Ecosystem Service Research

Ecosystem Service Research/ Science

Overall Introduction Objectives:

Students will:

• • gain awareness of the research occurring around the country regarding ecosystem services

Overall Estimated Time:

• Prep Exercise (below) (Time: 15 minutes)

• Activity 1: What we wish we knew then

• Activity 2: Seeing into the Future of Restoration

Overall Vocabulary:

• Coast - the part of the land near the sea; the edge of the land

• Ecology - the study of environmental systems, or as it is sometimes called, the economy of nature

• Ecosystem - a community of organisms interacting with each other and with their environment such that energy is exchanged and system-level processes, such as the cycling of elements, emerge

• Ecosystem Services - benefits humans and other living things get from ecosystems

• Estuary - a partially enclosed body of water (such as bays, lagoons, sounds or sloughs)where two different bodies of water meet and mix

• Resilience - the ability of a community to "bounce back" after hazardous events such as hurricanes, coastal storms, and flooding – rather than simply reacting to impacts

Prep Exercise

1. Have your students read the below information regarding Historical Values vs. Current Values.

   1. Use the following guiding questions to help students:

      1. What do you think "local identity" means?

      2. If you could pick what would your local identity be in a coastal community?

      3. What do you enjoy most about the community you live in?

      4. What watershed do you live in? (can use this online tool to assist with identifying which watershed)

      5. What do you value about your local river, stream, lake, estuary, and/or ocean?

   2. Addendum activity for the students: Have them use Excel, Google Spreadsheets, or graphing paper to graph the data below and determine which location has the greatest population growth. This might be a good exercise to have them visualize the data versus just seeing the numbers.

Historical Values vs. Current Values

Estuaries are more than just a body of water. For people who live in coastal communities, estuaries provide a powerful sense of local identity.

For some, the coastal community is where they make their living: on work boats looking to catch fish, oysters, and blue crabs -- some families for generations. For others, their connection to the estuary is through enjoyment -- swimming and recreational boating, spending days exploring the estuary’s waters and creating memories. Photographers, painters, writers, and other artists share their sense of local identity through their depiction of the beauty of its landscape. The sense of place that citizens draw from our estuaries and coastal communities is different for everyone, but similar threads have maintained the test of time.

It is the beauty and abundance that entices people to want to live near estuaries and coastal communities. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the human population has grown from just over 8 million in 1950 to more than 17 million today. That's a 112.5% increase in people. And that number is projected to keep climbing. Check out the projections that are potentially near you.

As a result, what we have come to value about the estuary -- it’s historic and ecological resources -- have faced an array of challenges (MD Sea Grant Extension):

• The number of working marinas and seafood processing facilities has dwindled, displaced by other kinds of development and uses. 

• Construction of all types has eliminated or reduced the size of native marshes. These important natural zones provide homes to plants and animals, protect the state’s shorelines from storm flooding, and trap nutrients and sediments.

• Roads, parking lots, and other “impermeable surfaces” have disrupted the natural flow of water in the Chesapeake watershed.

• Homes and businesses built near the water and in floodplains are vulnerable to increased flooding as sea level rises in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region.

We have seen the impact of coastal living defines the values of many generations. Over time, some values change, but many remain. Cultural traditions of coastal communities offer ways of understanding what is as important about the estuary as what science teaches us about it (the ecosystem services). Different people view estuaries and coastal communities through different lenses. It is critical for us to understand and to consider these different ways of seeing and knowing to inform public discussions and to build consensus about how to lessen our collective impact, or to best restore these ecosystems. 

Residents of coastal communities have been known throughout history for their resilience. It is their resilient characteristic that most defines them, their capacity to make do. As we look throughout history to the changes in values (through the change in the ecosystem, or through an improved understanding of science), we can build on this resilience, and make smarter plans for the future, through land-use policies and other means. The goal is to preserve the region's natural resources, the quality of life that is valued, and the businesses and jobs that depend on them.