Applying ecosystem management to urban forestry

Abstract

During the 1990s, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service shifted from commodity production management to ecosystem-based management (Overbay, 1992). Although definitions of ecosystem-based management vary by objectives, the principle had four primary elements: (1) maintaining viable populations of native species, (2) representing native ecosystems across their range of natural variability, (3) maintaining ecosystem processes, and (4) ensuring ecosystem goods and services for future human generations (Grumbine, 1994). In general, ecosystem management approach becomes a way of thinking more broadly about a system (Yaffee et al., 1996). For example, a forester must consider how management activities affect not only timber production but also ecosystem processes, biodiversity, and natural populations, all of which influence forest productivity. This way of thinking enables managers to look at the entire forest as a single entity and assess how management goals and objectives affect ecosystem integrity.

Citation

Zipperer, Wayne C. 2007. Applying ecosystem management to urban forestry. In: Ecology, Planning, and Management of Urban Forests: International Perspectives: 97-108