JNTUA gbm unit3

1. UNIT - 3
Approaches from Ecological Economics; Indicators of sustainability; Ecosystem services and their sustainable use; Bio-diversity;
Indian perspective; Alternate theories.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS:
Ecological economics is a relatively new movement in
economics that has developed partly in response to the
limitations of neoclassical economics in its treatment of the
interaction of human society and the natural environment. The
roots of the subject go back to the 19th C (Martinez-Alier,
1990; Spash, 1999). A modern pioneer was Boulding on the
economics of “spaceship earth” (1966). The International
Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) was founded in
1988, following a conference organised by Juan Martinez-Alier
in Barcelona in 1987, and the Society’s journal Ecological
Economics was founded in 1989, with its first editor the
ecologist Robert Constanza (1989).
Ecological economics is a growing transdisciplinary
field that aims to improve and expand economic theory to
integrate the earth’s natural systems, human values and human
health and well-being.
SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS:
Sustainability can be defined as “the development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”.
Indicator is one which quantified information that helps to
explain the changes in things over time. For many years, a
limited number of key economic measures has been used to
judge how the economy is performing - for example, output,
the level of employment, the rate of inflation, the balance of
payments, public sector borrowing, etc. The basic functions of
an indicator are: simplification, quantification, and
communication.
Sustainability indicator is “a statistical measure that gives an
indication on the sustainability of social, environmental and
economic development”.
The various Environmental, social and economical indicators
of sustainability include:
A. Economical indicators and emphasis of
sustainability:

2.  Number of hours of paid employment at the average wage
required to support basic needs.
Emphasis: Wage can buy Defines basic needs in terms
of sustainable consumption.
 Diversity and vitality of local job base Number and
variability in size of companies Number and variability
of industry types Variability of skill levels required for
jobs
Emphasis: Resilience of the job market Ability of the
job market to be flexible in times of economic change.
 Wages paid in the local economy that are spent in the
local economy Dollars spent in the local economy
which pay for local labor and local natural
resources Percent of local economy based on renewable
local resources
Emphasis: Local financial resilience.
B. Environmental indicators:
 Use and generation of toxic materials (both in
production and by end user) Vehicle miles traveled
Emphasis: Measuring activities causing pollution.
 Percent of products produced which are durable,
repairable, or readily recyclable or compostable
Emphasis: Conservative and cyclical use of materials.
 Total energy used from all sources Ratio of renewable
energy used at renewable rate compared to
nonrenewable energy
Emphasis: Use of resources at sustainable rate.
C. Social indicators:
 Number of students trained for jobs that are available in
the local economy Number of students who go to
college and come back to the community
Emphasis: Matching job skills and training to needs of
the local economy.
 Number of voters who vote in elections Number of
voters who attend town meetings
Emphasis: Participation in democratic process Ability
to participate in the democratic process.
ECOSYSTEM:
An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal
and microorganism communities and non-living environment,
interacting as a functional unit.
The term ecosystem was first coined by Roy Clapham
in 1930, but it was the British ecologist, Arthur Tansley, fully
defined the ecosystem concept in 1935, to denote the physical

3. and biological components of an environment considered in
relation to each other as a unit.
COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM:
 Biotic or living: A biotic factor is any living
component that affects another organism, including
plants, animals, and the living food that the organism
consumers.
 Abiotic components: non living factors like air, soil,
water, temperature
ECOLOGICAL SERVICES:
Ecological services are the benefits arising from the
ecological functions of healthy ecosystems. Such benefits
accrue to all living organisms, including animals and plants,
rather than to humans alone.
TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL SERVICES:
A. PROVISIONING SERVICES
B. REGULATING SERVICES
C. CULTURAL SERVICES
D. SUPPORTING SERVICES
A. PROVISIONING SERVICES
These services provided by nature, most think of
food. Fruits, vegetables, trees, fish and livestock are available
as direct products of ecosystems. A provisioning service is
any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from
nature.
Along with food, other types of provisioning services
include:
 Drinking water
 Timber
 Wood fuel, natural gas and oils
 Plants that can be made into clothes and other materials
 Medicinal benefits
B. REGULATING SERVICES
Ecosystems provide many of the basic services that make
life possible for people. Plants clean air and filter water,
bacteria decompose wastes, bees pollinate flowers and tree
roots hold soil in place to prevent erosion. All these processes
work together to make ecosystems clean, sustainable,
functional and resilient to change. A regulating service is the
benefit provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural
phenomena.
Regulating services include:
 Decomposition
 Water purification

