Cnonservation Exam 2 Flashcards
Define: Ecological Economics
imerging discipline that studies the interaction between economics and ecological systems
Define: Externalities
hidden costs or benefits (can be negative or positive)
Tradgedy of the Commons
Others become more willing to wrong this if they see it being done
How do economics use ‘discount rates’
The can argue that something is worth alot now, so invest now rather then later
This should be applied to ensure their is no harm done to the enviroment
Precautionary principles
G.D.P
Gross Domestic Product –> index of national production, but it does not take into account the enviromental costs
e.g BP Oil Spill - was a time of economic boom (jobs created), but was horrible environmental event
- THREE LEVELS OF VALUE *
- Harvest Value
- Un-harvested Value (e.g Tourism)
- Future Value (breeding program)
Define:Consumptive Use Value
local use: Medicines, food source, etc
Define: Substitution Cost
Value of to replace something such as bush meat (how much would it cost to replace that food source)
Define: Productive Use Value
harvested in wild but sold in market
What is the Value of the Worlds Ecosystem
33 Trillion Dollars, (World GDP is 18 trillion) (wetlands and coastal areas are valued at 18 trillion)
Wetlands is highest valued environment
Humans use what percent of terrestrial productivity?
40%!!
Importance of wetlands
valued at 2.4 trillion a year in damage control
-helps to break down storms that are inland bound
Amenity Value
Enjoyment value
Eco-tourism (pros + cons)
PROS- brings in over 600 billion dollars a year
Cons- not much of that money stay in that area, also not always eco-friendly
Examples of Consumptive uses
hunting, fishing, timber
Examples of low consumptive uses
Zoo’s and Aquariums, Research
Examples of Non-Consumptive uses
bird watching, whale watching, etc
Define: Bioprospecting
searching environmental comunnities for species of new economical values
Define: Biopiracy
E.g Pharmaceudical companies come and consume value ecological resources from areas and return no profits to them
Define: Existence Value
The amount of money people are willing to pay to keep a species from being lost
Beneficiary (or bequest) Value
How much would you pay to keep it around for your decendants
Define: Charismatic Megafauna
think pandas!
Powerful governmental panel
“GOD SQUAD”
Economics would most likely fail for most endangered species due to…
- low population numbers
- small geographic range
- no obvious appeal
- no ‘value’
Environmental ethics
articulates ethical value of the natural world
Ethical Arguements (list them)
- each species has right to exist
- all species are independent (loss of 1 species may have large impacts)
- Many religions beleive it is wrong to destroy the world…(Stewardship)
- (Duty to neighbers) dont hurt environment because it harms others
- People have resoinsibility for future generations
- Respect of human life is sononymous with respect of biodiversity)
Enlightend Self Interest
- Saving habitats and animals makes us happier and feel better
Explain ‘Deep Ecology’
- activism supported by environmental philosophy
- understanding of economics and intrinsic values of biodiversity leads to limits on human actions
- Higher Quality of life > Higher Standard of living
ESU
Evolutionariliy Significant Unit
