1. Effective Ecosystem Management
Ecosystem Services:
A Tool for More
Effective Ecosystem Management
Suzanne Marcy, Ph.D.
Outreach and Education
Ecosystem Services Research Program
EPA Office of Research and Development
Elliot Rosenberg, Session Organizer
EPA Region 10
7B Marcy

2. Among the greatest challenges we now face as a global community
is the increasing changes and adverse effects
that humans are having on
ecosystem functions and processes
at the local to global scale

3. Millennium
Ecosystem
Assessment

4. Consequences for People

5. Key MEA findings greatly influenced the Ecosystem Services Research Program
“Everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystem services to provide the conditions for a decent, healthy, and secure life.”
“Even today’s technology and knowledge can reduce considerably the human impact on ecosystems. They are unlikely to be deployed fully, however, until ecosystem services cease to be perceived as free and limitless, and their full value is taken into account.”

6. How can using ecosystem services make a difference in ecosystem management ?
Use full ecosystem value when evaluating tradeoffs
Incorporate true costs and benefits of loss or gain in services
Evaluate how to achieve balance for sustainable ecosystems and human health and well-being

7. Today:
Katharine (Trina) Wellman: Introduce the economics of accounting for ecosystem services: both challenges and opportunities
David Batker: Feature application of using ecosystem services to improve decision making in Puget Sound and other regions
Charles Iceland: Share successes of corporate and other applications using ecosystem services to improve decisions in the US and elsewhere
Dixon Landers: Scientific challenges and opportunities for understanding and measuring ecosystem services for practical application

8. Questions for Discussion
How do we effectively account for the full value of ecosystem services?
How do we address less quantifiable services?
How can ecology, economics and social sciences be fully integrated for understanding full value?
What are the philosophical challenges of using ecosystem services: why would you, or wouldn’t you want to use ecosystem services in decision making?
What indicators and standardization are needed for ecosystem services?