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Ecosystem Function & Human Activities pp 25–44Cite as

Ecosystem Valuation: An Overview of Issues and Uncertainties

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Abstract

The idea of “valuing ecosystems” has cropped up with increasing frequency in debates about the management and preservation of the resources and systems with which nature endows us. Concerns about ecosystems have become more prominent with the growing belief that threats to natural integrity and human well-being are increasing in scale, from those involving local systems (one lake) to effects on larger systems (a whole watershed) whose consequences may be both greater and longer-lasting. Concerns about the economic valuation of ecosystems in this context reflect a widespread interest within the policy process for more information with which to judge the severity of these threats, relative to other pressing private and public concerns.

I am grateful to Anna Alberini and David Simpson for comments on earlier drafts.Responsibility for the opinions expressed in the paper is soely mine.

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Authors
  1. Michael A. Toman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Resources for the Future, Washington, D.C., USA

    R. David Simpson (Fellow) (Fellow)

  2. Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Norman L. Christensen Jr. (Dean) (Dean)

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Toman, M.A. (1997). Ecosystem Valuation: An Overview of Issues and Uncertainties. In: Simpson, R.D., Christensen, N.L. (eds) Ecosystem Function & Human Activities. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6049-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6049-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-09671-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-6049-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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