Environmental Management: Principles and practice

Ecosystems analysis, modelling and monitoring
Ecosystems can be analysed using systems theory, which enables complex, changing
situations to be understood and predictions made. Systems theory assumes that
measurable causes produce measurable effects. There have been attempts to combine
ecological and economic models in systems analysis. For example, a systems analysis
approach to environmental assessment and management was used in the Oetzertal
(Valley of the River Oetz, Austria) from 1971, as part of the UNESCO Man and
Biosphere Program. This alpine valley ecosystem has experienced great change as a
consequence of tourism, especially skiing, and, with the help of the modelling,
managers now have a clear idea of what is needed to sustain tourism and maintain
environmental quality (Moser and Peterson, 1981). In the early 1990s the USA
established a nation-wide Environmental Management and Monitoring Program
(EMAP) to aid ecological risk analysis by assessing trends in condition of
ecosystems—so far a controversial and expensive exercise.
Ecosystem planning and management—biogeophysical
units
The environmental management of specific ecosystems is considered in chapter 10.
Here a number of ecosystem-based frameworks are considered.
Ecozones
Various researchers have attempted to divide the Earth into ecozones or life zones
for study, planning and management (Schultz, 1995). One of the best-known and
most widely used systems for land use classification is the Holdridge Life Zone
Model. This is based on the relationship of current vegetation biomes to three
parameters (annual temperature, annual precipitation, potential evapotranspiration)
(Holdridge, 1964; 1971).
Ecoregions and ecodistricts
The Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection
has developed a framework for hierarchical ecosystem classification to try to overcome
the confusion resulting from the use of many different geographical regionalizations
by various bodies. This is known as ‘standardized regionalization’, a hierarchical
mapping of nested ecosystems started in 1988 (Table 9.2), and is used for regional
environmental policy. It ties in with GIS, is useful for state-of-environment reporting,
and has been quite successful. Similar approaches have been tried or adopted in
several countries, such as Canada, the USA and Belgium (Omernik, 1987).

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CHAPTER NINE
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