Managing Ecosystem Resources

Abstract

We explore some of the special problems faced in the management of environmental resources, paying particular attention to valuation of ecosystem services, externalities, uncertainty, and nonlinearities characteristic of complex adaptive, highly interconnected systems. Through consideration of case studies drawn from the management of lake and mangrove ecosystems, we develop a theoretical perspective in which we analyze the challenges, suggest approaches to their resolution, and endeavor to derive principles that may guide management more generally.