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Quantifying Ecosystem Services, Assessing Human Impacts
Citation:
MCKANE, R. B. Quantifying Ecosystem Services, Assessing Human Impacts. Presented at BioCycle 26th Annual West Coast Conference, Portland, OR, April 16 - 19, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
Natural and managed ecosystems provide a multitude of resources and services vital to human well-being – provisioning of food, fiber, clean water and air, habitat for fish and wildlife, recreational opportunities, prevention of flooding, reduction of greenhouse gases, among many others.
Description:
Natural and managed ecosystems provide a multitude of resources and services vital to human well-being – provisioning of food, fiber, clean water and air, habitat for fish and wildlife, recreational opportunities, prevention of flooding, reduction of greenhouse gases, among many others. This presentation describes a study in Oregon’s Willamette River Basin that the US EPA is conducting to develop decision support tools to help communities (1) explore tradeoffs in ecosystem services resulting from alternative decision choices, and (2) quantify community sustainability indicators and their trajectories to balance environmental, economic and social criteria.