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To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01445.x Byline: NANCY L. STAUS (*[double dagger]), JAMES R. STRITTHOLT (*), DOMINICK A. DELLASALA ([dagger]) Keywords: decision-support model; EMDS; land management; Northwest Forest Plan Abstract: Abstract: The Northwest Forest Plan was implemented in 1994 to protect habitat for species associated with old-growth forests, including Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentailis caurina) in Washington, Oregon, and northern California (U.S.A.). Nevertheless, 10-year monitoring data indicate mixed success in meeting the ecological goals of the plan. We used the ecosystem management decision-support model to evaluate terrestrial and aquatic habitats across the landscape on the basis of ecological objectives of the Northwest Forest Plan, which included maintenance of late-successional and old-growth forest, recovery, and maintenance of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), and viability of Northern Spotted Owls. Areas of the landscape that contained habitat characteristics that supported these objectives were considered of high conservation value. We used the model to evaluate ecological condition of each of the 36, 180 township and range sections of the study area. Eighteen percent of the study area was identified as habitat of high conservation value. These areas were mostly on public lands. Many of the sections that contained habitat of exceptional conservation value were on Bureau of Land Management land that has been considered for management-plan revisions to increase timber harvests. The results of our model can be used to guide future land management in the Northwest Forest Plan area, and illustrate how decision-support models can help land managers develop strategies to better meet their goals. Abstract (Spanish): Evaluacion de Areas de Alto Valor de Conservacion en el Occidente de Oregon Mediante un Modelo de Respaldo a la Toma de Decisiones Resumen: El Plan Forestal Noroccidental fue implementado en 1994 para proteger el habitat para especies asociadas con bosques maduros, incluyendo Strix occidentailis caurina en Washington, Oregon y norte de California (E. U. A.). Sin embargo, datos de monitoreo durante 10 anos indican exito mixto en el logro de las metas ecologicas del plan. Utilizamos el modelo de respaldo a la toma de decisiones para el manejo de ecosistemas para evaluar habitats terrestres y acuaticos en el paisaje con base en los objetivos ecologicos del Plan Forestal Noroccidentalm que incluian el mantenimiento del bosque maduro y en sucesion tardia, la recuperacion y mantenimiento de salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), y la viabilidad de Strix occidentailis caurina. Las areas del paisaje que contenian caracteristicas del habitat que soportaron estos objetivos fueron considerados de alto valor de conservacion. Utilizamos el modelo para evaluar la condicion ecologica de cada uno de los 36 180 distritos y secciones del area de estudio. Dieciocho por ciento del area de estudio fue identificado como habitat con alto valor de conservacion. Estas areas estaban principalmente en tierras publicas. Muchas de las secciones que contenian habitat con valor excepcional de conservacion estaban en tierras del Buro de Gestion de Tierras que han sido consideradas para revision de los planes de manejo para incrementar la cosecha de madera. Los resultados de nuestro modelo pueden ser utilizados para guiar la gestion de tierras en el futuro en el area del Plan Forestal Noroccidental, y los modelos de respaldo a la toma de decisiones pueden ayudar al desarrollo de estrategias para mejorar el alcance de sus metas. Author Affiliation: (*)Conservation Biology Institute, 136 SW Washington Avenue, Suite 202, Corvallis, Oregon 97333, U.S.A. ([dagger])National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, 84 4th Street, Ashland, Oregon 97520, U.S.A. Article History: Paper submitted December 12, 2008; revised manuscript accepted September 14, 2009. Article note: ([double dagger]) email nstaus@consbio.org

Research on ecosystem services has grown markedly in recent years. However, few studies are embedded in a social process designed to ensure effective management of ecosystem services. Most research has focused only on biophysical and valuation assessments of putative services. As a mission-oriented discipline, ecosystem service research should be user-inspired and user-useful, which will require that researchers respond to stakeholder needs from the outset and collaborate with them in strategy development and implementation. Here we provide a pragmatic operational model for achieving the safeguarding of ecosystem services. The model comprises three phases: assessment, planning, and management. Outcomes of social, biophysical, and valuation assessments are used to identify opportunities and constraints for implementation. The latter then are transformed into user-friendly products to identify, with stakeholders, strategic objectives for implementation (the planning phase). The management phase undertakes and coordinates actions that achieve the protection of ecosystem services and ensure the flow of these services to beneficiaries. This outcome is achieved via mainstreaming, or incorporating the safeguarding of ecosystem services into the policies and practices of sectors that deal with land- and water-use planning. Management needs to be adaptive and should be institutionalized in a suite of learning organizations that are representative of the sectors that are concerned with decision-making and planning. By following the phases of our operational model, projects for safeguarding ecosystem services are likely to empower stakeholders to implement effective on-the-ground management that will achieve resilience of the corresponding social-ecological systems. adaptive management | land-use planning | social-ecological systems | stakeholder engagement

