Community Based Demonstration Projects: Willamette Ecosystem Services Project (WESP)
Citation:
BOLTE, J. P., BOB B. MCKANE, D. L. PHILLIPS, N. H. SCHUMAKER, AND D. WHITE. Community Based Demonstration Projects: Willamette Ecosystem Services Project (WESP). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-10/073, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
Understanding interactions and tradeoffs between these services will help local decision makers understand the ecological costs and benefits of existing and proposed land management, growth and climate adaptation/mitigation policies.
Description:
EPA’s Ecosystem Services Research Program in the Office of Research and Development is focused on the study of ecosystem services and the benefits to human well-being provided by ecological systems. As part of this research effort, the Willamette Ecosystems Services Project (WESP) of the Western Ecology Division will identify and characterize bundles of ecosystem services in the Willamette River Basin (WRB) and seek to understand the effect man-made stressors have on those services. Understanding interactions and tradeoffs between these services will help local decision makers understand the ecological costs and benefits of existing and proposed land management, growth and climate adaptation/mitigation policies. WESP scientists will develop maps, models, and decision support tools assessing ecosystem services in the WRB to help decision makers apply the information and methods developed by this project. Using these tools, decision makers will be able to implement proactive policy and management decisions over time and at multiple scales. These decisions will help ensure human well-being by conserving and enhancing ecosystem services.