Winter Quarter, 2005
Instructors:
Weixin Cheng wxcheng@ucsc.edu
416 ISB, Mon. 9-11 am
Brent M. Haddad bhaddad@ucsc.edu
497 Nat Sci 2 Thurs. 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Meeting times: Monday & Wednesday, 11:00 am – 12:45 p.m. 455 Interdisciplinary Sciences
Course Description: This course is a continuation of ENVS 201A. Our goals are to reinforce and add to the key words and concepts covered in 201A, and to bring them to bear on an environmental question that calls for an interdisciplinary perspective.
The key words and concepts presented in 201B will cover the following areas:
Part 1: Environmental Policy, Law, and Economics (Haddad)
Part 2: Global Environment and Ecosystem Ecology (Cheng)
Part 3: Integration and Presentation (Cheng, Haddad)
Course Requirements and Evaluation: Students are responsible for all assigned readings. Students will prepare problem sets, essays, and discussion questions as assigned by the professors. Students will also identify relevant outside supplementary readings. These assignments provide stepping stones to approach the integrative question and to prepare a presentation of an example of interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary approach of your own at the end of the quarter. A cumulative narrative evaluation covering both ENVS 201A and ENVS 201B will be prepared for each student.
Readings: Readings are either on reserve at the Science Library or available as online articles or as hard copies in the mail-room.
The main assignment: Re-write your application essay you submitted to this PhD program before admission. This re-writing process should show what you have learned out of 201A&B. The length of the final essay is expected to be within 12 pages (double-spaced and 12 point font).
2. For one of the in-class discussion questions listed below, please write 750-1000 word essay. Please turn in the essay no later than Tuesday, February 17. Please refer in your essay to all relevant readings and provide full citations.
Wed. Jan 5 Course Introduction
Andrews, R.N.L. Managing the Environment, Managing Ourselves. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1999, pp. 1-10, 223-6, 266-70.
Stone, D. Policy Paradox: the Art of Political Decision Making, 1997, New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., Chs. 5, 8.
Q. 1 On pages 8-10, Andrews lists key aspects of environmental problems. Which do you think are the most important? Are any missing? Are there any that shouldn’t be there? Please provide examples.
Q. 2 Compare and contrast Stone’s conceptions of liberty with concepts of political economy presented in ENVS 201A. What are the major differences and similarities with respect to the role that protecting liberty does or should play in public policy?
Q. 3 Differentiate between causality in politics and causality in academics. Focus on the challenge of establishing causality and the uses of causal chains. Assuming that the academic approaches to causality are valid ones, how can they be kept apart from political approaches in areas where science plays strong roles in policy-making? What risks accrue to academics in general and to specific scientists?
Mon. Jan 10 Law, Rights, and Common Property Regimes
Plater, Z., Abrams, R., Goldfarb,
W., and Graham, R. 1998. Environmental
Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, 2nd ed. St. Paul, Minn.: West. Pp. 1-38, 317-21
Sax, J. “The Search for Environmental Rights,” Journal of Land Use and
Environmental Law 6:93-105 (1990).
Stone, D. Policy Paradox: the Art of Political Decision Making, 1997, New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., Ch 14. (optional)
Hardin, G. (1968). “Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162:1243-1248.
Q. 4 Clarify what you think Plater et al. mean by “structures,” and “processes” of environmental regulation, and regulatory “strategies.” How would you define each of these terms? Apply them to a regulatory context with which you are quite familiar.
Q. 5 Why does Sax leave out ecocentric rights? Was this an omission on his part? Why or why not? How would you include ecocentric rights?
Q.6 Where does Sax’s discussion of environmental rights fit with Stone’s discussion of categories of rights?
Q.7 Describe clearly the dilemma raised when public goods occur in a private-property institutional context. What kinds of governance structures arise in these cases? Give an example of a public good with which you are quite familiar and how it is governed. Compare your real-life example to the analysis of Hardin.
Wed. Jan 12 Entropy and Valuation
Georgescu-Roegen, N., “The Entropy Law and the Economic
Problem,” in H.E. Daly, ed., Economics, Ecology, Ethics: Essays Toward a Steady-State Economy, 1980, San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.
Bishop, R.C., and M. Welsh, “Contingent Valuation: Incorporating
Nonmarket Values,” in K. Sexton, A. Marcus, K. Easter, and T. Burkhardt, eds., Better Environmental Decisions, 1999, Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Hanley, N., Shogren, J., and White,
B. Introduction to Environmental
Economics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. pp. 34-67.