The core idea of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is that the human condition is tightly linked to environmental condition. This assertion suggests that conservation and development projects should be able to achieve both ecological and social progress without detracting from their primary objectives. Whereas 'win-win' projects that achieve both conservation and economic gains are a commendable goal, they are not easy to attain. An analysis of World Bank projects with objectives of alleviating poverty and protecting biodiversity revealed that only 16% made major progress on both objectives. Here, we provide a framework for anticipating win-win, lose-lose, and win-lose outcomes as a result of how people manage their ecosystem services. This framework emerges from detailed explorations of several case studies in which biodiversity conservation and economic development coincide and cases in which there is joint failure. We emphasize that scientific advances around ecosystem service production functions, tradeoffs among multiple ecosystem services, and the design of appropriate monitoring programs are necessary for the implementation of conservation and development projects that will successfully advance both environmental and social goals. The potentially bright future of jointly advancing ecosystem services, conservation, and human well-being will be jeopardized unless a global monitoring effort is launched that uses the many ongoing projects as a grand experiment. poverty alleviation | pro-poor conservation | sustainable management

Analysis of uncertainty is often neglected in the evaluation of complex systems (such as predictive models in hydrology or ecology, or environmental processes). Decisions and actions based on such systems may be error-prone for a variety of reasons, including lack of information, input errors or data variability. Research in uncertainty addresses this problem by investigating the causes of uncertainty and the characterisation of uncertainty associated with limited information. The article describes and compares definitions and terminology in uncertainty analysis and reviews suggested classifications. Traditional risk assessment is not directly equivalent to uncertainty analysis. The authors discuss distinctions and applications in various contexts relating to environmental management. Keywords: risk, uncertainty, complex systems, hydrological model, Monte Carlo simulation

Participatory systems analysis was used to construct system models of the operating environment for fire management in conservation reserves in north Queensland, Australia. The aim of the study was to identify stumbling blocks to the adaptive management of fire and to test whether this could be done using participatory methods and a systems modelling tool called Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN). Results from the case study indicate that the participatory system analysis approach provides a co-learning environment that captures the collective (corporate) knowledge of the factors influencing planning, implementing, monitoring and reviewing outcomes, thus allowing critical success factors (CSFs) influencing the success of adaptive management to be identified. BBN provided the scaffolding for piecing together this knowledge, allowing managers to structure complex problems and conduct dynamic sensitivity and scenario analysis to identify where intervention or investment can significantly improve the practice of adaptive management within a natural resource management (NRM) agency. Copyright [C] 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Keywords systems thinking; Bayesian Belief Networks; fire management; natural resource management, INTRODUCTION Adaptive management has been advocated for many years as a way of managing natural resources in the face of uncertainty and variability, especially for systems where the outcomes of [...]

