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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. In preparing its report, the committee invited people with different perspectives to present their views. Such invitation does not imply endorsement of those views.
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This study by the National Research Council's Commission on Life Sciences was sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security (Cooperative Agreement No. DACA87-98-H-0011). Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Department of Defense.
Recommended citation:
NRC 1999. Perspectives on biodiversity: valuing its role in an everchanging World. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 129 p.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-06581-X
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 99-64135
Perspectives on Biodiversity: Valuing Its Role in an Everchanging World is available from the
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Copyright 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of Biodiversity
DIANA H. WALL (Chair),
Colorado State University, Ft Collins, CO
CARL E. BOCK,
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
THOMAS DIETZ,
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
PERRY R. HAGENSTEIN,
Wayland, MA
ANTHONY J. KRZYSIK,
U.S. Army CERL, Champaign, IL
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
STUART L. PIMM,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
ALAN RANDALL,
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
WALTER V. REID,
Seattle, WA
MARK SAGOFF,
University of Maryland, College Park, MD
WILLIAM D. SCHULZE,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
DALE E. TOWEILL,
Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise, ID
PETER M. VITOUSEK,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
DAVID B. WAKE,
University of California, Berkeley, CA
NRC Staff
TANIA WILLIAMS, Study Director
JANET JOY, Study Director through August 1997
JEFFREY PECK, Senior Project Assistant through February 1997
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
Board on Biology
PAUL BERG (Chair),
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
JOANNA BURGER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
MICHAEL T. CLEGG,
University of California, Riverside, CA
DAVID EISENBERG,
University of California, Los Angeles, CA
DAVID J. GALAS,
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, Claremont, CA
DAVID V. GOEDDEL,
Tularik, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA,
University of California, Riverside, CA
COREY S. GOODMAN,
University of California, Berkeley, CA
CYNTHIA K. KENYON,
University of California, San Francisco, CA
MARGARET G. KIDWELL,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
BRUCE R. LEVIN,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
OLGA F. LINARES,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
ELLIOT M. MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
RONALD R. SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
ROBERT R. SOKAL,
State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN,
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
RAYMOND L. WHITE,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
NRC Staff
RALPH DELL, Acting Director
JENNIFER KUZMA, Program Officer
TANIA WILLIAMS, Program Officer
Commission on Life Sciences
MICHAEL T. CLEGG, Chair,
University of California, Riverside, CA
PAUL BERG, Vice Chair,
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, DC
JOHN C. BAILAR III,
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
JOANNA BURGER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
SHARON L. DUNWOODY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
JOHN L. EMMERSON,
Fishers, IN
NEAL L. FIRST,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
DAVID J. GALAS,
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, Claremont, CA
DAVID V. GOEDDEL,
Tularik, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA,
University of California, Riverside, CA
COREY S. GOODMAN,
University of California, Berkeley, CA
HENRY W. HEIKKINEN,
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO
HANS J. KENDE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
CYNTHIA J. KENYON,
University of California, San Francisco, CA
MARGARET G. KIDWELL,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
BRUCE R. LEVIN,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
OLGA F. LINARES,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
DAVID M. LIVINGSTON,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
DONALD R. MATTISON,
March of Dimes, White Plains, NY
ELLIOT M. MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
RONALD R. SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
ROBERT R. SOKAL,
State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN,
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX
RAYMOND L. WHITE,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
NRC Staff
MYRON UMAN, Acting Executive Director
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Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. The committee thanks the following individuals for their participation in review of this report:
Kenneth Arrow, Stanford University
John Avise, University of Georgia
Michael Bean, Environmental Defense Fund
Robert Costanza, University of Maryland
Gretchen Daily, Stanford University
Geoffrey Heal, Columbia University
Kheryn Klubnikin, IUCN—The World Conservation Union
Robert Mendohlson, Yale University
Bryan Norton, University of Georgia
Steven Polasky, Council on Competitiveness and Oregon State University
Daniel Simberloff, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
While the individuals listed above have provided constructive comments and suggestions, it must be emphasized that responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring panel and the National Research Council.
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Preface
At the request of the Department of Defense (DOD), in 1995, the National Research Council's Board on Biology convened the 14-member Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of Biodiversity. The committee was charged with many tasks that are summarized as follows:
- Review how the current scientific knowledge about economic and noneconomic values could be applied to management of biological resources;
- Using case studies, assess how the various aspects of value have been or might be used by managers in development, implementation, and evaluation of management plans; and
- Suggest how managers can improve their use of information about the values of biodiversity in their management decisions
It is important to note that the charge did not require the committee to recommend which values should have high priority for consideration by managers. The committee chose, in its deliberations, to consider management of biological resources as lands owned by and managed by DOD and other federal agencies and by state and local governments. Case studies were selected to illustrate the scope of management decisions that occur when different values of biodiversity are considered.
The committee—composed of members representing disciplines of biodiversity sciences (systematics, ecology, population biology, conservation biology, and ecology), resource management, sociology, economics, and philosophy—convened its first meeting in Washington, D.C., in July 1995 and the final and sixth meeting in Keystone, Colo., in July 1996. Since 1996, there have been
numerous working meetings of two to four committee members. During this period, as the scientific information on biodiversity and its valuation proliferated, the committee examined and reconsidered, and in a few cases rewrote, sections of the report.
I was fortunate to work with a knowledgeable, collegial, and interesting committee that engaged in lively debates and worked diligently on this report. I am extremely grateful to the committee and especially to committee members Perry Hagenstein and Robert Paine, whose generosity and attention to this report seemed boundless. The progress of the report endured several personal tragedies of committee members, and I am especially appreciative of their work during their adversity. The committee began and completed much of its work with the able assistance and professional direction of NRC Study Director Janet Joy. In 1997, Tania Williams became study director, and she was responsible for advancing the committee's efforts through careful administrative, editorial, and intellectual contributions and for contributing greatly to the final product. Personally, as well as on behalf of the committee, I thank them. Eric Fischer and Paul Gilman, formerly director of the Board on Biology and executive director of the Commission on Life Sciences, respectively, helped the committee refine its report. The committee benefited from and acknowledges with appreciation the efforts of DOD personnel who arranged the committee's visit to Camp Pendleton, Calif., and those who made presentations at committee meetings; they are listed in appendix C.
DIANA H. WALL
Chair
Committee on Noneconomic and Economic Value of Biodiversity