Q. 8 Georgescu-Roegen writes, “(E)very time we produce a Cadillac, we do it at the cost of decreasing the number of human lives in the future” (p. 58). What does he mean by this? Do you agree? What is the contrary argument?
Q. 9 What values are not represented in standard approaches to contingent valuation (CV)? Can CV techniques be altered to accommodate those values? How?
Q. 10 What is the difference between stated and revealed preferences? Give examples of both, and when you might apply one or two of the techniques with respect to your current research plans.
Wed. Jan 19 Institutional Theories of Markets and Transactions
Williamson, O. Economic Institutions of Capitalism. New York: Free Press,
1985, pp. 43-67.
Williamson, O. “Transaction Cost Economics: The Governance of
Contractual Relations,” Journal of Law and Economics 22: 233-61
(1979).
Young, O. International Governance: Protecting the
Environment in a Stateless
Society, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1994, Chs. 4 and 6.
Q.11 Williamson describes three general forms of contracting. What are they? Which one most accurately describes the agreements between participants in community-supported agriculture?
Q.12 Williamson writes, “The criterion for organizing commercial transactions is assumed to be the strictly instrumental one of cost economizing. Essentially this takes two parts: economizing on production expense and economizing on transaction costs” (1979, p. 245). Assume Williamson is commenting on the motivations of business managers. Where does this assumption leave responsibility for the achievement of other social goals, such as environmental protection? Can larger social goals be addressed within the transaction cost framework, or are other frameworks needed to get at those questions? Explain.
Q.13 Contrast Williamson’s ex ante and ex poste framework for analyzing private sector agreements with Young’s three stages of regime formation. How and why are they different? Could one be improved if it were reformed along the lines of the other? If yes, how?
Q.14 Young refers to “good” uncertainty that can help facilitate efforts to reach agreements. Do you agree with this assessment? Or does any uncertainty merely favor rich nations that have the expertise and resources to do the analyses that will minimize the uncertainty?
Q. 15 Choose a natural-resource management regime with which you are very familiar. (It doesn’t have to be international.) Which of the aspects of effectiveness presented by Young are most important when evaluating the regime? Explain how you would study the most important aspect.
Mon. Jan 24 Scale, Sustainability, and Ecosystem Services
Daly, H. Beyond Growth. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996, Chs. 1 and 2.
Costanza, R., and Folke, C. “Valuing Ecosystem Services with Efficiency,
Fairness, and Sustainability as Goals,” in Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Ed.: G. Daily, Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Hanley, N., Shogren, J., and White,
B. Introduction to Environmental
Economics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Ch. 6.
Q. 16 Daly presents the three categories of scale, allocation, and distribution as key to economic analysis. Define these and comment on whether you consider the categories to be distinct from each other. How do they related to intra- and inter-generational equity? Contrast with Costanza and Folke’s efficiency, fairness, and sustainability criteria.
Q. 17 Compare Daly’s conception of the macro-economy’s relationship with the ecosphere with Plater et al., on p. 57.
Q. 18 Summarize the dilemmas raised in both defining and measuring sustainability, as presented by Hanley et al.
Wed. Jan 26
Mon. Jan 31
Wed. Feb 2
For this part, each class period consists of (1) Weixin Cheng gives a short lecture or leads discussion summarizing key concepts, theories, and issues of current debate on the particular topic (~45 minutes); (2) Break (10 minutes); (3) general discussion (30 minutes); (4) In-class exercises (20 minutes). One writing assignment is given below:
Writing Assignment
for Part 2:
A. Answer one question out of the five given below, assuming that these questions are for your preliminary qualification exam. The length of your answer to each question is expected to be approximately 4 pages of single-sided, double-spaced, letter size paper using 12 point font and one inch margins. This assignment is due on March 7.
(1) How would you define the issue of human domination of the environment at the ecosystem level, at the biome level, and at the biosphere level? Why does or does not this issue has any relevance to your own research interest and current thinking?
(2) Can you concisely describe the issue of human disturbances to the atmosphere of the planet Earth assuming that you have been assigned the task of assessing such issue in terms of scientific facts, uncertainties, and probable consequences for a decision-making body?
(3) What linkages may you draw between our scientific understanding of soil formation processes and decision-making of land uses?
(4) Please illustrate the magnitude of human impacts on global biogeochemical processes using our current understanding of the global carbon cycle and the global nitrogen cycle.
(5) Please write a short essay on the issue of sustainability at the biosphere level.
