Land use, biodiversity, and ecosystem integrity: The challenge of preserving earth's life support system

Ecology Law Quarterly

Volumn 27, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 929-965

  Harte, John ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

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EID: 0041702497     PISSN: 00461121     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (76)

1. An important exception would be certain toxic metals and radioactive substances that bioconcentrate and have such long environmental lifetimes that their environmental presence should be considered to be irreversible, undilutable, and effectively of infinite duration.
2. For example, Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. See generally SAMUEL P. HAYS, CONSERVATION AND THE GOSPEL OF EFFICIENCY: THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT, 1890-1920 (2nd ed. 1999).
3. For example, George Perkins Marsh, Emerson Hough, and John Muir. See generally id.
4. Alvin M. Weinberg, Science and Trans-Science, in MINERVA X(2) 209-22 (1972).
5. Alvin M. Weinberg, Social Institutions and Nuclear Energy, 177 SCI. 27, 33-34 (1972).
6. The evidence for currently unidentified species comes from intensive efforts to examine all the insects in a few canopies of single trees in the tropics: by fumigating a canopy, collecting the dead insects, and comparing them to catalogued species it becomes apparent that many new species must exist. T. Erwin, Tropical Forests: Their Richness in Coleoptera and Other Anthropod Species, 36 COLEPTERJST BULL. 74-75 (1982).
7. Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 (1988 & Supp. 1993).
8. Id. § 1532(15).
9. Id. § 1531(b).
10. See Shahid Naeem et al., Declining Biodiversity Can Alter the Performance of Ecosystems, 368 NATURE 734, 734 (1994); David Tilman et al., The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition of Ecosystem Processes 277 SCI. 1300, 1300 (1997); A. Hector et al., Plant Diversity and Productivity Experiments in European Grasslands, 286 SCI. 1123, 1123 (1999).
11. See Shahid Naeem et al., Declining Biodiversity Can Alter the Performance of Ecosystems, 368 NATURE 734, 734 (1994); David Tilman et al., The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition of Ecosystem Processes 277 SCI. 1300, 1300 (1997); A. Hector et al., Plant Diversity and Productivity Experiments in European Grasslands, 286 SCI. 1123, 1123 (1999).
12. See Shahid Naeem et al., Declining Biodiversity Can Alter the Performance of Ecosystems, 368 NATURE 734, 734 (1994); David Tilman et al., The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition of Ecosystem Processes 277 SCI. 1300, 1300 (1997); A. Hector et al., Plant Diversity and Productivity Experiments in European Grasslands, 286 SCI. 1123, 1123 (1999).
13. See DEBORAH B. JENSEN ET AL., IN OUR OWN HANDS: A STRATEGY FOR CONSERVING CALIFORNIA'S BIODIVERSITY 90 (1993).
14. See REED F. Noss ET AL., ENDANGERED ECOSYSTEMS OF THE UNITED STATES: A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF LOSS AND DEGRADATION (1995).
15. See, e.g., id.
16. See, e.g., NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, THE NATION'S WETLANDS (1991).
17. See Noss ET AL., supra note 12.
18. NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, supra note 14.
19. Jana Nelson, Agriculture, Wetlands, and Endangered Species: The Food Security Act of 1985, ENDANGERED SPECIES TECH. BULL. 14(5), 1 (May 1989).
20. NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, WETLANDS: CHARACTERISTICS AND BOUNDARIES (1995).
21. JENSEN ET AL., supra note 11, at 84.
22. Arthur C. Benke, A Perspective on America's Vanishing Streams, 91 J. N. AM. BENTHOLOGICAL SOC. 77, 77 (1990).
23. NOSS ET AL., supra note 12.
24. Id.
25. Id.
26. Id.
27. Id.
28. Michael Williams, Forests, in THE EARTH AS TRANSFORMED BY HUMAN ACTION 179-202 (B.L. Turner II et al. eds., 1990).
29. Id.
30. See JENSEN ET AL., supra note 11, at 27-33.
31. See PAUL R. EHRLICH ET AL., BIRDS IN JEOPARDY 62-64 (1992).
32. See R. E. COOK & P. DIXON, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND REPORT, A REVIEW OF RECOVERY PLANS FOR THREATENED AND ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES (1989).
33. See NOSS ET AL., supra note 12; EHRLICH ET AL., supra note 29.
34. See NOSS ET AL., supra note 12; EHRLICH ET AL., supra note 29.
35. See J. David Allan & Alexander S. Flecker, Biodiversity Conservation in Running Waters, 43 BIOSCIENCE 32, 36 (1993); Robert R. Miller et al., Extinctions of North American Fishes During the Past Century, 14 FISHERIES 22, 22 (1999).
36. See J. David Allan & Alexander S. Flecker, Biodiversity Conservation in Running Waters, 43 BIOSCIENCE 32, 36 (1993); Robert R. Miller et al., Extinctions of North American Fishes During the Past Century, 14 FISHERIES 22, 22 (1999).
