Ecosystem Management, Environmental Values and Lake Issyk-Kul

Abstract

The concept of an ecosystem entered ecology when Tansley [1] coined the phrase to emphasize the cohesion of the physical and biological characteristics of the earth’s biota. While the term was new, however, the idea was not. Limnologists, in particular, had been treating lakes and rivers from an ecosystem perspective for decades prior to this [2] [3]. In more recent times, the ecosystem concept has been making its way from the science of ecology proper into the arena of environmental policy. Ecosystem management has emerged as the strategy of choice among a broad range of environmental decision-makers. Here, as well, the biology of fresh waters has led the way. Since at least 1972, when the United States passed the Clean Water Act calling for restoration of the biological integrity of the nation’s lakes and streams, environmental managers have self-consciously been managing these water resources from an ecosystem perspective.