Ecological Services Flashcards
Provision
- good that humans can use directly.
- water, minerals, lumber, food crops, medicinal plants, natural rubber, & furs
Regulating
natural ecosystems help to regulate environmental conditions
Support services
services required for the functioning of all other ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, pollination, soil formation, & seed dispersal
Cultural Services
non-material benefits gained from ecosystems
Valuation
practice of assigning monetary value to intangible benefits & natural capital
- Method 1: Calculate revenue generated by people who pay for benefit - tourists pay to visit nature preserve
- Method 2: use surveys - ask a number of people how much they would pay to know spotted owls exist
What are the negative effects of the following human land uses? extensive logging deforestation change of landscape paving overuse of farmland
- extensive logging - mudslides
- deforestation = climate change & other environmental problems
- change of landscape = single largest cause of species extinctions
- paving = runoff & absorbs heat from sun & reradiates it = urban “heat islands”
- overuse of farmland = soil degradation & water pollution (& sometimes mudslides)
Tragedy of the commons
tendency for a shared, limited resource to become depleted if it is not regulated in some way
Externalities
cost or benefit of good or service that is NOT included in purchase price of that good or service or otherwise NOT accounted for
Environmental Injustice - people who are economically disadvantaged are more likely to live next to landfills, and the negative externality is the cost on their health
Maximum sustainable yield
maximum amount of renewable resource that can be harvested without compromising future availability of that resource
Sustainability
meets needs of present generation without compromising ability of future generations to meet their own needs