The role- playing game model called BUTORSTAR simulates the impacts of reedbed management and creates awareness to students on socioeconomic factors.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00371.x Byline: CARLOS CALVETE (*) Keywords: epidemiology of RHD; habitat management; Oryctolagus cuniculus; wildlife disease control Abstract: Abstract: The European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a staple prey species in Mediterranean ecosystems. The arrival and subsequent spread of rabbit hemorrhagic disease throughout southwestern Europe, however, has caused a decline in rabbit numbers, leading to considerable efforts to enhance wild rabbit populations, especially through habitat management. Because rabbit population dynamics depend on habitat suitability and changes in habitat structure and composition subsequent to habitat management, I evaluated the effects of population dynamics on the long-term impact of rabbit hemorrhagic disease on rabbit populations. I used an age-structured model with varying degrees of population productivity and turnover and different habitat carrying capacities, and I assumed the existence of a unique, highly pathogenic virus. My results suggest that disease impact may be highly dependent on habitat carrying capacity and rabbit population dynamics, and the model provided some insight into the current abundance of wild rabbits in different locations in southwestern Europe. The highest disease impact was estimated for populations located in habitats with low to medium carrying capacity. In contrast, disease impact was lower in high-density populations in habitats with high carrying capacity, corresponding to a lower mean age of rabbit infection and a resulting lower mortality from rabbit hemorrhagic disease. The outcomes of the model suggest that management strategies to help rabbit populations recover should be based on improving habitats to their maximum carrying capacity and increasing rabbit population productivity. In contrast, the use of strategies based on temporary increases in rabbit density, including vaccination campaigns, translocations, and temporal habitat improvements at medium carrying capacities, may increase disease impact, resulting in short-term decreases in rabbit population density. Abstract (Spanish): Modelado del Efecto de la Dinamica Poblacional sobre el Impacto de Enfermedad Hemorragica de Conejos Resumen: El conejo silvestre europeo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) es una especie presa en ecosistemas Mediterraneos. Sin embargo, el arribo y subsiguiente dispersion de la enfermedad hemorragica de conejos en el suroeste de Europa ha provocado una declinacion en el numero de conejos, lo que ha generado esfuerzos considerables para incrementar las poblaciones de conejos, especialmente por medio de la gestion del habitat. Debido a que la dinamica de las poblaciones de conejos depende de la adecuacion del habitat y de cambios en la estructura y composicion del habitat despues de la gestion del habitat, evalue los efectos de la dinamica poblacional sobre el impacto a largo plazo de la enfermedad hemorragica de conejos sobre las poblaciones de conejos. Utilice un modelo estructurado por edades con diferentes grados de productividad poblacional y recambio asi como diferentes capacidades de carga del habitat, y asumi la existencia de solo un virus altamente patogenico. Mis resultados sugieren que el impacto de la enfermedad puede ser altamente dependiente de la capacidad de carga del habitat y de la dinamica poblacional de los conejos, y el modelo proporciono una panoramica de la abundancia actual de conejos silvestres en diferentes localidades en el suroeste de Europa. Se estimo el mayor impacto de la enfermedad para poblaciones localizadas en habitats con capacidad de carga baja y mediana. En contraste, el impacto de la enfermedad fue menor en poblaciones con alta densidad en habitats con alta capacidad de carga, correspondiente a una menor edad promedio de infeccion y a la resultante menor mortalidad por enfermedad hemorragica de conejos. Los resultados del modelo sugieren que las estrategias de gestion para ayudar a que se recuperen las poblaciones de conejos deberan basarse en el mejoramiento del habitat hasta su capacidad de carga maxima y en el incremento de la productividad de las poblaciones de conejos. En contraste, el uso de estrategias basadas en incrementos temporales de la densidad de conejos, incluyendo campanas de vacunacion, translocaciones y mejoramiento temporal del habitat a capacidades de carga medianas, puede incrementar el impacto de la enfermedad, lo que resultaria en disminuciones de la densidad poblacional de conejos en el corto plazo. Author Affiliation: (*)Centro de Investigacion Agroalimentaria de Aragon (CITA), Apdo. 727, 50058 Zaragoza, Spain, emailvetecal2003@jazzfree.com Article History: Paper submitted April 11, 2005; revised manuscript accepted September 6, 2005.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.03.005 Byline: Olga Feldman (a), Vladimir N. Korotkov (b), Dmitrii O. Logofet (a) Abstract: The monoculture strategy of forest management, where the same tree species (e.g., Picea abies) is cultivated in a number of successive planting-growing-felling cycles, is generally considered to be economically efficient, yet not sustainable as it reduces biodiversity in the forest. The sound alternative suggests a long-term strategy of forest management in which different forest types rotate either with planting after clear cutting, or by natural forest succession, yet the commercial output remains dubious. We suggest an approach to formalization and modelling forest dynamics in the long-term by means of Markov chains, the monoculture strategy resulting in an absorbing chain and the rotation one in a regular chain. The approach is illustrated with a case study of Russkii Les, a managed forest located in the Moscow Region, Russia, and the nearby forest reserve having been used as a data source for undisturbed forest dynamics. Starting with conceptual schemes of transitions among certain forest types (states of the chain) in the monoculture and rotation cases, we estimated the transition probabilities by an original method based on average duration of the corresponding states and on the likelihood of alternative transitions from a state into the next one. Formal analysis of the regular chain reveals an opportunity to achieve particular management objectives within the rotation strategy, in particular, to get the distribution of forest types in accordance with an adopted hierarchy of their commercial values, i.e. more valuable types have greater shares. Author Affiliation: (a) Laboratory of Mathematical Ecology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics RAS, Pyzhevsky Lane 3, Moscow 109017, Russia (b) Department of Biodiversity and Sustainability of Forest Ecosystems, All-Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry, Institutskaya, 15, Pushkino, Moscow region 141200, Russia Article History: Received 15 July 2004; Revised 11 January 2005; Accepted 3 March 2005

