Abstract
Arguably, no ecosystems on the planet are unaffected by human society. Airborne contaminants are circulated globally; trash is left even on Everest; and the world's oceans contain oil and plastic, not to mention a variety of other wastes from human society. However, ecosystems are more than depositories for the waste of human society. Ecosystems furnish a variety of services that benefit human society, such as maintaining the atmospheric gas balance and water quality. As the human population approaches 10 billion, the amount of space available for occupancy by non-domesticated species will be greatly diminished per capita. If ecosystem services are to be maintained, the areas occupied by non-human, non-domesticated species will have to be managed so that, at the very least, services necessary to maintain the quality of human life will not diminish and, optimally, little additional biotic impoverishment (extinction of species) occurs. From the anthropocentric viewpoint, ecosystem health could be viewed as the maintenance of biological integrity necessary for the delivery of ecosystem services necessary for human society. This manuscript discusses the barriers to the use of ecosystem health concepts, which diminish risks to natural systems and the ways in which the integrity of these systems can be maintained. Maintenance of integrity will ensure the sustainable use of these ecosystems as sources of services upon which human society is dependent.
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Cairns, J., Niederlehner, B.R. Ecosystem health concepts as a management tool. Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Health 4, 91–95 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044792
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00044792