Topics Overview

Human Quality of Life

The health of the Puget Sound ecosystem and its ability to support a growing human population is highly influenced by complex interactions between human and ecological processes. The drivers of ecosystem change include such diverse factors as patterns of human population growth, local and global markets and economies, and climate change; and they both interact and affect different components of the ecosystem simultaneously -- influencing the ways humans plan their communities and the range of other species that are supported in those areas, for example. Characterizing these complex interactions is critical for assessing the possible impacts of human activities and the ecosystem responses to alternative management approaches. Studying coupled human/natural systems requires us to recognize the reciprocal interactions and feedback—effects of humans on the environment and effects of the environmental change on human well being.

Sources:

Sound Science: Synthesizing ecological and socioeconomic information about the Puget Sound ecosystem. Published 2007. Used by permission.

http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/shared/sound_science/documents/sound_science_finalweb.pdf

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book

Threats: Impacts of Natural Events and Human Activities on the Ecosystem

Editors

Scott F. Pearson1, Nathalie Hamel2, Steven Walters3, and John Marzluff3

Section Authors

Introduction: Scott F. Pearson1, Steven Walters3, and Nathalie Hamel2
Climate Change: Heather Cornell3
Residential, Commercial and Industrial Development: Steven Walters3
Shoreline Modification: Steven Walters3
Pollution: James West4
Invasive and Non-native Species: Heather Cornell3
Ecosystem Models and Their Evaluation: Scott F. Pearson1 and Steven Walters3
Conclusion: All authors contributed

 

Water Quantity , Water Quality , Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Species and Food Webs , Protect and Restore Habitat , Puget Sound Partnership Vital Signs , Ecosystem-Based Management
Climate Change, Invasive Species, Social and Economic Sciences

Section 5. Linking Biophysical and HWB Indicators

In this last section, we briefly present a framework for establishing connections between potential indicators of ecosystem biophysical conditions and human well-being in Puget Sound. The framework also provides a way of characterizing existing and future studies and data that are relevant to an element of the set of potential HWB indicators.

Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management
Social and Economic Sciences

Section 4. The Determinants of Human Well-being

In this section, we consider how research on HWB and its determinants can illuminate the problem of selecting HWB indicators for ecosystem-based management. The focus is on methods that can and have been used to identify economic, social, and sometimes environmental factors that are correlated with and therefore likely to determine (in part) human well-being. These methods provide a way of assessing the connections between ecological and human systems, using human well-being as the metric by which to judge the strength of those links. The methods described below do not span the full set of potential ways of making such an assessment. In later versions of this document, the intent is to add, where warranted, other approaches.

Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management
Social and Economic Sciences

Section 3. The Nature of Human Well-being

Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management
Social and Economic Sciences

Section 3. An Approach to Selecting Ecosystem Indicators for Puget Sound

1. Background

What are ecosystem indicators and why are they useful?

Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management

Ecosystem-Based Management: Understanding Future and Desired System States

Phillip S. Levin1, Andy James2, Jessi Kershner3, Sandra O’Neill1, Tessa Francis1, Jameal Samhouri1, Chris Harvey1, Michael T. Brett2, and Daniel Schindler3

 
1 NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA.
2 University of Washington, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3 University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Seattle Washington
Water Quantity , Water Quality , Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Species and Food Webs , Protect and Restore Habitat , Puget Sound Partnership Vital Signs , Ecosystem-Based Management

topical_article

Featured report— 2013 Health Impact Assessment: Proposed Cleanup Plan for the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site

Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life
Tribes, Social and Economic Sciences

Extended abstract— Poisoning the body to nourish the soul: Prioritising health risks and impacts in a Native American community

Juvenile Manila clams. Photo: Julie Barber

This is an extended abstract of Poisoning the body to nourish the soul: Prioritising health risks and impacts in a Native American community by Jamie L. Donatuto, Terre A. Satterfield and Robin Gregory. The full article was published in Health, Risk & Society, Vol. 13, No. 2, April 2011, 103–127. The extended abstract was prepared for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound by Jamie L. Donatuto. 

Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management
Tribes, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Social and Economic Sciences

Well-Being Indicators in the Puget Sound Basin

A summary and categorization of types of social indicators and metrics used by government and non-government agencies in the Puget Sound Basin.

Healthy Human Population , Human Quality of Life , Ecosystem-Based Management
Social and Economic Sciences

Featured report: 2012 State of Our Watersheds

State of Our Watersheds Report

The State of Our Watersheds Report is produced by the treaty tribes of western Washington, and seeks to present a comprehensive view of 20 watersheds in the Puget Sound region and the major issues that are impacting habitat.

Human Quality of Life , Species and Food Webs , Protect and Restore Habitat , Fishes , Ecosystem-Based Management, Protection Strategies, Restoration Strategies , Marine Habitat , Freshwater Habitat , Watersheds
Social and Economic Sciences, Tribes

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