Comments on Ecosystem Services

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:20:14 +0900
Dear all;
Summary:
1) We discriminate trends in ecosystem services from trends in its potential.
2) "Underuse" may be the 6th direct driving force for ES.
3) Marine Trophic Index in Japan did not show significant decrease.
4) Climate change may not be a big factor for past biodiversity losss in Japan. In future, we are worried about "underuse" (vegetation will be heavily eaten by deer).

We (organized by Insitute for Advanced Science, United Nations University at Yokohama, Japan) are writing Japan Subglobal Assessment for Millenium Ecosystem Assessment. More than fifty Japanese persons cooperate this project.
I am editing a chapter for change of direct driving forces of Japanese
Ecosystem services. This J-SGA will be published in English, but now we are
writing Japanese draft and now under internal review.
I attach a draft table: "Status, trends, factors and impacts on human well-being of ecosystem services" (this is still immature).
In this draft, we show "trends in service" and "trends in potential". Because Japan imports timbers and forests in Japan increases their volume.
And, we added "underuse" as the 6th direct driving force. I also show the marine trophic index of Japanese fisheries, that did not show a significant decline but decreased in 1980s due to a big catch amount of sardine.
As draft GBO3 referred to Worm, Hilborn et al (2009), 1/3 of fisheries resources are recovering, while 1/3 are still overfished and 1/3 are above MSY level and their fishing rate is below MSY level. Worm et al (2009) do not include the data from Japanese fisheries. However, I think their result is similar in Japan.
Fisheries Research Agency of Japan showed the sum of biological allowable catch of several major reources is >2 million tons.
I usually recommend eating lower trophic level fish -- "eating down". Fishing down is clear in north Atlantic Ocean, possibly because the western
people eat higher trophic level fish. People in developing countries eat lower trophic level fish and no significant fishing down in their fishing ground. Chinese and Japanese eat everything, but recently MTI in China showed a clear fishing down, while MTI in Japan did not.

In Japan, climate change is not recognized as a big factor of the previous loss of biodiversity
Yours,