Ecosystem Classification for Environmental Management

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Theory

   1. Environmental policy and ecosystem classification

      • Helias A. Udo de Haes, Frans Klijn

      Pages 1-21

   2. Basic principles of classification

      • Isaac S. Zonneveld

      Pages 23-47

   3. System ecological concepts for environmental planning

      • Wolfgang Haber

      Pages 49-67

   4. The natural hierarchy of ecological systems

      • Michel Godron

      Pages 69-83

3. Approaches to Classification

   1. Spatially nested ecosystems: guidelines for classification from a hierarchical perspective

      • Frans Klijn

      Pages 85-116

   2. Ecosystem classification by budgets of material; the example of forest ecosystems classified as proton budget types

      • Roman J. M. Lenz

      Pages 117-137

   3. The use of site factors as classification characteristics for ecotopes

      • Han J. Runhaar, Helias A. Udo de Haes

      Pages 139-172

   4. The application of quantitative methods of classification to strategic ecological survey in Britain

      • Robert G. H. Bunce

      Pages 173-182

4. Applications

   1. A flexible multiple stress model: who needs a priori classification?

      • Joris B. Latour, Rudo Reiling, Jaap Wiertz

      Pages 183-198

   2. Ecosystem classification and hydro-ecological modelling for national water management

      • Frans A. M. Claessen, Frans Klijn, J. Flip P. M. Witte, J. Gerard Nienhuis

      Pages 199-222

   3. Up-to-date information on nature quality for environmental management in Flanders

      • Geert de Blust, Desiré Paelinckx, Eckhart Kuijken

      Pages 223-249

   4. Monitoring ‘small biotopes’

      • Jesper Brandt, Esbern Holmes, Dorthe Larsen

      Pages 251-274

   5. The use of floristic data to establish the occurrence and quality of ecosystems

      • Kees C. L. G. Groen, Ruud van der Meijden, Han J. Runhaar

      Pages 275-290

5. Back Matter

   Pages 291-310

   PDF

When Lovelock published his 'Gaia', it was for many people quite a relief. We would not be able to destroy life on earth. Lovelock illustrated this argument with a wealth of mechanistic feedback processes, as we know them to occur in ecosystems. These feedback processes would, somehow, lead the earth as a whole into a new equilibrium. An equilibrium with life within, be it in an entirely changed environment. This is, indeed, let us be earnest: a functioning ecosystem. But what kind of ecosystem? The Gaia-hypothesis triggered a great deal of thought and discussion about what we actually require as an environment. Bio­ diversity as an abbreviation of biotic diversity has since become the focal point of societal concern. But again, when we think about it, we are not only interested in the sheer number of species on earth. We also have ')ther interests: nearby, in our backyards, in the surrounding countryside, and on the various locations where we would like to spend our holidays. We also want to preserve rare or characteristic species just for their own sake. In fact, we want species in viable populations to be part of communities that are self-maintaining in environments where they belong. We know we cannot ask for this without protecting their environment, which is also our environment. This is where the next fashionable term emerges: sustainability.

• Conservation
• Environmental Management
• Nature Conservation
• biodiversity
• classification
• ecology
• ecosystem
• vegetation
• ecotoxicology

• Centre of Environmental Science, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

  Frans Klijn

Policies and ethics