canada Agency 2000 "Unimpaired for Future Generations" Protecting Ecological Integrity with Canada's National Parks Report of the Panel on the Ecological Integrity of Canada's National Parks Minister of Public Works and government Services, Ottawa, ON Patten, B. C., S. E. Jorgensen, and S. I. Auerbach 1996 Complex Ecology: The Part-Whole Relation in Ecosystems Prentice Hall Vale, Thamas R. 1998 The Myth of the Humanized Landscape: An Example From Yosemite National Park and a few related papers that might promote thinking about ecosystem management in a slightly different manner... Alpert, P. 1995 Incarnating ecosystem management Conservation Biology 9(4): 962-955 Bennett, John W. 1993 Human ecology as human behaviour: essays in environmental and development anthropology New Brunswick, N.J., Transition Publishers Bohm, David 1994 Postmodern science and a postmodern world in Ecology: key concepts in critical theory, C. Merchant Atlantic Highlands, N.J., Humanities Press Johnson, Lawrence E. 1992 Toward the Moral Considerability of Species and Ecosystems Marston, E. H. 1992 Unexamined scholarship: the land grant universities in the inland west in Watershed management: balancing sustainability and environmental change, R. J. Naiman, ed. New York, Springer-Verlag Merchant, Carolyn 1994 Ecology: key concepts in critical theory Atlantic Highlands, N.J., Humanities Press Munro, Neil, ed. 1997 Protected Areas in Our Modern World: Proceedings of a workshop held as part of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Montreal, Canada, Oct 18&21, 1996 Parks Canada - Ecosystem Science Review Reports #005 Norton, Bryan 1992 Sustainability, Human Welfare, and Ecosystem Health Environmental Values 1(1992): 97-111 Young, G. L. 1994 The case for a 'catholic' ecology Human Ecology Review 1: 310-319 and a few more links-to-papers that I found when looking for FEMAT that might be interesting but which I have not read... Conservation Ecology: a peer reviewed journal of integrative science and fundamental policy research Toto, This isn't Kansas: Changes in Integrated Forest Management - Dr. Fred L. Bunnell, Centre for Applied Conservation Biology, University of British Columbia [Fred takes a thought-provokingly irreverant approach to some of our staunchly held beliefs...] Seven pillars of ecosystem management Robert T. Lackey 1998 Landscape and Urban Planning 40(1/3):21-30 Resource Management: Can It Sustain Pacific Northwest Fishery and Forest Systems? Courtland L. Smith and Alexey A. Voinov Interior Columbia River Basis Ecosystem Management Framework and Scientific Assessment and Eastside Oregon and Washington Environmental Impact Statement Toward a Scientific and Social Framework for Ecologically Based Stewardship of Federal Lands and Waters Ecological Foundations of Biodiversity Team Olympic National Forest - Ecosystem Management
a few quotes and cartoons to stimulate a little thinking... It is not easy for us moderns to realize our dependence on the earth... What do you eat, morning, noon and night? Natural resources... What do you wear, day in and day out? Natural resources... What do you work with, no matter what your work might be? Natural resources... What do you live in and work in? Wood, iron, rock, clay, sand, in a thousand different shapes but always natural resources. - Gifford Pinchot Breaking New Ground 1907(!) A second myth [of education] is that, with enough knowledge and technology, we can manage planet Earth. Higher education has been largely shaped by the drive to extend human domination to its fullest. In this mission human intelligence may have taken the wrong road. Nonetheless, managing the planet has a nice ring to it. It appeals to our fascination with digital readouts, computers, buttons, and dials. But the complexity of Earth and its life systems can never be safely managed. The ecology of the top inch of topsoil is still largely unknown, as is its relationship to the large systems of the biosphere. What might be managed, however, is us: human desires, economies, politics, and communities. But our attention is caught by those things that avoid the hard choices implied by politics, morality, ethics, and common sense. It makes far better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet than to attempt to reshape the planet to fit our infinite wants. - David Orr

distinctions - ecosystem concept - variations on 'the' approach - references - thinking quotes&cartoons