Trade-Offs Among Ecosystem Services and Disservices on a Florida Ranch

On the Ground We consider the trade-offs among “good” ecosystem services and “bad” ecosystem disservices attributable to past and current ranchland management and how such trade-offs depend on analysis at the scale of the ranch, the region, or the Earth. We focus on trade-offs in ecosystem services at one working ranch—Buck Island Ranch, location of the MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center, lying in the headwaters of Florida's Everglades—and managed for 25 years as a full-scale cow–calf operation by Archbold Biological Station, one of the world's preeminent ecological research centers. The synthesis of how this ranch functions as an ecosystem (species, habitats, nutrient dynamics, hydrology, etc.) is set in the context of financial realities and economic viability. We develop a conceptual model to visualize trade-offs among ecosystem services and disservices, and provide insight into what it takes to be sustainable ecologically and economically.

[1]  John B. Wright,et al.  Ecological services to and from rangelands of the United States , 2007 .

[2]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Nitrogen Cycling in Seasonal Wetlands in Subtropical Cattle Pastures , 2007 .

[3]  D. Catlin,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL CORRELATES OF NESTING SUCCESS IN RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS , 2007 .

[4]  David H. Anderson,et al.  Controls on fish distribution and abundance in temporary wetlands , 2002 .

[5]  J. Barnett,et al.  Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation , 2012 .

[6]  S. Humphrey,et al.  Conservation Value of Private Lands for Crested Caracaras in Florida , 2001 .

[7]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Season of fire and nutrient enrichment affect plant community dynamics in subtropical semi-natural grasslands released from agriculture , 2013 .

[8]  G. W. Tanner,et al.  Effects of Cattle Stocking Rates on Nematode Communities in South Florida , 2007 .

[9]  T. Ricketts,et al.  Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture , 2007 .

[10]  F. M. Roka,et al.  Integrating Ranch Forage Production, Cattle Performance, and Economics in Ranch Management Systems for Southern Florida , 2007 .

[11]  J. Obeysekera,et al.  Landscapes and Hydrology of the Predrainage Everglades , 2011 .

[12]  D. Nickerson,et al.  Management intensity affects the relationship between non-native and native species in subtropical wetlands , 2011 .

[13]  V. Engel.  Landscapes and Hydrology of the Predrainage Everglades , 2012, Wetlands.

[14]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Conceptual Model for Integrating Ecological and Economic Sustainability in Agroecosystems: An Example from Subtropical Grazing Lands , 2009 .

[15]  F. DeClerck,et al.  Understanding Spatiotemporal Lags in Ecosystem Services to Improve Incentives , 2013 .

[16]  Karen E. Stephenson.  Distribution of Grasslands in 19th Century Florida , 2011 .

[17]  G. W. Tanner,et al.  Avian Community Response to Grazing Intensity on Monoculture and Mixed Florida Pastures , 2010 .

[18]  Millenium Ecosystem Assessment.  Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis , 2005 .

[19]  W. Reid,et al.  Millennium Ecosystem Assessment , 2005 .

[20]  R. Follett,et al.  Short-term effects of grazing intensity and nitrogen fertilization on soil organic carbon pools under perennial grass pastures in the southeastern USA , 2013 .

[21]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Refuge effects of Juncus effusus in grazed, subtropical wetland plant communities , 2011, Plant Ecology.

[22]  D. Childers,et al.  Influence of agricultural upland habitat type on larval anuran assemblages in seasonally inundated wetlands , 2009, Wetlands.

[23]  K. Campbell,et al.  Soil Phosphorus, Cattle Stocking Rates, and Water Quality in Subtropical Pastures in Florida, USA , 2007 .

[24]  Grady Mcwhiney,et al.  Florida Cowman: A History of Florida Cattle Raising , 1978 .

[25]  W. Orem,et al.  Fertilizer-Derived Uranium and Sulfur in Rangeland Soil and Runoff: A Case Study in Central Florida , 2006 .

[26]  M. Deyrup,et al.  Invertebrate Diet of Breeding and Nonbreeding Crested Caracaras (Caracara cheriway) in Florida , 2008 .

[27]  Jeffrey G. Hiscock,et al.  Phosphorus budget—land use relationships for the northern Lake Okeechobee watershed, Florida , 2003 .

[28]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Paying for environmental services from agricultural lands: an example from the northern Everglades , 2009 .

[29]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Nutrient enrichment of wetland vegetation and sediments in subtropical pastures , 2005 .

[30]  A. Steinman,et al.  Influence of cattle grazing and pasture land use on macroinvertebrate communities in freshwater wetlands , 2003, Wetlands.

[31]  Roger A. Pielke,et al.  The impact of anthropogenic land-cover change on the Florida Peninsula Sea Breezes and warm season sensible weather , 2004 .

[32]  J. Capinera,et al.  Habitat Associations of Grasshoppers at the Macarthur Agro-Ecology Research Center, Lake Placid, Florida , 1997 .

[33]  P. Bohlen,et al.  Land-use and isolation interact to affect wetland plant assemblages , 2010 .