2002 Volume 11 Issue 4 Pages 193-204
The development of integrated ecosystem management of tropical forests requires studies of the ecological service values and goods of these forests. Studies should begin with a review of the functional aspects of the various types of ecosystems in the target study area. New data should then be collected to create a database of ecological service values and goods. This database can be used for analyses of the inter-linkage between the different types of ecological services. Studies of highly diverse biomes such those in tropics need tools that can optimize the values of the different types of ecological services, particularly conflicting ecological services, such as biodiversity and timher production or carbon sequestration. The database will allow the development of a risk assessment program, a landscape zoning plan, and other plarming instruments that play important roles in integrated ecosystem management.