Mon Feb 7 Human Domination of the Biosphere and a Primer of Modeling
Key concepts:
1. Human Domination of the Environment
2. Laws of Thermodynamics
3. Biogeochemical Cycles and Compartment Models
4. Turnover time, residence time
Readings:
Required:
1. Vitousek, P. M. et al. 1997. Human Domination of Earth's Ecosystems, Science, 25 July, 277:494.
2. Jacobson et al. 2000. Chapter 4 & 5.
Questions for discussion:
1. Compare and contrast the view of conquering nature with the conclusion given by Vitousek et al.
2. What is or is not compartmental model good for?
3. Why many biogeochemical studies often use the notion of cycling?
4. What are the differences between forward modeling and inverse modeling?
5. How isotope effects have been used in studying biogeochemical cycles?
Exercises: Questions at the end of the Chapter 4 of Jacobson et al 2000
Wed. Feb 9 Understanding Planet Earth-I: The Atmosphere
Key concepts:
1. "Greenhouse Effect" and "Greenhouse Gases
2. Aerosols
3. Deposition
4. Ozone
Readings:
Required:
(1) Akimoto H. 2003. State of the Planet: Global air quality and pollution, Science 302:1716-1719;
(2) IPCC Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis--Chapter 1 & 2
Recommended: Jacobson et al. 2000. Chapter 7
Questions for discussion:
(6) Why do different people perceive the connection between "human-enhanced greenhouse effect" and global warming differently?
(7) Why do we need to consider ozone in the stratosphere separately from ozone in the troposphere?
(8) Do you see any relevant aspects of your own research to the understanding of the atmosphere?
Exercises: Units of energy conversions and the energy balance of the Planet Earth (see Figure 1.2 in IPCC Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis--Chapter 1)
Mon. Feb 14 Understanding Planet Earth-II: The Lithosphere
Key concepts:
1. Plate Tectonics
2. Rock Weathering
3. Watershed Processes
4. Soil Formation
Readings:
Required:
(1) Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry: Chapter 6;
(2) Shaver et al. 2000. Global warming and terrestrial ecosystems: A conceptual framework for analysis. BioScience 50(10):871-882.
(3) Stacking MA. 2003. State of the Planet: Tropical soils and food security: the next 50 years. Science 302:1356-1359.
Recommended:
(1) Jacobson et al. 2000. Chapter 8
(2) Swift, M. J. 1999. Integrating soils, systems and society. Nature and Resources, 35:12-20.
Questions for discussion:
(9) In what ways do decision-makings of land use link to tectonic processes of the crust, rates of rock weathering, rate of soil formation, and rate of nutrient regeneration?
(10) Some consider soil resources regenerative. Do you agree with it or not? Why?
(11) Why have not we used the energy from the inner earth as the main energy source for the world?
Exercises: Guessing potential effects of climate change on nutrient cycling on land using Figure 6.20 (Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry: Chapter 6).
Wed. Feb 16 Understanding
Planet Earth-III: The Hydrosphere
Key concepts:
The global hydrologic cycle
Functions of water at different scales
Feedback and interactions between water and other components of the biosphere
Readings:
Required:
(1) Gleick PH. 2003. State of the Planet: Global freshwater resources: soft-path solutions for the 21st century. Science 302:1524-1527.
(2) Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry: Chapter 7, 8 & 9;
Recommended:
(1) IPCC Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis--Chapter 11
(3) Jacobson et al. 2000. Chapter 6: Water and the hydrosphere.
Questions for discussion:
(12) Do you know the rough proportion of the fresh water cycle on land goes through root uptake and transpiration? What does that proportion imply to humanity?
(13) Are there interactions and feedbacks between global warming and alterations of the hydrologic cycle?
Exercises: Can you explain the causal relationship shown in Figure 8.3 (Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. page 269)?
Wed. Feb 23 Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology I: Primary Production
Key concepts:
1. Water use efficiency
2. Nutrient use efficiency
3. Carbon use efficiency
Readings:
Required:
(1) Chapin, Matson & Mooney 2002. Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology, Chapters 5 & 6.
(2) Odum EP 1969. The strategy of ecosystem development. Science164:262-270.(Also in the Classic Papers Collection by Real and Brown)
(3)
Waring RH, Landsberg JJ,
Williams M 1998. Net primary production of forests: a constant fraction of
gross primary production? Tree Physiology, 18, 129–134.
(4) C. A. Maier, TJ. Albaugh, H.L Allen, PM. Dougherty. 2004. Respiratory carbon use and carbon storage in mid-rotation loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations: The effect of site resources on the stand carbon balance. Global Change Biology, 10:1335-1350.
