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ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC UNITED STATES
Citation:
PAUL, J. F., J. L. COPELAND, PATRICIA BRADLEY, AND M. E. MCDONALD. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE MID-ATLANTIC UNITED STATES. Presented at EMAP 2007 Symposium, Washington, DC, April 10 - 11, 2007.
Description:
Ecological resources have both extrinsic and intrinsic values. These range from the direct economic values
derived from resource harvests, to inherently ecological characteristics that are necessary for ecosystem
functioning, and finally to societal value that humans place on the protection of natural ecosystems. The
Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA) individual resource reports have used indicators to describe the
quality of ecological resources and to report on condition of those resources. Here, indicator is taken to be a
characteristic that can be measured to assess the status and trends in the ability of the environment to support
an ecological condition or desired human use. What is missing from the individual reports is information
related to the value of the ecological systems. One approach to address this is through the ecosystem
services valuation of Costanza et al. (1997). They assigned monetary values for the world's ecosystem
services and natural capital for 17 ecosystem services and 16 biomes. These ecosystem services are over and
above what is typically considered in market value, e.g., market value of timber production or crop harvest.
This approach has been applied directly to the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The base map of the
Mid-Atlantic ecological resources is the NLCD land cover dataset produced from Landsat TM images from
the early 1990s. Thc global monetary values for ecosystem services compiled by Costanza et al. (1997) were
applied directly to the Mid-Atlantic resource base map to produce an initial ecosystem valuation for the
region. Shortcomings of this application and procedures to alleviate these are presented.