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Recent Trends in Ecosystem Management In the United States

About our Project...

Since the early 1990s, ecosystem management (EM) has emerged as a promising new paradigm for natural resource management and conservation planning. In 1995, researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a broad-based study of 105 EM projects, the results of which were published in Ecosystem Management in the United States (Island Press, 1996). In an effort to track and evaluate the ecological and institutional developments these projects experienced over the past five years, our research team designed a comprehensive follow-up survey and administered it to project managers at these same sites. The survey focused on advances in project lifecycle, strategies, monitoring techniques, process and ecological outcomes, self-rated success, and factors impeding and facilitating project progress. Survey data received from 84 respondents was analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques, including factor analysis and several standard tests of statistical significance. Follow-up interviews with project managers were used to develop a series of 26 case studies that highlighted significant trends in the contemporary practice of ecosystem management.

In general, our study reveals that the ecosystem-based approach is resulting in improvements in the field. While a small percentage of projects have been terminated as a result of budget shortfalls or political opposition, most projects are moving from planning into implementation of ecosystem management. Process outcomes, which dominated responses in 1995, have increased further still. Ecological outcomes, especially those related to ecological restoration, have also increased significantly since 1995, suggesting that several years of institution-building often precede accomplishments being made in the field. Based on the analysis of the survey data and the case studies, recommendations are presented to aid policy makers and ecosystem management practitioners in implementing EM on the ground.

Recent Trends in Ecosystem Management was completed in April, 2000, and may be downloaded in Adobe PDF format.

The Recent Trends in Ecosystem Management report was completed by Mark Brush, Allen Hance, Kathleen Judd, and Elizabeth Rettenmaier in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters of Science degree at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources & Environment.

 

URL: http://www.umich.edu/~emsnre/index.html
Last Updated July 7, 2000