Citation:

O'Higgins, T., Ted DeWitt, AND M. Lago. Using the Concepts and Tools of Social Ecological Systems and Ecosystem Services to Advance the Practice of Ecosystem-Based Management. Chapter 1, Timothy G. O’Higgins. Manuel Lago, Theodore H. DeWitt (ed.), Ecosystem-Based Management, Ecosystem Services and Aquatic Biodiversity Theory, Tools and Applications. Springer, Heidelberg, Germany, , 3-14, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45843-0_1

Impact/Purpose:

This is the introductory chapter to the book, Ecosystem Based Management and Ecosystem Services: Theory, Tools and Practice, which is an international collaboration of researchers from the US and Europe, and which is co-edited by the authors of this chapter. Twenty-eight US EPA scientists, largely from the community working on developing concepts, tools, and applications of final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS), contributed to fifteen of the chapters in this book. Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) is a powerful approach for managing wicked environmental problems: those that are persistent, complex, result from multiple conflicting causes, have no clear end, and involve moral choices forcing winners and losers. EBM recognizes the need to incorporate systems thinking into natural resource management and works backwards from the problem to identify the causes and actors. EBM takes the perspective that environmental problems are nested within social-ecological systems, and that human social systems are contained within and completely dependent on the broader ecological system. EBM also recognizes and incorporates the ecological complexity associated with environmental problems and the interdependencies of organisms (including humans) and ecological processes, as well as the potential for multiple interacting causes of specific problems. The chapter lays out the goal of the book which is to examine the current state of the art of holistic and collaborative techniques to address wicked environmental problems through the application of EBM, and to describe how these techniques can be effectively implemented at multiple spatial scales. The book is divided into four sections: 1) fundamental concepts, 2) tools for implementing EBM, 3) governance frameworks for implementing EBM, and 4) case study examples of EBM in practice. The chapter concludes by identifying key lessons learned from the twenty-seven chapters and key needs for new knowledge and tools to propel the advancement and application of EBM.

Description:

Environmental problems are ubiquitous and typically wicked. They are persistent, complex, result from multiple conflicting causes, have no clear end, and involve moral choices forcing winners and losers. Top-down, command-and-control management approaches have proven ineffective at dealing with such problems, largely because they fail to recognize how environmental problems are fundamentally linked to social systems that cause and are affected by those problems. Management approaches that start with the premise that environmental problems are attributes of social-ecological systems offer a new hope for managing these wicked problems through collaboration among stakeholders and decision-makers. Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) is such an approach that recognizes social-ecological systems and the need to incorporate systems thinking into natural resource management. EBM takes the perspective that human social systems are contained within and completely dependent on the broader ecological system and works backwards from the problem to identify the causes and actors. EBM also recognizes and incorporates the ecological complexity associated with environmental problems and the interdependencies of organisms (including humans) and ecological processes, as well as the potential for multiple interacting causes of specific problems. In this book, we examine the current state of the art of holistic and collaborative techniques to address wicked environmental problems through the application of EBM, and we describe how these techniques can be effectively implemented at multiple spatial scales. The book is divided into four sections. Section 1 deals with foundational concepts such as the definition of EBM itself, the concept of ecosystem services, and the development of conceptual frameworks that connect human activities and ecosystem components. Section 2 describes tools for ecological modelling, stakeholder engagement and analysis of ecosystem services that can support different steps along the EBM process. Tools to help implement EBM come in many forms. Section 3 deals with the International, US and European basis for the governance of social-ecological systems. Section 4 brings together a selection of cutting-edge case studies of EBM from diverse geographic and environmental settings, from the Great Lakes of North America to the Mekong Delta in SE Asia, from marine and estuarine systems to freshwater rivers, lakes and wetlands of the Danube catchment (the most international river basin in the world). We conclude by identifying key lessons learned from the twenty-seven chapters and key needs for new knowledge and tools to propel the advancement and application of EBM.

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