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.01.015 Byline: John Gutrich (a)(b), Deanna Donovan (c), Melissa Finucane (d), Will Focht (e), Fred Hitzhusen (f), Supachit Manopimoke (g), David McCauley (h), Bryan Norton (i), Paul Sabatier (j), Jim Salzman (k), Virza Sasmitawidjaja (l) Abstract: Partnerships and co-operative environmental management are increasing worldwide as is the call for scientific input in the public process of ecosystem management. In Hawaii, private landowners, non-governmental organizations, and state and federal agencies have formed watershed partnerships to conserve and better manage upland forested watersheds. In this paper, findings of an international workshop convened in Hawaii to explore the strengths of approaches used to assess stakeholder values of environmental resources and foster consensus in the public process of ecosystem management are presented. Authors draw upon field experience in projects throughout Hawaii, Southeast Asia, Africa and the US mainland to derive a set of lessons learned that can be applied to Hawaiian and other watershed partnerships in an effort to promote consensus and sustainable ecosystem management. Interdisciplinary science-based models can serve as effective tools to identify areas of potential consensus in the process of ecosystem management. Effective integration of scientific input in co-operative ecosystem management depends on the role of science, the stakeholders and decision-makers involved, and the common language utilized to compare tradeoffs. Trust is essential to consensus building and the integration of scientific input must be transparent and inclusive of public feedback. Consideration of all relevant stakeholders and the actual benefits and costs of management activities to each stakeholder is essential. Perceptions and intuitive responses of people can be as influential as analytical processes in decision-making and must be addressed. Deliberative, dynamic and iterative decision-making processes all influence the level of stakeholder achievement of consensus. In Hawaii, application of lessons learned can promote more informed and democratic decision processes, quality scientific analysis that is relevant, and legitimacy and public acceptance of ecosystem management. Author Affiliation: (a) Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, 6182 Steele Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA (b) Environmental Science Program, Hawaii Pacific University, 45-045 Kamehameha Hwy, Kaneohe 96744, Hawaii (c) World Water Assessment Programme, UNESCO, Paris, France (d) Center for Health Research, Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii (e) Department of Political Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA (f) Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA (g) Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand (h) Asian Development Bank, Manila, Indonesia (i) School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA (j) Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA, USA (k) Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Durham, NC, USA (l) Natural Resource Management Program Jakarta, Indonesia Article History: Received 7 July 2003; Revised 14 December 2004; Accepted 21 January 2005

A better understanding of common property resource management systems and institutions is important for conservation and development, as fortress-based approaches towards conservation are increasingly questioned. This paper examines how an indigenous resource management system has operated and supported the protection o fan Afro-alpine area in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia. The community was mainly concerned to regulate their own use of natural resources, including collection of firewood and thatch, and grazing by livestock. The original common property resource management system operated under a previously undescribed indigenous institution known as the Qero system, which was enforced through sanctions and punishments imposed by the community. The Qero system was suspended following the Agrarian Reform in 1975, which resulted in the breakdown of the traditional land tenure and land rights systems within Ethiopia. In the Central Highlands, user rights and management responsibility shifted to include formerly marginalized groups. Nevertheless, the common property management system has shown sufficient resilience to withstand these changes and pressures, and is still functioning with defined user groups and byelaws to regulate resource use and manage the area. Nevertheless, attitudes to current and future management are polarized between former and present managers of the common property regime. KEY WORDS: common property resources; indigenous resource management institutions; Qero system; Guassa; Ethiopia.

The level of prevention and compensation can be improved with extending liability, but it can cause the risk of bankruptcy. It also, analyzes the effects of risk, extending to banks.

Construction and substantiation of a measurement model for environmentally responsible manufacturing by firms to facilitate better research opportunities in the area is discussed.

The optimal forest policies in an overlapping generations economy is examined. The combinations of taxes and subsidies on harvesting and bequests are discussed.

A general equilibrium framework was developed in an effort to evaluate the correlation between manufacturing requirements and social cost of disposal. Unlike conventional environmental paradigms, the proposed model embodies the entire life cycle of a particular product, while taking account of the price and tax rates involved in the process. If consumers are allowed to levy social disposal charges to manufacturers, therefore firms may be compelled to use less packaging materials. The use of recyclable materials may also be promoted by rendering additional corporate tax charges.

