-
Ecosystem Disturbance, Carbon, and Climate
-
Models of climate change effects should incorporate land-use changes and episodic disturbances such as fires and insect epidemics.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Ecosystem Processes and Human Influences Regulate Streamflow Response to Climate Change at Long-Term Ecological Research Sites
-
Analyses of long-term records at 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada indicate that climate change effects on streamflow are not as clear as might be expected, perhaps because of ecosystem processes and human influences. Evapotranspiration was higher than was predicted by temperature in water-surplus ecosystems and lower than was predicted in water-deficit ecosystems. Streamflow was correlated with climate variability indices (e.g., the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation), especially in seasons when vegetation influences are limited. Air temperature increased significantly at 17 of the 19 sites with 20- to 60-year records, but streamflow trends were directly related to climate trends (through changes in ice and snow) at only 7 sites. Past and present human and natural disturbance, vegetation succession, and human water use can mimic, exacerbate, counteract, or mask the effects of climate change on streamflow, even in reference basins. Long-term ecological research sites are ideal places to disentangle these processes.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Ecosystem Service Markets 101: Supply and Demand for Nature
-
Establishing markets for ecosystem services—the benefits that nature provides, such as clean air, water, and wildlife habitat—has gained traction in some circles as a way to finance the conservation of these public goods. Market influences on supply and demand work in tandem to encourageecosystem protection. Jeff Kline and Trista Patterson, scientists with the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, have identified several criteria needed for ecosystem service markets to achieve their potential. These include regulatory limits on environmental damage, ecosystem services that are amenable to trading, and manageable transaction costs related to administering market programs and the necessary measuring and monitoring of marketed resources. If these criteria are not met, other conservation methods such as conservation easements, landowner incentive programs for environmental enhancement or protection, or taxes on environmental damage may be more effective. Discussions about ecosystem services often focus on increasing supply— storing more carbon or delivering more water, for example. However, net pressures on ecosystems can also be reduced by addressing consumption. Many energy efficiencies can be achieved
by promoting awareness, informed choices, and behavior change. The PNW Research Station is examining
both supply and demand approaches to ecosystem protection by encouraging the development of ecosystem services markets and identifying ways to reduce its own environmental footprint.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Ecosystem services: From theory to implementation
-
Around the world, leaders are increasingly recognizing ecosystems as natural capital assets that supply life-support services of tremendous value. The challenge is to turn this recognition into incentives and institutions that will guide wise investments in natural capital, on a large scale. Advances are required on three key fronts, each featured here: the science of ecosystem production functions and service mapping; the design of appropriate finance, policy, and governance systems; and the art of implementing these in diverse biophysical and social contexts. Scientific understanding of ecosystem production functions is improving rapidly but remains a limiting factor in incorporating natural capital into decisions, via systems of national accounting and other mechanisms. Novel institutional structures are being established for a broad array of services and places, creating a need and opportunity for systematic assessment of their scope and limitations. Finally, it is clear that formal sharing of experience, and defining of priorities for future work, could greatly accelerate the rate of innova- tion and uptake of new approaches.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Edit Organizations Image
-
Image of Organization Edit tab for How to Add an Organization tutorial.
Located in
Help
/
Help Images
-
Edit_Tab
-
Located in
Help
/
Help Images
-
Editorial : Beyond forest carbon
-
The preservation of forests, both on land and in mangrove swamps, has received much attention in the move to protect biological carbon stores. Less conspicuous communities of organisms deserve some scrutiny, too.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Editorial : Half-hearted engineering
-
Climate warming is not the only consequence of rising levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. The only way to counter all effects, including those on rainfall and ocean acidity, is to remove carbon from the climate system. Arguably, some of the most immediate impacts of a warming climate will result from shifts in global rainfall patterns. The potential threats are diverse, and include water scarcity in the lush Amazonian
rainforest; increased drought in the already parched southwestern United States; rainfall replacing snow in low-latitude mountain regions; and a rise in flooding in temperate climates. Whatever the exact outcome of
these threats, the stability of the world’s economy and ecosystem both depend on maintaining precipitation patterns more or less as they are today.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Editorial: The “New Conservation”
-
EDITORIAL: OPENING PARAGRAPHS A powerful but chimeric movement is rapidly gaining recognition and supporters. Christened the “new conservation,” it promotes economic development, poverty alleviation, and corporate partnerships as surrogates or substitutes for endangered species listings, protected areas, and other mainstream conservation tools. Its proponents claim that helping economically disadvantaged people to achieve a higher standard of living will kindle their sympathy and affection for nature. Because its goal is to supplant the biological diversity–based model of traditional conservation with something entirely different, namely an economic growth–based or humanitarian movement, it does not deserve to be labeled conservation.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
-
Education for a Sustainable Future
-
Sustainability is being integrated into higher-education institutions’ mission and planning, curricula, research, student life, and operations.
Located in
Resources
/
Climate Science Documents
