VALUES & ETHICS BASICS
A species is protected even though it has no known benefit to humans; this reflects value based on existence alone.
What is intrinsic value?
Donating to protect a park you may never visit, partly for future generations, reflects these two types of nonuse value.
What are existence value and bequest value?
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment grouped ecosystem services into these four broad categories.
What are supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural services?
Biosphere 2 struggled early on due to rising levels of this gas and falling levels of this essential gas.
What are carbon dioxide and oxygen?
When a company pollutes but does not pay for the damage, this type of cost is being imposed on society.
What is an externality?
A forest reduces downstream flooding without being directly harvested or visited; this is what type of instrumental value?
What is indirect use value?
A fishing tradition that strengthens identity, teaches customs, and builds community reflects what type of relational value?
What is personal and cultural identity?
Naturally filtered drinking water supplied to New York City is an example of which category of ecosystem service?
What is a regulating service?
The cancer drug Taxol was first derived from this slow-growing tree species, creating supply challenges.
What is the Pacific yew tree?
Overfishing occurs because individuals act in their own interest when using shared resources; this is known as what?
What is the tragedy of the commons?
True or False: Conservation science can eliminate bias entirely because it follows the scientific method.
What is false?
The idea that humans are biologically predisposed to connect with nature is known by this term.
What is biophilia?
True or False: Processes like primary production are always beneficial to humans in every ecological context.
What is false?
PCR depends on this heat-stable enzyme originally found in bacteria from hot springs.
What is Taq polymerase?
Comparing conservation plans based on cost per species protected is an example of this analysis method.
What is cost-effectiveness analysis?
These are shaped by culture, religion, or profession and guide acceptable behavior, unlike personal moral beliefs.
What are ethics?
This type of well-being comes from meaning and purpose in life, often strengthened through connections with nature.
What is eudaimonic happiness?
When two predator species together are more effective than either alone (because they limit prey escape) this type of interaction is occurring.
What are positive interactions (facilitation)?
Deforestation in this region contributed to severe flooding in China’s Yangtze River basin.
What is the southeast Tibetan Plateau?
This method converts all costs and benefits into monetary terms to compare policies.
What is cost-benefit analysis?
A shift in concern over animal suffering (rather than population-level effects) helped drive policy changes like fox hunting bans; this reflects what ethical view?
What is individualistic ethics?
In 1986, leaders from multiple religions met in this Italian town to support conservation efforts.
What is Assisi?
When biodiversity stabilizes ecosystem performance because species respond differently to environmental change, this concept is illustrated.
What is the portfolio effect?
The difference in damage between these two hurricanes demonstrated the protective role of intact wetlands.
What are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy?
When multiple stakeholders weigh economic, ecological, and social factors without reducing them all to dollars, this tool is used.
What is multicriteria decision analysis?