IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v346y2017icp10-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental accounting for ecosystem conservation: Linking societal and ecosystem metabolisms

Author

Listed:
  • Lomas, Pedro L.
  • Giampietro, Mario

Abstract

This paper proposes an approach to environmental accounting useful for studying the feasibility of socio-economic systems in relation to the external constraints posed by ecological compatibility. The approach is based on a multi-scale analysis of the metabolic pattern of ecosystems and societies and it provides an integrated characterization of the resulting interaction. The text starts with a theoretical part explaining (i) the implicit epistemological revolution implied by the notion of ecosystem metabolism and the fund-flow model developed by Georgescu-Roegen applied to environmental accounting, and (ii) the potentials of this approach to create indicators to assess ecological integrity and environmental impacts. This revolution also makes it possible to carry out a multi-scale integrated assessment of ecosystem and societal metabolisms at the territorial level. In the second part, two applications of this approach using an indicator of the negentropic cost show the possibility to characterize in quantitative and qualitative terms degrees of alteration (crop cultivation, tree plantations) for different biomes (tropical and boreal forests). Also, a case study for land use scenarios has been included. The proposed approach represents an integrated multi-scale tool for the analysis of nature conservation scenarios and strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Lomas, Pedro L. & Giampietro, Mario, 2017. "Environmental accounting for ecosystem conservation: Linking societal and ecosystem metabolisms," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 346(C), pages 10-19.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:346:y:2017:i:c:p:10-19
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.12.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438001630566X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.12.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon L. Lewis & Mark A. Maslin, 2015. "Defining the Anthropocene," Nature, Nature, vol. 519(7542), pages 171-180, March.
    2. Peter Bartelmus, 2014. "Environmental–Economic Accounting: Progress and Digression in the SEEA Revisions," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 887-904, December.
    3. Vardon, Michael & Burnett, Peter & Dovers, Stephen, 2016. "The accounting push and the policy pull: balancing environment and economic decisions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 145-152.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giampietro, Mario, 2019. "On the Circular Bioeconomy and Decoupling: Implications for Sustainable Growth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 143-156.
    2. Gerber, Julien-François & Scheidel, Arnim, 2018. "In Search of Substantive Economics: Comparing Today's Two Major Socio-metabolic Approaches to the Economy – MEFA and MuSIASEM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 186-194.
    3. Kozo MAYUMI & Mario GIAMPIETRO, 2019. "Reconsidering “Circular Economy” in Terms of Irreversible Evolution of Economic Activity and Interplay between Technosphere and Biosphere," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 196-206, June.
    4. Zaheer Allam & David S. Jones & Can Biyik, 2021. "Introducing a global planetary ecosystem accounting in the wake of the Amazon Forest fires," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Capriolo, A. & Boschetto, R.G. & Mascolo, R.A. & Balbi, S. & Villa, F., 2020. "Biophysical and economic assessment of four ecosystem services for natural capital accounting in Italy," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    2. Tironi, Martín & Rivera Lisboa, Diego Ignacio, 2023. "Artificial intelligence in the new forms of environmental governance in the Chilean State: Towards an eco-algorithmic governance," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Bordt, Michael, 2018. "Discourses in Ecosystem Accounting: A Survey of the Expert Community," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 82-99.
    4. Felipe Vásquez & Gibran Vita & Daniel B. Müller, 2018. "Food Security for an Aging and Heavier Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Marco Filippo Torchio & Umberto Lucia & Giulia Grisolia, 2020. "Economic and Human Features for Energy and Environmental Indicators: A Tool to Assess Countries’ Progress towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Warnell, Katherine J.D. & Russell, Marc & Rhodes, Charles & Bagstad, Kenneth J. & Olander, Lydia P. & Nowak, David J. & Poudel, Rajendra & Glynn, Pierre D. & Hass, Julie L. & Hirabayashi, Satoshi & In, 2020. "Testing ecosystem accounting in the United States: A case study for the Southeast," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    7. Rachel Mazac & Hanna L. Tuomisto, 2020. "The Post-Anthropocene Diet: Navigating Future Diets for Sustainable Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-15, March.
    8. Ioannis Souliotis & Nikolaos Voulvoulis, 2021. "Natural Capital Accounting Informing Water Management Policies in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-24, October.
    9. Li, Xiaoliang & Wu, Kening & Yang, Qijun & Hao, Shiheng & Feng, Zhe & Ma, Jinliang, 2023. "Quantitative assessment of cultivated land use intensity in Heilongjiang Province, China, 2001–2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Eva Michaeli & Vladimír Solár & Matúš Maxin & Jozef Vilček & Martin Boltižiar, 2021. "The Nature of the Technosols on the Waste from Nickel Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, January.
    11. Kaisa Vehmas & Nancy Bocken & Hannamaija Tuovila, 2024. "Understanding Consumer Attitudes Towards Sustainable Business Models—A Qualitative Study with Finnish Consumers," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1487-1512, June.
    12. Schmidt, Stefan & Seppelt, Ralf, 2018. "Information content of global ecosystem service databases and their suitability for decision advice," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 32(PA), pages 22-40.
    13. Seray Ergene & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee & Erim Ergene, 2024. "Environmental Racism and Climate (In)Justice in the Anthropocene: Addressing the Silences and Erasures in Management and Organization Studies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(4), pages 785-800, September.
    14. Zhiting Chen & Qing Ren & Tian Zhang & Zhewen Kang & Xiaoyan Huang & Peng Li & Xiaohu Dang & Xiaoshu Cao & Mingjiang Deng, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Human Critical Area (HCA) in the “Three Water Lines” Region of Northwest China and the Impact of Socioeconomic Factors between 2000 and 2020," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Garrath T. Wilson & Tracy Bhamra, 2020. "Design for Sustainability: The Need for a New Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-8, April.
    16. Paula Botella & Salvador Baena-Morales & Olalla García-Taibo & Alberto Ferriz-Valero, 2022. "Effects of Self-Construction of Materials on the Ecological Awareness of Physical Education Primary School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, October.
    17. Ying Pan & Ke Shi & Zhongxu Zhao & Yao Li & Junxi Wu, 2024. "The effects of China’s poverty eradication program on sustainability and inequality," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Alessandro Cariello & Rossella Ferorelli & Francesco Rotondo, 2021. "Tactical Urbanism in Italy: From Grassroots to Institutional Tool—Assessing Value of Public Space Experiments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-15, October.
    19. Andrew Spring & Erin Nelson & Irena Knezevic & Patricia Ballamingie & Alison Blay-Palmer, 2021. "Special Issue “Levering Sustainable Food Systems to Address Climate Change (Pandemics and Other Shocks and Hazards): Possible Transformations”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-6, July.
    20. David Lindenmayer, 2017. "Halting natural resource depletion: Engaging with economic and political power," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 28(1), pages 41-56, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:346:y:2017:i:c:p:10-19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.