Suggested: (1) Waring RH, Landsberg JJ, Williams M 1998. Net primary production of forests: a constant fraction of gross primary production? Tree Physiology, 18, 129–134. (2) Cheng et al. 2000. An invariant NPP:GPP ratio? Global Change Biology, 6:931-941.
Questions for discussion:
(14) What kind of plants should be most suitable for bio-fuel production?
(15) Why is it important to know whether NPP:GPP ratio is invariant?
Exercises: If a plant community exhibits exponential growth through time, will the GPP:NPP ratio be a constant during this time? Can you guess what will happen to its GPP:NPP ratio if it follows a logistic growth model?
Mon. Feb 28 Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology II: Trophic interactions and Diversity
Key concepts:
1. Bottom-up controls and top-down controls
2. Ecological efficiencies
3. Keystone species and functional types
4. Connell’s intermediate disturbance hypothesis
Readings:
Required:
(1) Chapin, Matson & Mooney 2002. Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology, Chapters 11 & 12.
(2) Hairston N.G., F. E. Smith and L. B. Slobodkin. 1960. Community structure, population control, and competition. American Naturalist XCIV: 421-425. (also in Classic Papers collection by Real and Brown)
(3) Connell JH 1978. Diversity in tropic al rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302-1310.
Suggested: Tilman et al. 1997. The influence of functional diversity and composition on ecosystem processes. Science 277: 1300-1302.
Questions for discussion:
(16) Can you use your own words summarizing the debate about the link between diversity and stability?
(17) Is a high degree of stability for an ecosystem always desirable?
(18) How would you apply the trophic cascade concept to ecosystem conservation and agroecology?
(19) How would you apply Connell’s intermediate disturbance theory to conservation and agroecology?
Wed. Mar. 2 The
Global Carbon Cycle
Key concepts:
1. The global carbon cycle in the short-term and in geologic time scale
2. Carbon sequestration
Readings:
Required:
(1) Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry: Chapter 11.
(2) Houghton RA. 2003. Why are estimates of the terrestrial carbon balance so different? Global Change Biology 9:500-509.
(3) Post WM et al. 2004. Enhancement of carbon sequestration in US soils. BioScience 54(10) 895-908.
Suggested: Deckmyn et al. 2004. Carbon sequestration following afforestation of agricultural soils: comparing oak/beech forest to short-rotation poplar coppice combining a process and a carbon accounting model. Global Change Biology 10: 1482-1491.
Questions for discussion:
(20) As the concentration of atmospheric CO2 is increasing, what other pools of carbon will be affected? In what ways?
(21) How would you present the issue of carbon sequestration to the president of the United States if you were chosen to do so?
Exercises: Calculate turnover times of the four carbon pools (ocean, soil, plants, & atmosphere) in Figure 11.1 (Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry, page 359)
Mon. Mar 7 The
Global Cycles of N, P, & S
Key concepts:
1. Nitrogen transformations (fixation, nitrification, denitrification, etc.)
2. P-fixation
3. Redfield Ratio
Readings:
Required:
(1) Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry: Chapter 12 & 13.
(2) Hollowway JM, Dahlgren RA. 2002. Nitrogen in rock: Occurrences and biogeochemical implications. Global biogeochemical Cycles V16, DOI:10.1029/2002GB001862.
(3) Teitelbaum MS 1975. Relevance of demographic transition theory for developing countries. Science 188:420-425.
Suggested: Lickens, G. E. and F. H. Bormann. 1995. Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem, 2nd edition. Springer-Verlag.
Questions for discussion:
(22) Based on the fact that many nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg, etc.) come from rock weathering and get leached out of the land system through time, Why have not we seen any dead-end systems that totally run out of these nutrients?
(23) What will happen to the global nitrogen cycle if the same amount of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers will be used worldwide for the next thousand years?
(24) Is there a carrying capacity for the whole living world at the biosphere level? Is there a carrying capacity for the population of humans at the level of the planet earth?
(25) What will happen if we humans overshoot the carrying capacity if it exists as a hard limit?
Exercises: Calculate turnover times of all active N pools shown in Figure 12.2 (Schlesinger, W. H. 1997. Biogeochemistry, page 386), then infer what if climate change enhances denitrification rates both on land and in oceans.
FINAL 201B Integrative
Sessions
March 9 (Wednesday) and March 14 (Monday)
Closing to the end of this two-quarter sequence, now you have an opportunity to showcase interdisciplinary processes and to synthesize what you have learned by giving a short (18 minutes) presentation to the whole class. Your presentation should exemplify interdisciplinary approaches and knowledge integration relevant to environmental studies. The actual topic of your presentation is your own choice. There will be approximately five minutes of discussion after each presentation.