4.  Erosion and flood control
 Carbon storage and climate regulation
C. CULTURAL SERVICES
Individuals interact and alter nature, the natural world has
in turn altered the society. It is has guided our cultural,
intellectual and social development by being a constant force
present in the lives. The importance of ecosystems to the
human mind can be traced back to the beginning of mankind
with ancient civilizations drawing pictures of animals, plants
and weather patterns on cave walls.
A cultural service is a non-material benefit that contributes
to the development and cultural advancement of people
including,
 ecosystems play a role in local, national and global
cultures
 The building of knowledge and the spreading of ideas
 Creativity born from interactions with nature (music,
art, architecture)
 Recreation
D. SUPPORTING SERVICES
The natural world provides so many services that
sometimes the individuals overlook the most
fundamental. Ecosystems themselves could not be sustained
without the consistency of underlying natural processes,
such as photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, the creation of soils
and the water cycle. These processes allow the Earth to sustain
basic life forms, let alone whole ecosystems and
people. Without supporting services, provisional, regulating
and cultural services would not exist.
BENEFITS OF THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
APPROACH
Understanding the full value of the natural environment
enables:
 decisions on the natural environment that do not
compromise benefits to society, business and the
economy
 improved delivery of services through better use of the
natural environment
 reduced business risk and increased business
opportunity
Some of the Ecological services are:
 Balance of nature
 Biological productivity

5.  Regulation of climate
 Degradation of waste
 Cleaning of air and water
 Cycling of nutrients
 Control of potential pest and disease causing species
 Stabilization of land against erosion
 Carbon sequestration and global climate change
 Maintenance of Soil fertility
BIODIVERSITY:
The term Biodiversity was first coined by Walter G. Rosen in
1986. Bio means life Diversity means Variety.
Biological diversity, abbreviated as biodiversity,
represent the sum total of various life forms such as unicellular
fungi, protozoa, bacteria, and multi cellular organisms such as
plants, fishes, and mammals at various biological levels
including gens, habitats, and ecosystem.
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY:
The biodiversity found on Earth today is the result of
approximately 3.5 billion years of evolution. Until the
emergence of humans, the earth supported more biodiversity
than any other period in geological history. However, since the
dominance of humans, biodiversity has begun a rapid decline,
with one species after another suffering extinction.
The maintenance of biodiversity is important for the following
reasons:
 Maintaining balance of the ecosystem: Recycling and storage
of nutrients, combating pollution, and stabilizing climate,
protecting water resources, forming and protecting soil and
maintaining ecobalance.
 Provision of biological resources: Provision of medicines and
pharmaceuticals, food for the human population and animals,
ornamental plants, wood products, breeding stock and diversity
of species, ecosystems and genes.
 Social benefits: Recreation and tourism, cultural value and
education and research.
The role of biodiversity in the these areas will help make clear
the importance of biodiversity in human life:
 Biodiversity and food: 80% of human food supply comes
from 20 kinds of plants. But humans use 40,000 species for
food, clothing and shelter. Biodiversity provides for variety of
foods for the planet.
 Biodiversity and human health: The shortage of drinking
water is expected to create a major global crisis. Biodiversity

6. also plays an important role in drug discovery and medicinal
resources. Medicines from nature account for usage by 80%
of the world’s population.
 Biodiversity and industry: Biological sources provide many
industrial materials. These include fiber, oil, dyes, rubber,
water, timber, paper and food.
 Biodiversity and culture: Biodiversity enhances recreational
activities like bird watching, fishing, trekking etc. It inspires
musicians and artists.
Elements of biodiversity:
There are three basic elements of biodiversity. They are:
A. Genetic biodiversity
B. Species diversity
C. Ecosystem diversity
A. Genetic diversity:
Genetic diversity refers to the variety of genes within a
species. Each species is made up of individuals that have their
own particular genetic composition. Within a species there may
also be discrete populations with distinctive genes.
To conserve the genetic diversity within a species,
different populations must be conserved. This protects the
genetic diversity that allows for adaptability to environmental
changes and is therefore vital to species.
B. Species diversity:
Species diversity is defined as the number and
abundance of different species that occupy a location. To
accurately determine species diversity, both the species
richness, which is the number of different species, and
the relative abundance, which is the number of individuals
within each species, must be considered. An example of
species diversity would be the number and abundance of
different types of mammals in a forest.
C. Ecosystem diversity:
Ecosystem diversity is a term that incorporates both habitat
and community diversity. A habitat is the environment in
which an organism or species lives and includes the physical
characteristics (e.g. climate or the availability of suitable food
and shelter) that make it especially well suited to meet the life
cycle needs of that species. A community consists of the
assemblage of populations of plants and animals that occupy an
area and their interactions with each other and their
environment. An ecosystem is a unique combination of plant,
animal and microorganism communities and their non-living

