Components of Healthy Ecosystems/Ecosystem Management

1. Components of Healthy Ecosystems/Ecosystem Management Wally Covington

2. Ecosystem Studies • Ecosystem studies • based on general systems principles • focus on the movement of energy, nutrients, water, organisms, etc. • through landscape units called ecosystems

3. Size? Can be as large or small as needed to fit the purpose of study A single leaf A forested stand A watershed Hierarchical units An ecosystem:What is it?

4. Watershed: topographically defined unit of land, all precip. flows out of a single stream Stand: any area of forest vegetation whose site conditions, past history, and current species composition are sufficiently uniform to be managed as a unit A watershed can have many stands Definitions:

5. Ecosystem-level study of a forested watershed Hubbard Brook Valley; Durham, NH Six small watersheds with similar geology, soils, and vegetation Ecosystem Study Examples – Hubbard Brook

6. Ecosystem Study Examples –Hubbard Brook • Watershed: topographically defined unit of land, all precip. flows out of a single stream • Monitor: • precipitation in (rain gauges) • streamflow out (weir) • nutrients in: • Plants, soil, and those lost in water

7. 1. Study paired watershed-ecosystem before a disturbance 2. Then disturb the system(In this case, forest harvesting practices such as a clear-cut = treatement) 3. Compare inputs and outputs before and after(or use “paired watersheds” – one disturbed, other not) 4. Differences in water, nutrients, etc. – due to the treatment Ecosystem Study Examples – Hubbard Brook

8. Very different in deciduous vs. coniferous forests Decomposition – (therefore, release of nitrogen in ionic form) is often faster in deciduous forests Coniferous trees need less nitrogen/decomposition is often slower Fire can be important in mobilizing nitrogen Organic Budgets/Nitrogen Cycle

9. Computer Models:Central to Ecosystem Management • Need computer models: • Complexity of forest ecosystems • Complexity of management decisions

10. Model = an abstract representation of a system or process Formulated in many different ways Physical models – reduced size; model airplanes or model buildings Better visualize Better understand the forces Abstract models - use symbols and equations: Verbal, graphical, and mathematical models What is a model?

11. Ecosystem Management • The ecosystem approach: • healthy ecosystems and sustainable economies • a method for sustaining or restoring natural systems and their functions and values • goal driven, and it is based on a collaboratively developed vision of desired future conditions that integrates ecological, economic, and social factors. • applied within a geographic framework defined primarily by ecological boundaries. • The goal of the ecosystem approach: restore and sustain the health, productivity, and biological diversity of ecosystems and the overall quality of life through natural resource management that is fully integrated with social and economic needs.