Ecosystem functioning / Kurt Jax.

"In the face of decreasing biodiversity and ongoing global changes, maintaining ecosystem functioning is seen both as a means to preserve biological diversity as well as for safeguarding human well-being by securing the services ecosystems provide. The concept today is prominent in many fields of ecology and conservation biology, such as biodiversity research, ecosystem management, or restoration ecology. Although the idea of ecosystem functioning is important, the concept itself remains rather vague and elusive. This book provides a novel analysis and integrated synthesis of different approaches to conceptualising and assessing ecosystem functioning. It links the natural sciences with methodologies from philosophy and the social sciences, and introduces a new methodology for a clearer and more efficient application of ecosystem functioning concepts in practice. Special emphasis is laid on the social dimensions of the concept and the ways it influences research practice. Several case studies relate theoretical analyses to practical application"-- Provided by publisher

"Concern about the functioning of the world's ecosystems has become commonplace, in the scientific literature as well as in everyday parlance. Climate change, loss of biological diversity, chemical pollution, land use changes, and the spread of exotic species are all discussed in connection with the perceived or anticipated degradation or destruction of ecosystems, or at least with an impairment of their functioning. While attention has been focused in the past mostly on the fate of specific processes relevant to human life (such as clean water or the maintenance of food production) or specific valued species, the emphasis has shifted increasingly towards a broader perspective, namely that of the whole ecosystem. Since about the early 1990s, ecosystems and their functioning have become major targets of conservation and management, accompanied by biodiversity as the other major broad-scale conservation focus. Today, both conservation aims are embodied in national and international management strategies, such as the variety of ecosystem management approaches (e.g. Yaffee et al., 1996; Boyce and Haney, 1997) or the Convention on Biological Diversity (including also an 'Ecosystem Approach' as a cross-cutting issue), and the various regional and national strategies are still newly developed"-- Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Setting the scene : the context of investigating ecosystem functioning -- What do we need for a functioning ecosystem? The debate on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning -- Becoming general : what is ecosystem functioning? -- Ecosystem functioning : science meets society -- Assessing ecosystem functioning : some existing approaches -- Putting ecosystem functioning concepts into practice : a classification and some guidelines.

Print version record.

English.

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