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Envisioning the Future for Ecosystems and People
Citation:
KEPNER, W. G., R. L. BAILY, AND D. Goodrich. Envisioning the Future for Ecosystems and People. EM: AIR AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION'S MAGAZINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGERS. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, , 36-37, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
Clean and Safe Water – by providing water quality research and methods development at multiple scales, utilizing landscape ecology and associated techniques
Description:
“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are only consequences,” was a thought penned in 1899 by attorney R.G. Ingersoll. That may no longer be a common perception among those who believe that we receive many life-sustaining benefits from nature: clean air and water, and fertile soil for food and fiber. Water is among the life-sustaining benefits that are included in the group of ecosystem services provided to us by the natural processes and intricacies of our environment. In the 20th and 21st centuries, policymakers, water resource managers, and scientists realized the value of ecosystem services to human health and well being. We’ve also come to realize that ecosystem services are limited and that they are often undervalued or treated as being free. Instinctively, and through science, we are learning that this may not be the case.