37. Four bird species of the continental United States are known to have gone extinct during the past several centuries: the great auk, the Labrador duck, the Carolina parakeet, and the passenger pigeon. Moreover, at least five bird subspecies have gone extinct and three other bird species very likely are extinct. See EHRLICH ET AL., supra note 29, at 62-64.
38. That the number of species should increase with area but not linearly proportionally to area can be seen from a simple example: consider the number of plant species growing In California and the number in Nevada; the total number in both states must be greater than the number in either of the two states alone but it will not be the sum of the two numbers because some of the species in California also grow in Nevada. The actual form of the SAR can depend on the habitat type and the taxa being censused. The exceptions to the quarter-power rule take two forms; in some cases the number of species still grows like a power of area, but the power is not 1/4, while in other circumstances, the number of species does not grow like any simple power of area. The test of this is a plot of the logarithm of the number of species versus the logarithm of area - if that plot is a straight line, its slope is the power. For an excellent review of the SAR, see M. ROSENZWEIG, SPECIES DIVERSITY IN SPACE AND TIME (1995).
39. See Robert M. May et al., Assessing Extinction Rates, in EXTINCTION RATES 1, 13-14 (John H. Lawton & Robert M. May eds., 1992).
40. E. O. WILSON, THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE (1992).
41. The concept of endemism may provide a better means of estimating extinction, or at least of placing a lower bound on extinction. The species endemic to an area are those that are unique to the area - they are found nowhere else. Conservatively, those are the ones that will go extinct when an area of habitat is destroyed. It has recently been shown that an "endemics-area relationship" follows from the species-area relationship and can be used to give more reliable estimates of extinction rates under habitat loss. A. P. Kinzig & J. Harte, Implications of Endemic-Area Relationships for Estimates of Species Extinctions, 81 ECOLOGY 3305, 3305-311 (2000).
42. See, e.g., Walter E. Westman, How Much are Nature's Services Worth, 197 SCI. 960 (1977); JOHN HARTE, THE GREEN FUSE: AN ECOLOGICAL ODYSSEY (1993); NATURE'S SERVICES: SOCIETAL DEPENDENCE ON NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS (Gretchen Daily ed., 1998).
43. See, e.g., Walter E. Westman, How Much are Nature's Services Worth, 197 SCI. 960 (1977); JOHN HARTE, THE GREEN FUSE: AN ECOLOGICAL ODYSSEY (1993); NATURE'S SERVICES: SOCIETAL DEPENDENCE ON NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS (Gretchen Daily ed., 1998).
44. See, e.g., Walter E. Westman, How Much are Nature's Services Worth, 197 SCI. 960 (1977); JOHN HARTE, THE GREEN FUSE: AN ECOLOGICAL ODYSSEY (1993); NATURE'S SERVICES: SOCIETAL DEPENDENCE ON NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS (Gretchen Daily ed., 1998).
45. E.g., Robert Costanza et al., The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital, 387 NATURE 253, 253 (1997).
46. See K. Ewel, Water Quality Improvement by Wetlands, in NATURE'S SERVICES, supra note 38, at 329.
47. See id.
48. See John Harte & Robert Socolow, The Everglades: Wilderness Versus Rampant Land Development in South Florida, 1 ENVTL. AFF. 140, 160(1971).
49. These successes are the species that have been "de-listed" or at least pulled way back from the edge of extinction because of dramatic recovery in their numbers. These include, for example, the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, the southern sea otter, and the black-footed ferret. Some species, like the Florida panther and California condor, are still in serious trouble, but have been greatly helped by the ESA. With a few exceptions, most of the success stories involve publicly admired species, as opposed to the uncharismatic creatures such as soil organisms that play a huge role in sustaining ecosystem functions.
50. 16 U.S.C. § 1533(a).
51. Id. § 1533(b).
52. Id. § 1536(a).
53. Id. § 1536(g).
54. Id. § 1533(f).
55. Id. § 1538(a).
56. MICHAEL CLEGG ET AL., SCIENCE AND THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (1995).
57. See Endangered Species Act of 1973 § 2, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 (2000).
58. Id. § 1533(b).
59. Id. § 1536(g).
60. See CLEGG ET AL., supra note 50.
61. See COMM. ON SCIENTIFIC ISSUES IN THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, NAT'L RESEARCH COUNCIL, SCIENCE AND THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT 202 (1995).
