Final Exam Flashcards
1
Q
Resilience indicators are utilized to help identify the…
A
position of a state relative to a pending threshold
2
Q
Critical thinking
A
the careful application of reason in determination of whether a claim is true
3
Q
Anthropocene
A
- huge human footprint on earth system
- a new management framework is needed
4
Q
Global change indicators
A
- ocean acidification
- climate change
5
Q
Wicked problems
A
challenges to the earth system that are impossible to completely resolve
6
Q
Approaches to sustainability
A
- adaptation
- mitigation
7
Q
Climate change controversy
A
not a problem waiting to be proven or disproven
hard for people to agree
8
Q
Six Americas
A
18% Alarmed 33% Concerned 19% Cautious 12% Disengaged 11% Doubtful 7% Dismissive
9
Q
Is science the controversy?
A
No, the differences are much deeper
10
Q
Is science alone the solution?
A
no
11
Q
Systems thinking
A
study of how an object interacts with other objects within a system
12
Q
Components of systems
A
- variables
- parameters
- feedbacks
- drivers
13
Q
Variable
A
structural
14
Q
Parameters
A
processes
15
Q
Feedbacks
A
specific processes that change how variables interact with one another
16
Q
Social-ecological systems
A
natural systems coupled with human systems
17
Q
Importance of social-ecological systems
A
make up earth systems
18
Q
Social-ecological system human impacts
A
- greenhouse gas emissions
- ocean acidification
- land degradation and fragmentation
- deadzones
19
Q
Ecological organization
A
organism, population, community, ecosystem, biosphere, earth system
20
Q
Social organization
A
group organization like a club or organization
21
Q
Cultural theory
A
- four perceptions of how humans perceive and interpret reality
- fatalist
- hierarchist
- individualist
- egalitarian
22
Q
Cultural theory value
A
one world, multiple realities
23
Q
Ecosystem services
A
benefits that humans derive from ecosystems
24
Q
Ecosystem services essential to humans
A
- provisioning services
- supporting services
- cultural services
- regulating services
25
Provisioning services
- ecosystem goods consumed by society
- food production
- water
- wood and fiber
- fuel
26
Goal of payment for ecosystem services
to provide economic justification for conservation; influence politicians and other decision makers to optimize the value of alternative land uses
27
Strengths and weaknesses of payment for ecosystem services
prioritizing human needs is especially limited
environmental limits difficult to identify
services are valued by market forces
28
Stated preference valuation methods
- contingent valuation
| - contingent choice
29
Revealed preference valuation methods
- travel costs
| - hedonic pricing
30
Human well-being
- reference to quality of human life both physically and psychologically.
- 2 broad categories:
* emotional well-being
* life evaluation
31
GDP
- Gross domestic product
| - market value of all official goods and services produced in a country per year
32
GDP indices
Stand of living: availability of wealth, comfort, and material goods
33
QOL indices
general well-being of individuals and societies
34
What is a provisioning service?
- lumber production
| - livestock production
35
How are provisioning services valued?
stated preference methods
36
Limits of scientific knowledge
- often narrow in scope and application
- often has limited policy relevance
- devoid of human value
- science can inform scenarios and outcomes, but it is insufficient to prioritize them
37
Values of scientific knowledge
often high technical and specialized
38
Steady state management
maximum sustainable yield of few provisioning services by employing command and control management to minimize system variability
39
Resilience based management
aspires to guide change to sustain the capacity of human-ecological systems to support human well-being
40
Disadvantages of steady state management
- emphasis on production efficiency of a few resources to exclusion of others
- narrow interpretation of sustainability
- tradeoffs exist between sustainability and maximum resource yield
- managers overestimate ability to respond to conditions that alter consistent yield
41
Value of resilience based management
- anticipate and guide change to benefit society
- diverse ecosystem services acknowledged
- sustainability over production
- human-ecological system framework emphasized
42
Knowledge conflict on North Concho Watershed
- project expected to increase water yield 3 to 5 fold
- no increase in water yield occurred, including wet year 2007
- a decrease in water yield has been observed in some instances
- professional and scientific knowledge differed
43
What knowledge appropriate for addressing intensive grazing?
experiential: knowledge associated with the application and use of grazing systems
44
What are the limitations of the ESA regarding sage grouse management?
- regulatory approach may emphasize sage grouse in isolation of their habitat
- short-term decisions emphasized at expense of long-term benefits
45
What is the most complex earth system component?
humans
46
Associative processes
relies on experience and emotion; rapid and easy
47
Analytical processes
uses specific, abstract information; slow and deliberate
48
Attitudes
disposition toward an object
49
Norms
behavioral regularities where people do the same thing
50
Behaviors
specific human actions
51
What is the Leopold land ethic?
wanted to change attitude to affect behavior
52
Why was the Leopold land ethic not more successful?
there wasn't a way to change attitudes
53
How can education be made more effective?
address both associative and analytic processing
54
What is the goal of environmental justice?
shouldn't have to live in polluted environment based on income and social class
55
Equilibrium ecology
one equilibrium site exists
56
Non-equilibrium ecology
no equilibrium point exists
57
Multi-equilibrium ecology
considered more appropriate - more than one equilibrium state may exist on a site
58
Resilience theory
ability of a system to withstand disruptions and maintain integrity and function
59
Resilient social systems
adaptive management? and critical learning? are essential components of social resilience
60
Contemporary view of the balance of nature
balance of nature ecosystems possess a great capacity for internal regulation to maintain stability
61
Engineering resilience
time required for ecosystem recovery following disturbance
62
Ecological resilience
degree of disturbance an ecosystem can withstand and maintain integrity
63
Specific resilience
resilience of specific variable or parameter to one or a few select drivers
64
General resilience
resilience of many variable and parameters to multiple drivers, both those that are known and unknown
65
How are STM organized?
