&EPA
www.epa.gov/ord
science   in   ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC  FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL  DECISIONS
                                                               ECOLOGICAL
                                                               RESEARCH PROGRAM
     RESEARCH TO VALUE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
     Identifying, Quantifying, and Assessing Nature's Benefits
     Ecosystem Services
     Clean air and water, flood
     protection, fertile soil for crop
     production, and pollination are
     among the many benefits we
     receive from nature.
     These important ecosystem
     services ensure human health and
     our well being, but they are
     limited and often taken for granted
     as being free.

     For more than 30 years, the U.S.
     Environmental Protection Agency
     has studied the impacts of human
     activities on the environment.
     However, the contributions of
     nature's services have not been
     fully considered  by policy makers
     and planners, largely because of
     the lack of scientific and
     socioeconomic knowledge to do
     so. There is growing recognition
     globally that the  full range of
     benefits derived from ecosystem
     services needs to be considered if
     we are to continue to benefit from
     them.
              Scientists at EPA are studying
              ecosystem services to gain a better
              understanding of how to enhance,
              protect, and restore the services of
              nature. Their discoveries are
              providing the information needed
              by national, regional, and local
              decision makers to make clear
              how our choices affect the type,
              quality, and magnitude of the
              services we receive from
              ecosystems.

              Ecological Research
              Program
              The Ecological Research Program
              (ERP) in EPA's Office of
              Research and Development
              (ORD) provides research to
              support one of the Agency's
              highest needs to protect the
              environment and human health.
              Researchers in the research
              program are identifying, mapping,
              and modeling ecosystem services
              that affect directly and indirectly
              our quality of life, now and in the
future. ERP research is leading to
a decision support system that will
provide critical ecological
information on these services.
Through partnerships with
economists, social scientists, and
others, this research contributes to
our understanding of the
monetary, cultural, and health
implications of using ecosystem
services. It enables us to make
decisions that better represent the
full value of these services, if
altered.

ERP has unique ecological
research capabilities, based on
more than a decade of research on
monitoring, diagnostic/modeling,
and restoration of ecosystems.
This expertise and knowledge is
being applied and refocused to
take on the new ecosystem
services research challenge. The
results of this research will
provide the scientific foundation
for others who  shape policy and
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of Research and Development
                                                                           continued on back

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   &EPA
   www.epa.gov/ord
science   in  ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC  FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL  DECISION
        ECOLOGICAL  RESEARCH  PROGRAM
        continued from front
management actions that protect
public health and the environment.

ERP research will span a five-year
period starting in 2008, guided by
a research strategy and multi-year
plan. The program's research
supports EPA's efforts to
incorporate the valuing of
ecosystem services into its
environmental management
decisions. This valuation
approach is outlined in EPA's
Ecological Benefits Assessment
Strategic Plan.

What research is  being
conducted?
ERP has identified three research
approaches:  1) national scale
pollutant research (nitrogen);
2) specific ecosystem type
research (wetlands);  and 3)
ecosystem services research in
selected communities. All three
approaches offer unique research
and valuation challenges.

Nitrogen Research - This
research will improve
understanding of how nitrogen, a
regulated pollutant, affects the
collection of services derived from
an ecosystem in both positive and
negative ways. For example,
      excess nitrogen from fertilizer,
      septic tanks, animal feedlots,
      automobiles, power plants, and
      runoff from pavement causes
      changes in ecosystem services.
      The results of this research will
      assist national air and water policy
      makers in evaluating the most cost
      effective means of improving
      human health, and ecosystem
      services protection.

      Wetlands  Research - Wetlands
      are protected under our nation's
      "no net loss" policies. The
      primary objective in this research
      area is to document the range and
      quantity of wetland services
      provided by a wide range of
      varying types of wetlands and
      determine  how their position on
      the landscape alters the provision
      of ecosystem services. This
      information can be used to protect
      and manage wetlands under
      alternative use options.

      Community-Based Research -
      Four locations in the United States
      have been  identified for study to
      develop decision tools for regional
      and local managers to examine the
      effect of alternative management
      strategies on the collection of
      ecosystem services.  This research
will provide local decision makers
with the information they need to
decide how to use their
environment while maintaining
the services most highly valued by
their communities. The research
projects are planned for Tampa
Bay in Florida, the Upper
Midwest, the Willamette River
Basin in Oregon, and portions of
the North and South Carolina
coast lines. The research will
provide critical information about
the interrelationship of ecosystems
and the impacts of different
existing or proposed uses on the
services they provide. The
scientific discoveries made will be
useful as other communities and
regions deal with similar issues of
managing nature's finite
ecosystem  services and resources.

REFERENCES:
EPA's Ecological Benefits Assessment
Strategic Plan.
http://vosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eermfile.nsf/vw
AN/EE-0485-01 .pdf/$File/EE-0485-01 .pdf

CONTACT
Rick Linthurst, Ph.D., Director, Ecological
Research Program, EPA's Office of Research
and Development. 919-541-4909, or
linthurst.rickiSepa.gov

July 2007
        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
        Office of Research and Development

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