Models are used in many policy arenas to predict the future consequences of current decisions. A model is typically viewed as a rational, objective means of processing complex information to predict future conditions. With respect to socioeconomic modeling, policy scientists have found that models frequently do not live up to these promises - they often incorporate the modelers' biases, are difficult for decision makers to use, and do a poor job of point predictions. While awareness of these characteristics of socioeconomic models has increased, less attention has been paid to such factors in environmental modeling. This paper explores the implications of policy scientists' observations about socioeconomic models for the use of water quality models in environmental decision making. For example, the relatively simple task of modeling for an estuarine waste load allocation decision incorporates judgment in model choice, calibration, and use. More complex watershed models involve even more choices that have implications for decision making. Thus, environmental models are not strictly technical inputs to the policy process. Model users, regulators, and the public should be aware of the judgments and uncertainties involved in surface water quality modeling so that model results are used appropriately in the decision-making process.

Ecological tax reforms do not necessarily lead to an improvement in environmental quality. Using first-best and second-best world models, an increase in taxes on polluting goods may result in negative environmental consequences. Revenue-neutral ecological tax reforms in a second-best framework may actually deteriorate the environment. It can be deduced that improving the environment necessitates both ecological tax reforms and the accompanying initiatives taken by the government to ensure revenue neutrality.

A study of the economics aspects of the liability for pollution damages showed that both the 'Polluter Pays' and the 'Pollutee Pays' principles both generate information asymettries that favors the party with property rights. This is due to the effect of private information, which can be used to increase subsidies for lowering pollution, as well as the voluntary arrangements which can affect the transfer of liability.

The controversy on whether the nature of greenhouse gas emissions and sunk control costs affect the decision-making process on the control of greenhouse gases is examined in a stochastic growth model. Factors considered in the model include the net present value of utility, consumption identity, production function, damage from climate change and sunk nature of abatement. It is concluded that there was no significant relationship between greenhouse gas accumulation and the stock effect and that there is a small stock effect related to sunk control capital.

A contingency survey instrument which is used to estimate true willingness to pay should be able to use different scenarios to be able to carry out at least some internal consistency tests, with regards to environmental problems. Inability to fulfill requirements of economic theory would indicate that the proper preferences are not being measured, which can occur when people do not report or do not have the preferences which the survey is attempting to measure.

A strategic trade model is used to demonstrate the effectivity of the view that tougher environmental policies spur investments in innovations that are cost efficient, thus improving domestic industrial competitiveness. Results indicate this may be theoretically possible but highly improbable in real world economics. Enhanced environmental performance will probably be achieved through establishment of the responsibility that government and business must each carry.

A mathematical model is used to demonstrate the capacity of both manufacturers and government to act wisely in order to protect the environment while engaging in free trade. One result illustrates that enabling producers to act wisely decreases but does not remove incentives for governments to relax environmental policy. Another demonstrates that allowing governments to act strategically increases incentives for producers to follow suit.

Chesapeake Bay Program officials integrated three environmental computer models, the watershed model, the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Model and the EPA's Regional Acid Deposition airshed model, to address acid deposition in the bay. The models are also being used to develop strategies that would reduce eutrophication in the bay.

Life-cycle assessment (LCA) standards have been developed to help businesses, consumers and regulators become aware of the environmental impact of the use, processing and disposal of materials in industry. The LCA follows a product's life cycle to determine problems at developmental stages which can be avoided with effective decision-making. Although the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has been most intensive with its LCA life-cycle analysis, its model is limited to the most vital product process materials and disregards other indirect factors.

Informal, local cooperative efforts should replace federal regulation in resolving many environmental controversies. This should have been the year when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became a cabinet-level agency […]

An influential justification for placing responsibility for environmental regulation at the federal level is that otherwise states would engage in a socially undesirable "race to the bottom," making their environmental standards too lax in an effort to attract and retain industry. After discussing the difficulties in empirically testing this theory, Professor Revesz shows that race-to-the-bottom arguments encounter no support in existing models of interjurisdictional competition. He then establishes that even if there were a race to the bottom over environmental standards, federal regulation would not be an effective response: faced with strict federal environmental standards, states concerned with attracting industry would relax regulatory controls in other areas. Professor Revesz concludes by showing that in the corporate-charter and bank-charter literatures, the race-to-the-bottom label has been used to identify issues distinct from those implicated in the term in the environmental context, and he offers a conceptual typology that elucidates the relevant distinctions.