Chapter 5 Flashcards
3 types of indirect use value (?)
nonconsumptive use value
option value
existence value
List two direct use values and two indirect use values
direct: consumptive and productive
indirect: current benefits and option value
What are non-use values?
existence values
including bequest value
Nonconsumptive use value: value of an ecosystem service
-Define nonconsumptive use value
nonconsumptive use value: because the services are not consumed
33 trillion a year?
- double the value of the world’s economy
- human societies are totally dependent on natural ecosystems
Great variety of ecosystem services
and other indirect values
Nonconsumptive use values: what is ecosystem producitivy?
growth of organisms, especially primary producers, providers (plants and algae)
- food (for us and other species)
- fuel
Also loss of estuaries (communities at the boundaries of oceans) affects ocean catch and sport fishing because the juveniles usually are vulnerable at the estuaries
Why should we try to preserve ecosystem services
the loss of species from biological communities affects overall growth
increase plant cover
leads to an increase in biodiversity
Describe carbon sequestration as an ecosystem service
plant growth represents a carbon sink
-loss of plants increases CO2 in the atmosphere
loss of diversity in plant communities reduces ability to adapt to global climate change
- many species will be eliminated due to drought and insect pests
- some species can’t cope with higher CO2 so we want to maintain diversity by decreasing CO2
Describe how protecting water and soil resources provides an ecosystem service
plants protect against floods
- they intercept rain and reduce impact on soil
- plant roots and soil organisms aerate the soil, increasing its ability to absorb water
increased flooding with destruction of natural resources
When vegetation is disturbed by logging and farming, soil erosion increases, landslides increase
Describe waste treatment and nutrient retention as an ecosystem service. (What organisms do it?)
Aquatic communities break down and immobilize toxic pollutants
pollutants: heavy metals, pesticides
aquatic communities: swamps, lakes, rivers, floodplains, tidal marshes, mangroves, estuaries, coastal shelf, open ocean
organisms: fungi, bacteria, plants
also process, store, and recycle nutrients (from sewage and agricultural runoff)
e.g. new york bight (at mouth of the hudson river)
Describe climate regulation as an ecosystem service
plant communities moderate local regional and probably global climate
local: trees prvide shade and transpire water, reducing temperature; also reduce wind
regionally: plants capture water that falls as rain and transpire it back into the atmosphere (90% of water is transpired)
globally: transpiration again, also uptake of CO2
How are species relationships an ecosystem service?
Species that we harvest depend on other species
-wild game and fish (what are their food sources?)
crop plants may require pollinators
useful wild plants may require pollinators, and seed dispersers
e. g., mycorrhizal fungi
e. g., N-fixing bacteria
- mutualism relationships that make N useful to the plants
What are environmental monitors? Give three examples
species that are sensitive to chemical toxins
e. g. lichens
- live on rocks and trees
- absorb chemicals in rainwater and airborne pollution
e. g. mollusks
- aquatic filter feeders
- process large volumes of water and concentrate toxic chemicals (PCBs, pesticides
e.g. algal blooms : increase in population is an indicator of toxic overenrichment
How are recreation and ecotourism a nonconsumptive use value of an area?
Define amenity value and ecotourism.
they provide amenity value and ecotourism, which gives value to the land without using it up.
Amenity value: monetary value of recreation and ecotourism
- 350 million visitors each eyar to US parks
- 4 billion a year in fees, travel, lodging, food, equipment
- recreation represents >75% of the value of the national forests
Ecotourism: people visiting places and spending money to experience unually biological communities on particular species
e. g. african safaris
e. g. evergaldes
Describe the educational and scientific nonconsumptive values of ecosystems
books, TV prorams, movies are based on nature themes
-nature used as intellectual content
Scientists
-to understand the natural world
Define option value
a species potential to provide an economic benefit to human society at some point in the future
3 main reasons that we care about option value
for genetic improvement of cultivated plants
for biological control agents to control invasive species
for medicines (bioprospecting)
Describe the option value associated with genetic improvement of cultivated plants
Genetic improvements of cultivated plants:
- increased yield
- resistance to insects
- resistance to fungi, viruses, and bacteria
- source of resistance is often from WILD RELATIVES of the crop that require protecting
Describe the option value of biological control agents
to control invasive species
like the prickly pear cactus moth
Describe the option value of medicine
bioprospecting: searching for organisms that can provide economic value
e. g., anticancer chemical in pacific yew
agreement between US national cancer institute and INBio, drug companies, etc.
Define existence value and beneficiary value and some examples.
the amount people are willing to pay to prevent species from going extinct
Includes beneficiary value: how much people are willing to pay to protect something of value for their descendants, or for future generations
-aka bequest value
Donations for charasmatic megafauna: seals, pandas, elephants
donations for rainforests
“Is economic valuation enough?”
Yes, if you feel that economic thinking should rule our lives
valuation can be made to include indirect values (e.g. tropical wetlands ecosystems)
Many people don’t feel this way.
Why do many people think economic valuation isn’t enough
current economic system responsible for high levels of pollution, environmental degradation, species extinctions
need to reduce our overconsumption of resources (by a small minority of the human population)
how about more equitable consumption of resources?
how about reducing human population?
how about ethical values?
