The loss of natural habitat from conversion to human dominated uses is the major cause of the decline of terrestrial biodiversity. The formation of networks of natural reserves is a cornerstone conservation strategy, but existing reserve networks are nowhere near what is necessary to protect existing biodiversity. Much of the existing literature on systematic conservation planning is within a static context even though both conservation planning and habitat loss via development are ongoing processes which unfold over time.

High elevation recreation presents a complex dimension to the management of mountain ecosystems. Results of our recent economic study indicate that recreators place approximately four times the value on high elevation recreation than on "typical" mountain recreation experiences. These findings imply that there are limited substitutes for high elevation recreation, and a high demand for such experiences could tax the environmental carrying capacity of the fragile tundra.

Malawi is a land of farmers and facing rampant environmental problems whose capability for restoration is made dimmer by the looming shadow of climate change and variability. The Malawi Environmental Observatory Network is a small candle flickering with light for identification of prioritized environmental problems and setting of the road map of how such monumental problems could efficiently be tackled with the available meager resources.

Most ecosystem services that affect our quality of life are not bought and sold in the market, and thus we do not know what people would be willing to pay for them. What are the economic benefits of a decrease in air pollution? What are the economic costs of a Eurasian water-milfoil invasion? Environmental economists have honed several techniques to estimate such values, including Contingent Valuation (CV), hedonic price analysis, and the travel-cost method.

This session is intended both for social and biophysical scientists who want to help develop a proposal for the kind of “multi-site, highly collaborative and integrated research initiative” envisioned by the LTER planning group. The focus will be on what the LTER planning process calls the “centerpiece” of the group's conceptual framework, as well as one of “Grand Challenges” to be addressed at the network level – “the dynamics of coupled human-natural ecosystems.”

The prospect for long term, interdisciplinary research continues to grow since the "regionalizing" of the Coweeta and North Temperate Lakes LTER sites and the initiation of the two urban LTER sites: Baltimore and Central-Arizona-Phoenix. Additional sites have recruited social scientists and expanded both the questions asked and the geographic extent of their interests. Thus, there is growing opportunities for collaboration among sites that might not identify themselves as "urban," in conjunction with the existing regional and urban sites. 

Ecosystems, both natural and agricultural, provide a host of benefits to people. Some of those benefits or “Ecosystem Services (ES)” can be sold through markets (e.g., food). Many others, like water-based recreation or aesthetic views, cannot be sold directly. Yet understanding their value is a key to designing policies that can enable these ecosystems to keep providing services. One indirect way to measure value of ecosystem services is via what people pay for the lands that provide them.

The study examines farmers’ willingness to accept compensation to adapt environmental stewardship practices in Michigan based on the analysis of survey data and advances the literature on adoption of agro-environmental practices by developing a supply function for crop acreage managed for environmental stewardship. Results show that farmers’ acreage enrollment depends chiefly on farm size and the perception of environmental improvements from the practices.