Ecological Systems: Maintaining and Enhancing Natural Features and Minimizing Adverse Impacts of Infrastructure Projects Module 1 Course Overview

Ecological Systems: Maintaining and Enhancing Natural Features and Minimizing Adverse Impacts of Infrastructure Projects

Module 1Course Overview

Emily Mitchell Ayers, Ph.D.

The Low Impact Development Center, [email protected]

Learning Outcomes

• Know the scope and objectives of this Ecological Systems course

• Appreciate the need for this course

• Know what services are provided by ecosystems

• Understand how the course will be structured, and what to expect

1-3

• Human activities often have adverse environmental impacts

• Learning to design infrastructure systems that successfully integrate with the environment requires an understanding of ecology and a knowledgebase of sustainable design techniques

Introduction

1-4

1. Ecosystem Services

2. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

3. Ecologically-Sensitive Design

4. Course Overview

5. Expected Outcomes

Outline

1-5

• Ecosystems provide essential services on which humans depend

• Provisioning services

• Regulating services

• Supporting services

• Cultural services

• Disturbance of ecosystems can lead to loss or degradation of ecosystem services

Ecosystem Services

1-6

• Freshwater and marine fisheries

• Hunting

• Foraging

• Managed systems:

• Crops

• Livestock

• Aquaculture

Provisioning ServicesFood

1-7

Lucarelli

• Forests generate precipitation

• Mountain streams supply snowmelt

• Soils recharge groundwater

Provisioning ServicesWater

1-8NRCS

• Forests

• Mangroves

• Managed systems

• Plantations

• Crops

• Livestock

Provisioning ServicesTimber, Fiber, and Fuel

1-9FWS

• Benefits to humanity:

• Disease resistance

• Pre-adaptations to emerging threats

• Source of new crops

Provisioning ServicesGenetic Diversity

1-10 Breeding Teosinte to CornJohn Doebley

“Bioprospecting" is a common source of new medicines

Provisioning ServicesBiochemicals and pharmaceuticals

1-11

Generic Function Source

Penicillin antibiotic Penicillium fungi

Aspirin anti-inflammatoryMultiple sources: willow trees,

myrtles, meadowsweet

Artemisinin antimalarial Sweet wormtree

Paclitaxel anticancer Pacific yew

(in development) HIV blocker Australian red-eyed tree frog

Camptothecin anticancer Camptotheca tree

• Net sink of CO2

• Forests

• Wetlands (peat formation)

• Oceans

• Evapotranspiration influences precipitation

Regulating ServicesClimate Regulation

1-12Victor Grigas

• Intact ecosystems tend to resist introduction of invasives

• Native plants and animals develop resistance to endemic pathogens

• When part of a functioning ecosystem, insect populations are controlled, rarely becoming serious pests

Regulating ServicesDisease and Pest Regulation

1-13USDA

• Wetlands, barrier islands, sand dunes, and coral reefs dissipate wind and storm surges related to hurricanes

• Soils absorb rainfall, reducing flooding

Regulating ServicesFlood and Natural Hazard Regulation

1-14NRCS

Regulating ServicesWater and Air Purification

1-15

• Wetlands purify water by removing nutrients and degrading organic wastes

• Plants absorb air pollutants and provide oxygen

NRCS

Regulating ServicesWaste Treatment

1-16

• Microorganisms break down organic wastes

• Soils capture and immobilize heavy metals

NRCS

Regulating ServicesPollination

1-17

• 90% of flowering plants depend on animals for pollination

• Pollinators are critically important to agricultural production

FWS

• Nutrient cycling

• Soil formation

• Primary production

• Converts sunlight into food for heterotrophs

• Produces atmospheric O2

Supporting Services

1-18 USDA

• Aesthetic

• Spiritual

• Educational

• Recreational

Cultural Services

1-19FWS

• Found that 60% of ecosystem services are being degraded or used unsustainably

• Fresh water supplies are declining at an unsustainable rate

• Degradation of ecosystem functions increases the risk of rapid, nonlinear changes, the results of which can be catastrophic

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)

1-20

• These ecosystem functions are either expensive or impossible to replace with technological solutions

• Estimated economic value of all ecosystem services: $33 trillion/year (Costanza et al 1997)

Importance to Society

1-21

• 35 % have been lost in the last 20 years

• Services provided:• Fisheries• Water purification • Nutrient cycling• Carbon sequestration • Storm surge buffering

• Causes of decline:• Aquaculture development• Deforestation• Freshwater diversion

Mangroves

1-22

NOAA

• 20% loss in the last few decades

• Ecosystem services:• Fisheries• Biodiversity • Storm surge buffering

• Causes of decline:• Destructive fishing practices• Pollution• Climate change

Coral Reefs

1-23

Public Library of Science

• Deforestation is responsible for 20% of greenhouse gas emissions

• Services provided:• Climate regulation• Nutrient cycling• Genetic diversity• Pharmaceuticals• Disease control

• Cause of decline: • Deforestation for agriculture

Tropical Rainforests

1-24

© Hans Hillewaert

Infrastructure shapes the way people relate to the environment

• If we build coal-fired power plants, then people cause climate change by turning on their lights

• If we build sprawling suburbs, then people are required to drive

• Creating highly impervious surfaces degrades streams

How does infrastructure fit in?

