Ecosystem valuation
From Wikinfo
Ecosystem valuation is the pricing or assessment of economic capital asset value to a living ecosystem.
The most extreme example is the attempt in Natural Capitalism to assign the value of Earth in current currency.
Is this economics, or ecology?
Such valuation, and that of the effectiveness of various environmental health measures that affect the value of life and quality of life, are usually thought to be part of economics. Natural capital and individual capital, both being alive, however, could also reasonably be related in ecology.
The categorization of "valuation" as an "economic not ecological issue" seems to have its roots in the arbitrary division of the activities of humans versus non-humans in "making a living". When humans go out to get food or homes, that is studied in "economics", but when non-humans do it, that is "ecology", though it is clear that there are motivations, methods and certainly bodily needs in common.
Because "valuation" more clearly deals with human perceptions rather than with the ecological system as it exists independently of human observers and "users", ecosystem valuation is often considered a (marginal, ignored) part of economics. However ecology itself is also human perception, accordingly, it is reasonable to consider this an ecology topic.
Where it's applied
The most cogent arguments in ecosystem valuation regard nature's services and the assignment of values in a service economy to all that nature does "for humans".
The most evolved theories of valuation of ecosystems are those which relate clearly to ecological yield. The natural capital value of an ecosystem can be calculated based on the price of natural resources it yields each year. The Global Resource Bank is a project that seeks to replace national currencies with a single global currency based strictly on this capital yield - it is one of three global currency projects actively investigated by the UN.
References
- Adapted from the deleted Wikipedia article, "Ecosystem valuation" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Undelete/Ecosystem_valuation
