Ecological Economics: Basic concepts

Lecture 09
 Disturbance

Ecosystem
Variable

Ecosystem
Service

Time

Return time Disturbances

Ecosystem
Variable

Ecosystem
Resilience Service

vs.
Time
Adaptability
The system follows a
complexifying (orientor) trajectory
 Adaptability:
→ Higher hierarchical level (long-term changes)
→ Trajectory follows orientor dynamics

A system has a high → Indication:

adaptability if the (a) ecosystem integrity dynamics
sum of all (b) ecosystem service dynamics
disturbances
and changes in the
attractor domains
do not reduce Disturbances

the system‘s degree

of
Ecosystem
self-organization. Variable

Ecosystem
Service

Time

The system follows a

complexifying (orientor) trajectory
 Multi-scale view on adaptive cycles

Adaptive cycles at multiple scales

Storage

Connectedness
 Steady-State Economics (Daly 1973)

• Daly “Steady State Economics” theory acknowledge that the Earth is

materially finite and non-growing.

• More particularly, it implies that the focus of analysis should be

shifted from marketed resources in the economic system to the
biophysical basis of interdependent ecological and economic systems.

• Thus the economy cannot grow forever (at least in a material sense)
and ultimately some sort of “Sustainable Steady State” is desired.
Future of Ecological Economics (EE)