-STM: State-and-Transition Models
-3 states diagramed and separated by 2 thresholds
community phases in each state are reversible but thresholds are not reversible
66
Basin of attraction
- ball represents system
- basin is stability domain
- ridge defines a threshold
67
Bifurcation model
- back folded curve is 2 systems
- F1 is point of threshold
- F2 is point of threshold reversal
- condition is a slow variable
68
What is the goal of resilience indicators?
to monitor the resilience of soils, vegetation and function and indicate when they are at their limit
69
What is the value of adaptive cycles?
- multiple phases
- rapid growth
- conservation
- release
- reorganization
70
Panarchy
group of subsystems that are at different phases of their adaptive cycles
71
Adaptive management
systematic approach for improving natural resource management by learning from management outcomes
72
Goals of adaptive management
combining the need for management action with a plan for learning
73
Steps of adaptive management
- conceptualize system; vital drivers, relevant stakeholders, management options.
- develop objectives, select management actions and monitoring procedures.
- implement management actions and initiate monitoring of outcomes.
- assess and analyze monitoring data.
- document learning of system function and modify management as needed.
74
Appropriate conditions for adaptive management
- high controllability
| - high uncertainty
75
Adaptive co-management
process by which institutional arrangements and ecological knowledge are tested and revised in an iterative self-organized process of learning by doing
76
Single loop learning
managers adjust practices to improve outcomes, but not models or strategies
77
Double loop learning
managers question traditional models, knowledge and strategies
78
Debate
latin "to beat down"
79
Dialogue
latin "flowing through"
80
Traditional learning
- learning unit: single event
- knowledge content: pre-existing
- knowledge status: expert-evaluated
- sources of knowledge: leaders in the field
- organizer's role: managers
- process: analysis and debate
- key goal: efficient, productive
81
Open learning
- learning unit: cumulative process
- knowledge content: emerging during events
- knowledge status: group-generated
- sources of knowledge: exploring potential
- organizer's role: facilitators
- process: synthesis and dialogue
- key goal: responsive, productive
82
Vulnerability
risk of harm owing to exposure and sensitivity to a specified hazard or stressors
83
Components of vulnerability
- exposure
- sensitivity
- adaptive capacity
84
Adaptation
social, economic or cultural adjustment to change to minimize harm
85
Transformation
major change in SES that creates a new system with different livelihoods
86
Resilience
degree of disturbance (change) an ecosystem can withstand and maintain integrity
87
Vulnerability of Galveston Island example
- increase damage from storm surge and flooding
- subsidence
- coastal erosion
- dune/wetland destruction
- sea level rise & storm intensity
88
No-regrets adaptation
justified without emphasis on pending climate change
89
Planned adaptation
adaptations implemented prior to detection of climate-induced change
90
Adaptive capacity
attribute that creates opportunities for learning and experimentation to promote resilient livelihoods in SES
91
Adaptation deficit
limited adaptation to current environmental variation and hazards
92
When is transformation needed?
when incremental adaptation is no longer a successful strategy
93
Case examples of when transformation is needed
- Zimbabwe cattle ranching
| - Texas high plains water shortage
94
Texas Water Plan
- Texas high plains
- most shallow, but lowest volume
- recharge marginal - playa lakes
- rapid depletion since 2000; 3 to 5 feet per year
- 300 feet decline since 1950
- some areas depleted by 2030
- cost of pumping water prohibitive
95
Natural resource harvest
shared by many
96
Environmental governance systems
- common property governance.
| - tragedy of the commons has been averted without privatization or government regulation
97
Consequences of tragedy of commons
degradation has occurred
98
Accuracy of tragedy of commons
fairly accurate
99
Consequences of rational choice theory
rational decisions are made on selfish motives
100
What is common property governance?
- Maine lobster fishery
| - forest protection India
101
Private resources
when resource is in use it can not be used by someone else; easily excluded
102
Public resources
can be used by everyone; very difficult to exclude anyone
103
Club resources
access restricted to members; multiple members can consume same good
104
Common pool resources
resources from which it is difficult to exclude users; units removed by one user are not available to others
105
Excludability
ability to restrict resource users
106
Subtractability
extent to which one user reduces access by other users
107
Institutions
- prescriptions used to organize repetitive and structured interactions
- presented as rules, regulations or norms
- goal is to increase predictability of interaction and efficiency of social function
108
Government
institutional base of power and authority that operates within a constitutional and legislative framework in the public interest
109
Governance
regulatory process, mechanisms and organizations through which political actors influence environmental actions and outcomes
110
Outcome of Denton fracking ban
- banned fracking
- forced to repeal ban
- suit against Denton dropped
- Denton moratorium restated to ban fracking
111
Supporting services
- processes controlling the structure and function of ecosystems
- nutrient cycling
- soil formation
- primary production
- habitat provision
112
Cultural services
- social forces influencing human-nature relationships
- spiritual
- aesthetic
- educational
- recreational
113
Regulating services
- influence processes beyond the ecosystem of origin
- climate regulation
- flood regulation
- water purification
114
Anticipatory adaptation
adaptations planned, but not implemented until climate change detected