1-25

• Habitat loss

• Habitat fragmentation

• Pollution

• Altered river and estuary hydrology

• Climate change

• Road kills

Impacts

1-26




4. Course Overview


Outline

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With an understanding of how infrastructure projects can damage ecosystems, it becomes possible to avoid, prevent, and mitigate these impacts.

Infrastructure projects can be designed and implemented in a manner that is ecologically sensitive and sustainable.

Ecologically-sensitive design

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ASCE definition of sustainability:

“A set of environmental, economic and social conditions in which all of society has the capacity and opportunity to maintain and improve its quality of life indefinitely without degrading the quantity, quality or the availability of natural, economic and social resources.”

Infrastructure sustainability

1-29

Examples of ecologically-sensitive design

1-30

LID Center

Low Impact Development•Stormwater runoff is intercepted, cleaned, and infiltrated where appropriate

•This approach mitigates many of the harmful impacts of paved surfaces


1-31

LID Center

Wildlife crossings

•Permit migration and movement of animals across roadways

•Eliminate habitat fragmentation

•Connect ecosystems


1-32

DOE

Constructed wetlands

•Treat wastewater prior to discharge

•Remove excess organics and nutrients

How are ecosystem services considered in infrastructure planning?

Discussion Questions

1-33

Is it "fair" to ask infrastructure planners to consider impacts on ecosystem services, which may be diffuse, distant, and difficult to quantify?


1-34

What should the engineer's role be in considering, taking advantage of, and protecting ecosystem services?


1-35




4. Course Overview


Outline

1-36

• To become familiar with the basic principles of ecology

• To learn to anticipate the ecological impacts of infrastructure projects over their entire life cycles from planning to decommissioning

• To learn techniques to prevent, minimize, and mitigate these impacts

• To learn how to design infrastructure systems that contribute to productive, environmentally restorative and socially desirable uses of land and protection of native flora and fauna.

Course Objectives

1-37

1. Course Overview: Ecosystem services and the importance of ecologically-sensitive design

2. Introduction to Ecology: Ecological theory

3. Impacts of Infrastructure: What are the major ecological impacts caused by infrastructure, and how do infrastructure projects cause these impacts?

Modules of the Course

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4. Protecting Habitat: Assessing habitat, prioritizing and creating conservation areas

5. Integrating Infrastructure: How to design infrastructure projects that work in harmony with their surroundings

6. Restoring Ecological Function: An overview of the general theory of ecosystem restoration, with examples of restoration in specific contexts

Modules of the Course

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• What are ecosystems?

• What principles govern ecosystem behavior?

• How do ecosystems respond to change?

Introduction to Ecology

1-40

• What ecological impacts are associated with infrastructure?

• How do ecosystems become degraded?

• What are the local, national, and global implications?

Impacts of Infrastructure

1-41

• Site assessment

• Identifying critical resources

• Conservation design techniques

Protecting Habitat

1-42

• Anticipating environmental impacts

• Strategies and techniques to avoid impacts

• Using the Envision™ project rating system

Integrating Infrastructure

1-43

• Basic principles of ecological restoration

• Examples of restoration techniques

• Course wrap-up

Restoring Ecological Function

1-44

Students will be required to pass a multiple choice examination, which will test understanding of:

• Ecosystem services • Principles of ecology• How infrastructure can negatively impact ecosystems• How to protect habitat• How to create ecologically-sensitive designs• How to restore ecosystem function

Examination

1-45

• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: http://www.millenniumassessment.org

• Costanza, R., R. d'Arge, R. de Groot, S. Farberk, M. Grasso, B. Hannon, K. Limburg, S. Naeem, R. V. O'Neill, J. Paruelo, R. G. Raskin, P. Sutton & M. van den Belt, 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, vol.387, p.253-260.

Recommended Reading

1-46

http://www.millenniumassessment.org/

Documents

Ecological Systems: Maintaining and Enhancing Natural Features and Minimizing Adverse Impacts of Infrastructure Projects Module 1 Course Overview