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From page 1... ... Historically, damage assessments have measured losses in ecological terms (e.g., number of acres damaged or number of fish killed) and restoration generally follows a methodology of equivalency wherein losses are compensated by the replacement of resources of the same type (e.g., acres of habitat restored or fish stocks replaced) Read the entire page →
From page 2... ... Recent studies suggest that an "ecosystem services approach" may expand the potential to capture, value, and restore the full breadth of impacts to the ecosystem and the public. Recognition of the unprecedented nature of the DWH spill and concerns about both short- and long-term impacts on the GoM and its citizens were immediate and international in scope. Read the entire page →
From page 3... ... What ecosystem services (provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural services) were provided in the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem prior to the oil spill? Read the entire page →
From page 4... ... The unprecedented depth, application of dispersants at the well head, and tremendous volume of oil in the DWH spill complicate the assessment of potential impacts on the deepwater ecosystems of the Gulf, a relatively unstudied realm of abundant marine life including bottom-dwelling fish, deepwater corals, and chemosynthetic communities. To fully quantify the impact of the oil spill thus requires a thorough understanding of the complex interactions and linkages between and among the various components and processes of these ecosystems. Read the entire page →
From page 5... ... translate directly to, or can be scaled to, potential restoration projects that generate "credit" sufficient to offset the debit. For most NRDA cases, estimating or scaling the restoration requirements generally follows equivalency approaches wherein losses of resources can be compensated with replacements of the same type. Read the entire page →
From page 6... ... D Estimates of ability of the wetland to reestablish with and without human intervention. Read the entire page →
From page 7... ... data would likely not be. ecosystem service is storm surge. Read the entire page →
From page 8... ... Finding S.4: Habitat and resource equivalency approaches could be broadened to include an ecosystem services approach by consideration of the extent to which affected areas or resources generate benefits to the public. It may be possible, however, to include the impact on human benefit in equivalency approaches. Read the entire page →
From page 9... ... Finding S.5: A more comprehensive assessment of the overall value of the resources could be obtained by expanding the definition of the Service Acre Year to include services that flow from a habitat or ecological resource to human benefits. An ecosystem services approach could also help relieve what might be called the NRDA "restoration bottleneck." OPA provides incentives for the NRDA trustees to collect monetary damages from a responsible party to the extent that the trustee can conceive of feasible and productive restoration, rehabilitation, replacement, or acquisition projects. Read the entire page →
From page 10... ... Our discussion of baselines is focused on representative examples of ecosystem services important to the GoM (Hazard Moderation and Hydro logical Balance representing regulating services; Soil and Sediment Balance and Water Quality representing support services; Food; Oil and Gas for provisioning services; and Spiritual, Aesthetic, Historic, Existence, Recre ation and Tourism representing cultural services) Read the entire page →
From page 11... ... In order to extend the damage assessment practice to include an ecosystem services approach, each ecosystem service would require a specific type of sampling and analysis that complements the existing practice. An example of this extended sampling for coastal protection and fisheries is presented in the columns labeled "Ecosystem Services," "Type of Data Needed for Ecological Production Function," and "Ecological Production Function" in Table S.1. Read the entire page →
From page 12... ... Utilizing the extensive data that have been collected for the NRDA process and the existing ecosystem models for the GoM presents a unique oppor tunity for enhancing our understanding of ecological production functions and the provision of ecosystem services in the GoM. Finding S.8: Measurements and analyses such as illustrated in Table S.1 would allow for the determination of the impact of the DWH spill related to the ecosystem function and structure of coastal wetlands and to quantify the impact on key ecosystem services. Read the entire page →
From page 13... ... Three main types of economic valuation methods applied to ecosystem services are as follows: • Revealed preference based on observed economic behavior. These methods include direct market valuation (amount of goods bought and sold and individuals' willingness-to-pay) Read the entire page →
From page 14... ... CONCLUSION It will take many years to fully understand the long-term effects and impacts of the DWH oil spill, but much effort is being expended to as sess the damages caused by the event and to estimate the value of these damages so that appropriate restoration measures can be developed and implemented. Recognizing the complexity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and the magnitude, duration, and depth of the DWH event, the committee concludes that an ecosystem services approach would complement the ongoing approaches to the NRDA process. Read the entire page →
From page 15... ... in addition to well-established baseline data, both of which are lacking to various degrees in the Gulf of Mexico. Nonetheless, given the vast amount of data currently being collected and research being conducted in the Gulf of Mexico, the committee believes that efforts to apply an ecosystem services approach to the DWH spill would greatly improve understanding of the full suite of impacts and greater options for achieving restoration of the critical services of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Read the entire page →

From page 1...

... Historically, damage assessments have measured losses in ecological terms (e.g., number of acres damaged or number of fish killed) and restoration generally follows a methodology of equivalency wherein losses are compensated by the replacement of resources of the same type (e.g., acres of habitat restored or fish stocks replaced)

Summary Pages 1-16

Summary
Pages 1-16