Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making [Paperback]

Committee on Assessing and Valuing the the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems (Author), National Research Council (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2005 | ISBN-10: 030909318X | ISBN-13: 978-0309093187

Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem services that could be lost. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, their value is often overlooked in environmental decision-making. This report identifies methods for assigning economic value to ecosystem services even intangible ones and calls for greater collaboration between ecologists and economists in such efforts.

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Book Description

Nutrient recycling, habitat for plants and animals, flood control, and water supply are among the many beneficial services provided by aquatic ecosystems. In making decisions about human activities, such as draining a wetland for a housing development, it is essential to consider both the value of the development and the value of the ecosystem services that could be lost. Despite a growing recognition of the importance of ecosystem services, their value is often overlooked in environmental decision-making. This report identifies methods for assigning economic value to ecosystem services—even intangible ones—and calls for greater collaboration between ecologists and economists in such efforts.

About the Author

Committee on Assessing and Valuing the the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: National Academies Press (April 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030909318X
• ISBN-13: 978-0309093187
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,428,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important resource for indicator-based valuations, May 21, 2010

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M. Antos (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making (Paperback)

Our research (at [...]) is using this text to support the expert opinion while generating valuations systems for watershed health. A key component of "scoring" an ecological system relies on the local experts, which is an easily-critiqued point of qualitative decision making. There are a few papers in this text which walk you through the challenges, and present useful methods for justifying the use of expert knowledge.

This is only one section, and from a brief glance the rest of the book seems equally useful.