Ecosystem Health
Description
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Persons
David Rapport, PhD, FLS
Professor, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph; Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
Robert Costanza, PhD
Professor, Department of Biological Science; Director, University of Maryland Institute for Ecological Economics, Center for Environmental Science, University of Maryland, Solomons, Maryland.
Paul R. Epstein, MD, MPH
Associate Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Connie Gaudet, PhD
Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Richard Levins, PhD
John Rock Professor of Population Science, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Content
Need For A New Paradigm
Pressures on The Environment
Ecosystem Pathology
Shortcomings of Present Approaches to Environmental Management
Limitations of Economic Approaches
Limitations of The Ecological Approaches
Limitations of The Engineering Model
The Need For Integrative Knowledge
Defining Ecosystem Health
Ecosystem Health As A Metaphor
What Is Implied By The Health Metaphor At The Ecosystem Level
What Is Not Implied By The Health Metaphor At The Ecosystem Level
Ecosystem Health As A Societal Goal
Ecosystem Health As A Transdisciplinary Science
Criteria For Ecosystem Health
Vigor
Resilience
Organization
Maintenance of Ecological Services
Management Options
Reduced Subsidy
Damage to Neighbouring Systems
Human Health Effects
Dimensions of Ecosystem Health
Introduction
Biophysical Dimension
Socioeconomic Dimension
Human Health Dimension
Spatial/Temporal Dimension
Stress And Response
Single Stressors
Multiple Stressors
Answering The Critics
Interfacing Societal Values And Science
Distinguishing Between Health, Integrity And Sustainable Development
Ecosystem Health The Last Frontier of Medicine
References
Part II: Approaches to Assessing The Health of Ecosystems; Assessment By Whom, For Who, to What Ends?; The Ecosocial Dynamics of Rural Systems
Introduction
Pre-Modern Social Systems
The Emergence of A Crisis of Rural Life
The Dynamics of Rural Poverty
The Dual Economy: A Modern Alternative For Sustainable Development
Assessing Ecosystem Health Across Spatial Scales
Introduction
Defining The Context: Ecosystem Health And Ecosocial Scale
Spatial Scalilng of Ecosocial Complexes
The Range of Scales: The Taiga As An Example
Criteria of Ecosystem Health
Concluding Remarks: An Emphatic "No!" to Shallow Anthropocentrism
The Efforts of Community Volunteers In Assessing Watershed Ecosystem Health
Introduction
Empowering Community Groups
River Watch Network; Watershed Ecosystem Health
Indicators of Watershed Ecosystem Health
Physical Indicators
Chemical Indicators
Biological Indicators
Human Health Indicators
Human Use And Perception Indicators
Selecting Indicators
Volunteer Water Monitoring
Case Studies
Southwest: Isleta Pueblow And The Rio Grande
The US Mexico Border: The Rio Bravo River Watchers
New England: The Connecticut River Watch Program
New England: The Mystic River Watch
The Merrimack River Volunteer Environmental Monitoring Network
Case Conclusions
Conclusions
References
Assessing Cumulative Health Effects In Ecosystems
Cumulative Effects: Background And Definition
Understanding Casualty And Feedback In Assessing Cumulative Effects
Diagnostic Approaches; Loop Analysis Methodology
Core Loop Models From Data Sets
Core Models of Marine Communities
Cumulative Effects Assessment For The Northumberland Strait
Fish Landings
Loop Analysis Models of Key Relationships
Combined Fisheries Foodwebs Illustrating Benthic-Pelagic Coupling
Summary of Results
Integrating Health Surveillance And Environmental Monitoring
Emerging Infectious Disease And Global Change
Introduction
Climate Change And Disease
Montane Regions
Marine Ecosystems
Global Change, Biodiversity And Marine-Related Disease
Climate Variability And Epidemics
Minimum Temperatures
Biodiversity And Emerging Infectious Diseases
Evolutionary Biology: The Environment And Disease Emergence; Ecology, Pests And Terrestrial Ecosystems
R-Selected And K-Selected Species
Cumulative Ecological Impacts of Global Change
Synergies And Pests
Ocean Warming
Decadal Variability
Discontinuities
Costs of Epidemics
Integrated Assessment And Monitoring
Integrated Ecological Risk Assessment
Biological Indicators For Integrated Monitoring
New Methodologies For Surveillance And Integrated Monitoring
An Historical Note on Infectious Disease Pandemics
Conclusions
Qualitative Mathematics For Understanding, Prediction And Intervention In Complex Systems
Some Methods of Qualitative Analysis
The Indicators of Qualitative Dynamics
Local Stability
Signed Digraphs
Resistance
Osillations
Correlation Patterns
Time Averaging
Validation of Indicators.
Inroduction
Benchmark Sites
Field Measurements
Computing Indicator Metrics
Paleoecology: A Diagnostic Approach to Assessing Ecosysem Health
Introduction
Paleolimnology
Paleolimnological Approach
Interpreting Information In Sediment Cores
Quantitative Inference
References
Ecological Risk Assessment, A Predictive Approach to Assessing Ecosystem Health
Introduction
Stages In Ecological Risk Assessment
Uncertainty In Risk Assessments
Uncertainty And Scale
Ecosystem Health And Self-Interest
Conclusions
References
Part III: Ecosystem Health And Sustainability; What Is Sustainability?
Introduction
Defining And Predicting Sustainability
When?
What System?
How Long?
Conclusions
Predictors of Ecosystem Health
Measuring Vigor
Measuring Organization
Measuring Resilience
Social Decision Making
Using Models to Build Consensus
A Three-Step Modeling Process
Scoping And Consensus-Building Models
Research Models
Management Models
toward Global Ecosystem Health And Sustainability: The Importance of Envisioning
Part IV: Case Studies; The Chesapeake Bay And Its Watershed: A Model For Sustainable Ecosystem Management?
Introduction
A Summary of The Problem
The Chesapeake Bay And Its Watershed
History of The Bay And Its Watershed; Principal Uses And Problems of The Chesapeake Bay
The Bay And Its Watershed As A System
Summary
Evolution of Chesapeake Bay Management
Barriers And Bridges to Improved Management
Social Traps
Building Bridges With Incentives
Summary And Synthesis
References
Paleolimnological Assessments of Ecosystem Health: Lake Acidification In Adirondack Park
Introduction
The Acidification of Deep Lake Regional Changes In Lake Acidification
Regional Changes In Lake Acidification
References
The Desert Grasslands
Characteristics of The Ecosystem
History of Degradation
Rangeland Rehavilitation
References
Health of Some Cuban Forest Ecosystems
Introduction
Current Condition And Pressures on Cuban Ecosystems
Socio-Historical Stresses
Natural And Anthropogenic Perturbations Affecting Existing Cumban Ecosystems
Meteorological Perturbations
Ecosystem Research And Monitoring
The Sierra Del Rosario Biosphere Reserve
Methodology
Results
Conclusions
The Island Group Sabana-Camaguey Mangroves
Description And Observations
Conclusions
Summary
Critical Regions, A Profile of The Honduras
Introduction
Deforestation And Natural Disasters
Increases In Infectious Disease
Water-Borne Infections
Vector-Borne Disease
Leishmaniasis
La Mosca Blanca
Clinical Impacts
Conclusions
Who Framed The Kyronjoki?
The Facts
The Suspects
The Options
The Decision Problems
The Future
References
