Ecosystem Services and Ecosystem Management-How Good a Fit?

The concepts of ecosystem management and ecosystem services are both firmly implanted in natural resources policy dialogue and as focal points of scientific research, though each has had its detractors and difficulties gaining traction in concrete regulatory programs. Yet little attention has been paid to how they relate, particularly in a way relevant to Grumbine’s call for reconciliation between ecological integrity and use of ecosystems for human prosperity. More specifically, does the concept of ecosystem services light the way for harmonizing the goal of sustaining ecological integrity and the goal of providing goods and services to humans? Is there something about the ecosystem services approach that changes the calculus from that used in traditional resource management in such a way that makes it more likely that ecosystem services concepts will promote sustainable ecological integrity? This chapter explores those questions from two perspectives. The first section of the chapter examines the fit between ecosystem management and ecosystem services in theory. Is the concept of ecosystem services compatible with, even supportive of, what Grumbine laid out as the themes and goals of ecosystem management, or will it put ecosystem management even farther behind? The second section explores the topic in an applied context through a case study of ecosystem services and federal public land management. Is there anything to be gained for ecosystem management on federal public land regimes through the use of ecosystem services concepts? The analysis from both perspectives is that the concept of ecosystem services offers significant potential to support the application of ecosystem management principles generally, but that care must be taken to ensure it does not distort or undermine ecosystem management goals in local contexts