62. See John Harte, Impacts of Global Warming: Some Concluding Remarks, in ON GLOBAL WARMING 79 (J. Cairns & P. Zweifgel eds., 1989); N. Myers, Environmental Unknowns, 269 SCI. 358 (1995).
63. See John Harte, Impacts of Global Warming: Some Concluding Remarks, in ON GLOBAL WARMING 79 (J. Cairns & P. Zweifgel eds., 1989); N. Myers, Environmental Unknowns, 269 SCI. 358 (1995).
64. This is within the range of estimated warming expected from a doubling of the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide, which will likely occur around the middle of the twenty-first century.
65. See generally INT'L GEOSPHERE-BIOSPHERE PROGRAMME (IGBP), 39 GLOBAL CHANGE NEWSLETTER 1-31 (1999) (providing an excellent set of brief but authoritative review articles on the effects of land use on climate). Closely related to this topic, it has been pointed out that changes in surface land cover induced by "greenhouse effect" warming will undoubtedly cause feedbacks to climate change. See Daniel A. Lashof et al., Terrestrial Ecosystem Feedbacks to Global Climate Change, 22 ANN. REV. ENERGY & ENV'T 75, 75 (1997). These effects have been studied both empirically and with mathematical models; unfortunately, there has been a lack of overlap between the locations and time scales that have been modeled and those for which solid data exist.
66. See generally INT'L GEOSPHERE-BIOSPHERE PROGRAMME (IGBP), 39 GLOBAL CHANGE NEWSLETTER 1-31 (1999) (providing an excellent set of brief but authoritative review articles on the effects of land use on climate). Closely related to this topic, it has been pointed out that changes in surface land cover induced by "greenhouse effect" warming will undoubtedly cause feedbacks to climate change. See Daniel A. Lashof et al., Terrestrial Ecosystem Feedbacks to Global Climate Change, 22 ANN. REV. ENERGY & ENV'T 75, 75 (1997). These effects have been studied both empirically and with mathematical models; unfortunately, there has been a lack of overlap between the locations and time scales that have been modeled and those for which solid data exist.
67. See Jocelyn Kaiser, Getting to the Roots of Carbon Loss, Chili's Gain, 285 SCI. 1198, 1199 (1999).
68. See William K. Stevens, After the Storm, an Ecological Bomb, N.Y. TIMES, NOV. 30, 1999, at D1.
69. This statement is not meant to detract from the tremendous contribution to conservation made by groups such as The Nature Conservancy that purchase and protect private lands for their value as habitat for rare or threatened species. For a more optimistic viewpoint than the one expressed here concerning the feasibility of safeguarding biodiversity by land purchasing, see Alexander N. James et al., Balancing the Earth's Accounts, 401 NATURE 323 (1999).
70. One need only look around the San Francisco Bay area to see the effects of introduced organisms. Eucalyptus trees, introduced originally, and misguidedly, as a source of timber early in the twentieth century, now dominate many forested areas. The native, drought resistant, perennial grasses of our oak-grassland habitat have been out-competed by introduced annual grasses brought in originally for their value to cattle. The Bay, itself, now has abundant populations of many introduced invertebrate species. Andrew Cohen & James Carlton, Accelerating Invasion Rate in a Highly Invaded Estuary, 279 SCI. 555-58 (1998).
71. To take a single hypothetical example, consider the "manufacture" of microorganisms that can rapidly digest recalcitrant organic materials that are only slowly decomposable by ordinary organisms. Such designer microbes could clean up oil spills and other types of organic chemical wastes. Confined to the organic substrate for which they were designed, such organisms might be of great value, but escapees that enter the mammalian gastrointestinal system might wreak havoc, and in a worst case scenario, humanity would be at grave risk.
72. See HARTE, supra note 38.
73. See Weinberg, supra note 4.
74. This phenomenon has been driven recently by a booming economy and by the revolution in electronic communications, providing people with the opportunity and flexibility to build their only, or perhaps second, home in remote mountainous or coastal locations. In California, the fragmenting effect on native habitat of exurbanization is readily witnessed along the Sonoma Coast, in the Napa Valley, and in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
75. Not all species decline, however, as a result of suburbanization. In many areas, deer, raccoons, skunks, and other animals readily exploit planted gardens, the contents of garbage cans, and other anthropogenic resources more effectively than they could the land that the suburbs replaced.
76. See Weinberg, supra note 4.