Joanne C. Burgess

Bio: Joanne C. Burgess is an academic researcher from Colorado State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sustainability & Deforestation. The author has an hindex of 23, co-authored 50 publications receiving 2659 citations. Previous affiliations of Joanne C. Burgess include University of York & University of Wyoming.

The Economics of Tropical Deforestation

Abstract: This paper provides a survey of "first wave" economic studies of tropical deforestation and land use. These studies of tropical forest land conversion are generally at the cross-country level. We also conduct a synthesis cross-country analysis of tropical agricultural land expansion. The results show that agricultural development is the main factor determining land expansion, but institutional factors have an important influence. Income effects tend to vary from region to region, and do not always display an "Environmental Kuznets Curve" relationship. Copyright 2001 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd

Predicting the Location of Deforestation: The Role of Roads and Protected Areas in North Thailand

Abstract: Using plot level data, we estimate a bivariate probit model to explain land clearing and the siting of protected areas in North Thailand in 1986. The model suggests that protected areas (national parks and wildlife sanctuaries together) did not reduce the likelihood of forest clearing; however, wildlife sanctuaries may have reduced the probability of deforestation. Road building, by reducing impedance-weighted distance to market, has promoted clearing, especially near the forest fringe. We simulate the impact of further road building to show where road building is likely to have greatest impact and where it is likely to threaten protected areas.

Paradise Lost: The ecological economics of biodiversity

Abstract: List of illustrations Acknowledgements Preface 1. Background and Overview Biodiversity as a Conservation and Scientific Issue Current Status and Prospects The Ecological Economics of Biodiversity 2. Ecological and Economic Implications of Biodiversity Loss Ecological Implications Economic Implications Summary and Conclusions: Implications for Sustainability 3. Ecological and Economic Perspectives: Convergence or Divergence? How Ecology Approaches the Problem How Economics Approaches the Problem The Pros and Cons of a Single-Discipline Approach 4. Driving Forces for Biodiversity Loss Proximate and Underlying Causes: an Overview Population Pressure Economic Incentives Institutions Culture and Ethics Part I Implications, Driving forces and perspectives Part II Analysis of Selected Systems 5. Forests Identification and Analysis Management and Policy Challenges to be Addressed 6. Wetlands Identification and Analysis Management and Policy Challenges to be Addressed 7. Estuarine and Marine Ecosystems Identification and Analysis Management and Policy Challenges to be Addressed 8. Rangelands Identification and Analysis Management and Policy Challenges to be Addressed Part III Lessons for Management and Policy 9. Instruments and Tools for Biodiversity Conservation System Boundaries and Limits: When do they Matter? Safeguards for the Future: When do they Apply? Regulations and Markets: When do they Work? Challenges to be Addressed 10. Policies and Institutions for Biodiversity Conservation International Management and Incentives Regional and National Management Local Management Challenges to be Addressed Part IV CONCLUSIONS 11. Paradise Regained: The Challenges Ahead Is a Single-Discipline Approach Sufficient? Towards an Ecological-Economiscy Synthesis The Challenges Ahead Glossary O f Selected Ecological and Economical Terms Glossary of Acronyms and Abbreviations References Index

Resilience: the emergence of a perspective for social-ecological systems analyses

Abstract: The resilience perspective is increasingly used as an approach for understanding the dynamics of social–ecological systems. This article presents the origin of the resilience perspective and provides an overview of its development to date. With roots in one branch of ecology and the discovery of multiple basins of attraction in ecosystems in the 1960–1970s, it inspired social and environmental scientists to challenge the dominant stable equilibrium view. The resilience approach emphasizes non-linear dynamics, thresholds, uncertainty and surprise, how periods of gradual change interplay with periods of rapid change and how such dynamics interact across temporal and spatial scales. The history was dominated by empirical observations of ecosystem dynamics interpreted in mathematical models, developing into the adaptive management approach for responding to ecosystem change. Serious attempts to integrate the social dimension is currently taking place in resilience work reflected in the large numbers of sciences involved in explorative studies and new discoveries of linked social–ecological systems. Recent advances include understanding of social processes like, social learning and social memory, mental models and knowledge–system integration, visioning and scenario building, leadership, agents and actor groups, social networks, institutional and organizational inertia and change, adaptive capacity, transformability and systems of adaptive governance that allow for management of essential ecosystem services.

Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations

Abstract: Emerging recognition of two fundamental errors under-pinning past polices for natural resource issues heralds awareness of the need for a worldwide fundamental change in thinking and in practice of environmental management. The first error has been an implicit assumption that ecosystem responses to human use are linear, predictable and controllable. The second has been an assumption that human and natural systems can be treated independently. However, evidence that has been accumulating in diverse regions all over the world suggests that natural and social systems behave in nonlinear ways, exhibit marked thresholds in their dynamics, and that social-ecological systems act as strongly coupled, complex and evolving integrated systems. This article is a summary of a report prepared on behalf of the Environmental Advisory Council to the Swedish Government, as input to the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa in 26 August 4 September 2002. We use the concept of resilience—the capacity to buffer change, learn and develop—as a framework for understanding how to sustain and enhance adaptive capacity in a complex world of rapid transformations. Two useful tools for resilience-building in social-ecological systems are structured scenarios and active adaptive management. These tools require and facilitate a social context with flexible and open institutions and multi-level governance systems that allow for learning and increase adaptive capacity without foreclosing future development options.

Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature

Abstract: World food demand is expected to more than double by 2050. Decisions about how to meet this challenge will have profound effects on wild species and habitats. We show that farming is already the greatest extinction threat to birds (the best known taxon), and its adverse impacts look set to increase, especially in developing countries. Two competing solutions have been proposed: wildlife-friendly farming (which boosts densities of wild populations on farmland but may decrease agricultural yields) and land sparing (which minimizes demand for farmland by increasing yield). We present a model that identifies how to resolve the trade-off between these approaches. This shows that the best type of farming for species persistence depends on the demand for agricultural products and on how the population densities of different species on farmland change with agricultural yield. Empirical data on such density-yield functions are sparse, but evidence from a range of taxa in developing countries suggests that high-yield farming may allow more species to persist.