Ecosystem Governance
Coastal areas incorporate land and sea as well as social and ecological systems. The sector-based and spatial management practices assessed earlier are unable to fully synthesize and manage across coastal uses in an effective manner. The former misses mos
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Ecosystem Governance
Coastal areas incorporate land and sea as well as social and ecological systems.The sector-based and spatial management practices assessed ear lier are unable to fully synthesize and manage across coastal uses in an effective manner.The former misses most of the links.The latter accom modates multiple uses but often fails to advance ecosystem health. Two national commissions have criticized this current state of affairs and each proposes ecosystem-based management as a solution (Pew Oceans Com mission, 2003; U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, 2004). This chapter identifies the diverse opportunities for ecosystem-based management in coastal areas.The linkage between ecosystems and social systems is illustrated by considering the use and impacts of fertilizer in farming. Fertilization in the midwestern United States damages water quality in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecosystem thinking goes far to address problems of this type. Inevitably the rate and style of adoption of ecosystem-based manage ment will vary. Slow or incremental change consists of small departures from existing procedures that allow managers to test new approaches. More abrupt changes involve significantly different steps that are le gitimized through new laws or other authoritative means. Fragmented governmental systems, environmental decline, and growing demands for better performance make the coast particularly ripe for these changes.
R. Burroughs, Coastal Governance, Foundations of Contemporary Environmental Studies, DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-016-3_8, © Richard Burroughs 2011
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Nitrogen links between land/sea and society/nature In coastal areas, social systems (households, farms, fisheries, markets, schools) and natural systems (nutrients, tides, runoff, plants, animals) are located in the same geographic region and are intimately connected. Ef fective management recognizes these links as well as the limits of the combined social/ecological system. Ecosystems are made up of biological communities and their physical habitat, as well as people.These systems are defined by flows of materials and energy in bounded geographic regions. Systems with greater bio logical diversity, or biodiversity, are more likely to remain stable when disturbances arise (Schmitz, 2007; Cotgreave and Forseth, 2002). For ex ample, if there are multiple food sources for an animal to draw on, then food substitution can occur. Because ecosystem productivity, stability, and other desirable features are related to biological diversity, it attracts spe cial attention in management. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that the degradation, fragmentation, or destruction of habitat reduces diversity. The movement of water influences organisms in marine systems. As rivers flow to the sea they exchange materials with the atmosphere and land, tightly linking terrestrial and marine systems (Crossland et al., 2005). The shape of the seafloor in estuaries and sounds coupled with water flow, tides, and winds determine how long the
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