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