7. physical characteristics interacting as a functional unit.
Inherent in ecosystem diversity are thus both biotic (living) and
abiotic (non-living) components, which makes it different from
both genetic and species diversity.
Threats to biodiversity:
Natural causes:
 Narrow geographical area
 Low population
 Low breeding rate
 Natural disasters
Anthropogenic causes:
 Habitat modification
 Overexploitation of selected species
 Innovation by exotic species
 Pollution
 Hunting
 Global warming and climate change
 Agriculture
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY:
Conservation of biodiversity is protection, upliftment and
scientific management of biodiversity so as to maintain it at its
threshold level and derive sustainable benefits for the present
and future generation.
The basic objectives of conservation are:
a) To maintain essential ecological processes and life
supporting systems.
b) To preserve the diversity of species.
c) To make sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems.
Methods of Conservation:
There are two types of conservation methods namely in-situ
and ex-situ conservations. Let us discuss the different
conservation methods along with their importance.
BIODIVERSITY OF INDIA:
As per available data, the varieties of species living on the
earth are 1753739. Out of the above species, 134781 are
residing in India although surface area of India is 2% of the

8. earth’s surface. Wild life Institute of India has divided it into
ten bio-geographical regions and twenty five biotic provinces.
Bio-geographical regions are:
(i) Trans Himalayas,
(ii) Gangetic plain,
(iii) Desert,
(iv) Semiarid zone;
(v) Western Ghats;
(vi) Deccan peninsula,
(vii) North eastern zone,
(viii) Coastal lands
(ix) Himalayas,
(x) Islands.
India is one of the twelve mega diversity nations of the
world due to the following reasons:
 It has 7.3% of the global fauna and 10.88% of global
flora as per the data collected by Ministry of
Environment and forest.
 It has 350 different mammals, 1200 species of birds-
453 different reptiles, 182 amphibians and 45,000
plants spices.
 It has 50,000 known species of insects which include
13,000 butterflies and moths.
 It has 10 different biogeographical regions and 25 biotic
provinces having varieties of lands and species.
 In addition to geographical distribution, geological
events in the land mass provide high level of biological
diversity.
 Several crops arose in the country and spread
throughout the world.
 There is wide variety of domestic animals like cows,
buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, horses etc.
 The marine biota includes sea weeds, fishes,
crustaceans, molluses, corals, reptiles etc.
 There are a number of hot spots (namely Eastern Ghats,
Western Ghats, North Eastern hills etc.).
Conservation And Biodiversity Issues For Businesses:
Biodiversity refers to all species of plants and animals,
including any genetic variations within those species, and the
complex ecosystems they live in.
The world is losing biodiversity at an ever-increasing
rate as a result of human activity. All types of business
operating near protected areas should be aware of their

9. responsibilities for conservation and protecting biodiversity.
This doesn't just apply to land-based industries such as forestry
or farming, but to all offices, factories and other business
activities based on or near these areas.
Protected areas include:
 Local nature reserves - places with wildlife or
geological features that are of special interest locally.
 National scenic areas - areas of particular natural
beauty in need of conservation.
 National parks - tracts of the countryside that have
been given protection for the conservation and
enhancement of their special qualities.
 National nature reserves - important areas of wildlife
habitat.
 Sites of special scientific interest - good examples of
natural heritage of wildlife habitats, geological features
and landforms.
 Special areas of conservation - strictly protected sites
for habitat types and species that are considered to be
most in need of conservation at a European level.
 Special protection areas - strictly protected sites
classified for rare and vulnerable birds.
 Wetlands
 UNESCO biospheres - areas of terrestrial and
coastal/marine ecosystems which are internationally
recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere
programme.
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