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Transcript
Biotic Resources CHAPTER 6 1 Biotic resources… Raw materials… Ecological services… Absorption capacity… Increased level in complexity + increased level in ignorance and uncertainty Why? (1) Intrinsic value we give to living systems. they are almost entirely considered as means to various ends, where one of the foremost ends is the sustenance of life (2) Processes responsible for sustained reproduction of individuals, pop or species: highly complex and poorly understood (3) Individuals, pop, and species interact w/ other individuals, pop and species – as well as abiotic resources, to create an ecosystem 2 Ecosystem structure Individuals and communities of which the ecosystem is composed, their age and spatial distribution, and the abiotic resources; Ecosystem function Emergent phenomena - Energy transfer, nutrient cycling, gas regulation, climate regulation, and the water cycle Variability, ignorance, and uncertainty… 3 What are the different kinds of ignorance? We know what we don’t know We don’t know what we don’t know We think we know what we don’t know 4 Risk Knowing the possible outcomes and their probabilities A calculable or insurable cost (pure) Uncertainty Knowing outcomes but not probabilities Not insurable cost Ignorance Do not even know the range of possible outcomes 5 Risk Estimating stocks of natural resources Estimating reproductive rates for cultivated species (pure) Uncertainty Estimating reproductive rates for wild species Estimating ecological thresholds Ignorance Estimating the alternate state into which an ecosystem might flip when it passes and ecological threshold or how humans may adapt 6 How do we choose to handle uncertainty in economic analysis is ultimately an ethical decision. Still… What is the degree of uncertainty.. Note: although separate (academically), ecosystem structure and ecosystem function are highly *interdependent* 7 3 categories of biotic resources 1. Renewable resources Provide the raw materials 2. Ecosystem services Ecosystem functions of value to humans and generated as emergent phenomena by the interacting elements of ecosystem structure 3. Waste absorption capacity An ecosystem service that is sufficiently distinct from the others to warrant separate treatment 8 Renewable Resources Regarded as material stock-flow resources; elements of ecosystem structure Can be extracted as fast as we desire Capable of reproduction Stock = flow (what does that mean?) Actual extraction rates must lie on or below this line We can extract the entire stock at one time Sustainable yield (MSY = max. sustainable yield) Net annual reproduction from a given stock Risk, pure uncertainty, and ignorance Critical depensation = minimum viable population 9 Ecosystem Services Examples of ecosystem services? Example of Forests: A stock of trees that generates a flow of trees Harvested and used immediately Stockpiled for later use A creator of services quite different Cannot be stockpiled to be used at any rate we choose “Intact ecosystems are funds that provide ecosystem services, while their structural components are stocks that provide a flow of raw materials.” They cannot be ‘worn out’ like fund-service resources or ‘used up’ like stock-flow resources Know table 6.1: examples of services provided by ecosystems 10 Relationship betw. natural capital stocks & funds Structural elements of an ecosystem are: Stocks of biotic and abiotic resources When combined together generate ecosystem functions or services Use of a biological stock unsustainably depletes a corresponding fund and the services it provides (?) It is impossible to create something from nothing; production requires inputs of ecosystem structure; requires a flow of natural resources generated by a stock of natural capital An excessive rate of flow extracted from a stock affects not only the stock and its ability to provide a flow in the future But also the fund to which the stock contributes and the services that fund provides Even abiotic stocks can only be extracted and consumed at some cost to the ecosystem All economic production thus has an impact on ecosystem services and because this impact is unavoidable, it is completely internal to the economic process 11 Waste absorption capacity – the other half of the story Raw materials return as high-entropy waste Assimilated into the environment… Fixed rate (conversion: any rate we choose) Sink for which we have control over the flow from the faucet but not the size of the drain Impact sink by changing ecosystem structure Before the point where waste flows > waste absorption capacity, ↓in flows allows recuperation Capacity different depending on product Rival (how?); easy to make Excludable Table 6.2 12 Big ideas to remember Ecosystem structure Ecosystem function Ecosystem services Stock-flow and fund-service resources Risk, uncertainty, ignorance Carrying capacity Minimum viable population Critical depensation Maximum sustainable yield Waste absorption capacity 13 CHAPTER 7 You are responsible for this chapter on your own. 14 Chapter 7 Be sure to know: Exponential growth Doubling time Hubbert curve Source and sink limits Measures of ‘fullness’ of the world 15