The Laws of Nature: Managing Ecosystems for A Sustainable Future

5. Ecosystem Services and Ecosystem Management—How Good a Fit?

97 5 Ecosystem Services and Ecosystem Management—How Good a Fit? J.B.Ruhl,VanderbiltUniversity B y the mid-1990s, the evolving concept of ecosystem management had become the subject of intense debate in natural resources policy.1 In a landmark1994articleinConservation Biology,R.EdwardGrumbinecaptured the state of play of that debate and synthesized what he drew from the literature on ecosystem management to define its central tenets.2 At the core of ecosystemmanagement,heconcluded,wastheoverarchingthemeof sustaining ecological integrity in order to reduce and eventually eliminate the staggering lossesof biodiversityecologistshadbegundocumentingsincethemiddleof the century.3 According to Grumbine, this goal sharply contrasted with the goal of traditional resource management to maximize the production of traditional goods(suchastimberandminerals)andservices(suchashuntingandcamping) fromnaturalresources.4 Grumbinethuswarnedthat“if ecosystemmanagement istotakeholdandflourish,therelationshipbetweenthenewgoalof protecting ecological integrity and the old standard of providing goods and services for humans must be reconciled.”5 A few years after Grumbine published his study of ecosystem management theory, another evolving concept, ecosystem services, hit the scene with a splash in a 1997 Naturemagazinearticle6 andalsoamorecomprehensivebook.7 Ecosystem services are the economic benefits humans derive from the ecosystem structureandprocessesthatformwhatmightbethoughtof asnaturalcapital.8 Ecosystem services flow to human communities in four streams: (1) provisioning services arecommoditiessuchasfood,wood,fiber,andwater;(2)regulatingservicesmoder- 98 Ecosystem Services and Ecosystem Management—How Good a Fit? ateorcontrolenvironmentalconditions,suchasfloodcontrolbywetlands,water purification by aquifers, and carbon sequestration by forests; (3) cultural services include recreation, education, and aesthetics; and (4) supporting services, such as nutrientcycling,soilformation,andprimaryproduction,makethepreviousthree service streams possible.9 In the Nature article, lead author Robert Costanza and his research team estimated the global economic value of ecosystem services at over $30 trillion annually,10 and the book, edited by Gretchen Daily, surveyed an array of ecological systems such as wetlands and forests as sources of numerous ecosystemservicestreams.11 Fastforwardtotodayandtheconceptsof ecosystemmanagementandecosystem services are both firmly implanted in natural resources policy dialogue andasfocalpointsof scientificresearch,thougheachhashaditsdetractorsand difficulties gaining traction in concrete regulatory programs.12 Yet little attentionhasbeenpaidtohowtheyrelate ,particularlyinawayrelevanttoGrumbine’s callforreconciliationbetweenecologicalintegrityandtheuseof ecosystemsfor human prosperity. More specifically, does the concept of ecosystem services lightthewayforharmonizingthegoalof sustainingecologicalintegrityandthe goalof providinggoodsandservicestohumans?Theconceptof ecosystemservices is, after all, unequivocally about delivering economic value from ecosystems to humans, and in that sense is inherently anthropocentric. That does not sound promising for reconciliation. Is there something about the ecosystem services approach that changes the calculus from that used in traditional resource management in such a way that makes it more likely that ecosystem servicesconceptswillpromotesustainableecologicalintegrity?Oristheconcept of ecosystem services just a wolf in sheep’s clothing, appealing in name, but no less threatening to ecological integrity in practice? This chapter explores those questions from two perspectives. The first section of the chapter examines the fit between ecosystem management and ecosystem services in theory. Is the concept of ecosystem services compatible with, even supportive of, what Grumbine laid out as the themes and goals of ecosystem management, or will it put ecosystem management even farther behind? The second section explores the topic in an applied context through a case study of ecosystem services and federal public land management. Is there anythingtobegainedforecosystemmanagementonfederalpubliclandregimes throughtheuseof ecosystemservicesconcepts?Theanalysisfrombothperspectives is that the concept of ecosystem services offers significant potential to supporttheapplicationof ecosystemmanagementprinciplesgenerally,butthat j.b. ruhl 99 care must be taken to ensure it does not distort or undermine ecosystem management goals in local contexts. i. theory: matching ecosystem management with ecosystem services Howcompatiblearetheconceptsof ecosystemmanagementandecosystem services? One way to explore that question is to put the principles of ecosystem servicestheoryupagainstGrumbine’sthemesandgoalsof ecosystemmanagement to see how well they match up. Grumbine outlined ten such themes and five overarching goals for ecosystem management. The following discussion compares each with the themes and goals of ecosystem services theory. A. Ecosystem Services and the Themes of Ecosystem Management Grumbine’s synthesis of the ecosystem management literature as it stood in 1994 led him to the following definition of the term: “[e]cosystem management integrates scientific knowledge of ecological relationships within a complexsociopoliticalandvaluesframeworktowardthegeneralgoalof protectingnativeecosystemintegrityoverthelongterm .”13 Hethenunpackedthisdefinitionintotenkeycomponents .Eachissummarizedbelow,followedbydiscussion of how ecosystem services theory is complementary or in conflict with the ecosystem management theme.14 1. Hierarchical Context. To be effective, ecosystem management must operate at multiple levels of the biodiversity hierarchy (genes, species, populations, ecosystems ,landscapes),withmanagersseekingtheconnectionsbetweenalllevels through what Grumbine called a “systems” perspective.15 Ecosystem services theoryhasatitscoreageographicalperspectivethatwhollyembracessuchscalar and systems models.16 Formulating ecosystem services policy requires a thoroughunderstandingof thecomplexdeliverychainfromnaturalcapitalsources to human population beneficiaries. These delivery chains operate at multiple scales. For example, a forest may provide groundwater recharge services to one localpopulation,surfacewaterpurificationservicestonumerousdistantdownstreampopulations ,andcarbonsequestrationservicestotheglobalpopulation. The...