Conventional management approaches cannot meet the challenges faced by ocean and coastal ecosystems today. Consequently, national and international bodies have called for a shift toward more comprehensive ecosystem-based marine management. Synthesizing a vast amount of current knowledge, Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans is a comprehensive guide to utilizing this promising new approach.
At its core, ecosystem-based management (EBM) is about acknowledging connections. Instead of focusing on the impacts of single activities on the delivery of individual ecosystem services, EBM focuses on the array of services that we receive from marine systems, the interactive and cumulative effects of multiple human activities on these coupled ecological and social systems, and the importance of working towards common goals across sectors. Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans provides a conceptual framework for students and professionals who want to understand and utilize this powerful approach. And it employs case studies that draw on the experiences of EBM practitioners to demonstrate how EBM principles can be applied to real-world problems.
The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the factors that contribute to social and ecological resilience 'the extent to which a system can maintain its structure, function, and identity in the face of disturbance. Utilizing the resilience framework, professionals can better predict how systems will respond to a variety of disturbances, as well as to a range of management alternatives. Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans presents the latest science of resilience, while it provides tools for the design and implementation of responsive EBM solutions.
About Island Press
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part 1: Setting the Stage
Chapter 1: Why Ecosystem-Based Management?
Chapter 2: What Do Managers Need?
Part 2: Conceptual Basis forEcosystem-Based Management
Chapter 3: The Oceans as Peopled Seascapes
Chapter 4: Resilience Science
Chapter 5: Ecological Cross-Scale Interactions
Chapter 6: Valuing Ecosystem Services
Part 3: Connecting Concepts to Practice
Chapter 7: Monitoring and Evaluation
Chapter 8: Ecosystem Service Trade-offs
Chapter 9: Integrating Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Chapter 10: Building the Legal and Institutional Framework
Part 4: Marine Ecosystem-BasedManagement in Practice
Chapter 11: Morro Bay, California, USA
Chapter 12: Puget Sound, Washington, USA
Chapter 13: Gulf of California, Mexico
Chapter 14: Eastern Scotian Shelf, Canada
Chapter 15: Chesapeake Bay, USA
Chapter 16: Lessons from National-Level Implementation Across the World
Chapter 17: State of Practice
Part 5: Looking Ahead
Chapter 18: Toward a New Ethic for the Oceans
Chapter 19: Ways Forward
About the Editors of Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans
Contributor Biographies
Index
"Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans heralds a timely call for action. Ocean scientists, resource managers, and policymakers should take careful note of the volume and connected developments. They chart a critical new course for marine management— steering us away from destruction and toward a bountiful future for Earth's oceans."
