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Ecosystem Services in the northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Ecosystem Services in the northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Peter M. Groffman Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook, NY USA. OUTLINE :. An introduction to ecosystem services. The long-term research at Hubbard Brook: Acidification Mercury Nitrogen

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Ecosystem Services in the northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

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  1. Ecosystem Services in the northern hardwood forest at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Peter M. Groffman Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook, NY USA

  2. OUTLINE: • An introduction to ecosystem services. • The long-term research at Hubbard Brook: • Acidification • Mercury • Nitrogen • Biodiversity (birds) • Conclusions: • The importance of long-term monitoring. • Science:policy interactions.

  3. Ecosystem services: • “Flows of materials, energy, and information from natural capital stocks that are combined with manufactured and human capital services to produce human welfare” (Daily et al. 1997). • Things in nature that people value. • A means for comprehensive quantification of environmental damage. • Useful for evaluating tradeoffs and conflicts between different goals and values.

  4. Focus: Ecosystem Services The benefits people obtain from ecosystems

  5. Focus: Consequences of Ecosystem Change for Human Well-being

  6. Degradation of ecosystem services often causes significant harm to human well-being • Examples of Costs: • The 1992 collapse of the Newfoundland cod fishery cost ~$2 billion in income support and retraining. • The “external” cost of agriculture in the UK in 1996 (damage to water, soil, and biodiversity) was $2.6 billion, or 9% of yearly gross farm receipts. • The frequency and impact of floods and fires has increased significantly in the past 50 years, in part due to ecosystem changes. Annual losses from extreme events totaled ~$70 billion in 2003 • Costanza et al. (1997) estimated that 17 ecosystem services for 16 biomes provide an average $33 trillion/year of value (compare to U.S. Gross Domestic Product of $12.5 trillion in 2005 dollars (source: https://bea.gov/bea/newsrel/gdpnewsrelease.htm).

  7. Controllers: • Inherent/state factors: • Parent material • Topography • Climate • Biota (organisms capable of living in a place). • Time • Variable/stochastic (some examples): • Herbivores (insects, moose, deer) • Extreme climate events (ice storms, soil frost) • Pathogens • Acid rain

  8. Functions/process/services: • Wood and fiber • Fresh water • Water purification • Air purification • Climate regulation • Soil carbon storage • Biodiversity maintenance • Aesthetics • Recreation

  9. Acid rain and ecosystem services in the northern hardwood forest:

  10. Source Area Includes: VT, MA, NY, NH, CT, RI, ME, OH, PA, DC, MD, NJ, DE, MI, VA, WV, QUE, ONT

  11. Precipitation Trends

  12. Changes in the calcium cycle have delayed recovery from acid rain . . .

  13. A watershed scale calcium manipulation at Hubbard Brook: • Apply 1.2 tons of Ca per ha as wollastonite (CaSIO3) to an 11.8 ha watershed. • Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest : • Northern hardwoods • ~80 years old • Acidic spodosols. • New Hampshire • Monitoring: • Stream and soil chemistry. • Vegetation. • Soil microbes and fauna. • Forest floor mass. • Birds, salamanders, etc.

  14. The “Science Links” model for outreach to policy makers: • Led by separate “interface” organization, the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation. • Convene group of scientists. • Write synthesis paper for publication in peer-reviewed journal. • Write popular publication based on scientific papers. • Train scientists for outreach activities. • News releases; op-ed pieces; briefings/talks.

  15. Mercury: A new, surprising problem?

  16. Global and Regional Atmospheric Emissions and Deposition Reservoir Fluctuations Local Emissions Landscape Sensitivity New Study Identifies Causal Factors

  17. But there are new mysteries in the long-term nitrate record . . . . Source: Hong et al. (2005)

  18. And biological mysteries as well . . . . (bird abundance at HBE,1969 - 2006)

  19. Possible Causes of Population Change • Habitat change (e.g., due to succession/disturbance) • Weather events/climate change • Food resources (insects) • Predators, especially on eggs and young • Nutrient levels (e.g., Ca losses due to acid rain) • Events in the non-breeding season

  20. CONCLUSIONS: • Ecosystem services approach helps to define the full range of important questions. • Long-term iterative process: • Long-term monitoring • Modeling • Experiments • Policy effectiveness: • Scientific consensus • Outreach • “Interface” organization, e.g, HBRF

  21. New thinking in the U.S. National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research network . . .

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