133

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with
Human Activity
Reiichiro ISHII1*, Shoko SAKAI2*, Noboru FUJITA3,
Takao ITIOKA4 and Norio YAMAMURA5
1

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
3173-25, Showa-machi Kanazawa-ku Yokohama-city, 236-0001, Japan
2
Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University
2 Hirano, Otsu, Shiga, 520-2113, Japan
3
Center for Restoration of Regional Nature
Koyama-horiike-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto, 603-8145, Japan
4
Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University
Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan
5
Faculty of Culture and Information Science, Doshisha University
1-3, Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe-shi, Kyoto, 610-0394, Japan*e-mail: r.ishii@jamstec.go.jp, shokosakai@ecology.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Abstract
Most ecosystems on the planet have become seriously degraded as a result of human activities. To understand and find ways of mitigating the problems arising from such degradation, we conducted a project called“Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks under Human Activity.” In this project we introduced theconcept of an “Ecosystem Network” to cope with the complexity of ecosystems, human societies and theinteractions between them. For our case studies, we addressed two environmental problems under contrasting
ecological settings: degradation of pastures in the Central Asian nation of Mongolia, and loss of tropicalrainforests in the Southeast Asian region of Sarawak, Malaysia. By comparing these case studies, we foundthat the relationship between enterprises and local people differed between the Ecosystem Networks of grasslands and tropical forests. We then correlated the ecological characteristics of the ecosystems or ecological resources with the structure of the Ecosystem Network and the associated environmental problems. The analysis also revealed clear differences in how the network should be restored for mitigation of the problems.
Ecosystem degradation is ubiquitous today, and a solution is needed urgently. The concept of the Ecosystem
Network employed in this project can be applied to other problems associated with managing ecologicalresources.
Key words: Ecosystem Network, ecosystem productivity, nomadic pastoralism, tropical rainforest,social-ecological system

1. Introduction
Most ecosystems on the planet have become seriously
degraded due to human activities and are now in a criticalcondition. Various approaches have been developed todeal with social–ecological systems, to understand environmental problems, and to explore better ways to makeboth ecosystems and human societies sustainable. However, we still lack a clear perspective of such problems,due in part to the complexity and diversity of ecosystems
and human societies. In order to cope with this complexity and diversity, we launched a project called “Collapse
and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks under Human
Activity” (2007–2012, endorsed by the Global Land
Global Environmental Research
18/2014: 133-143
printed in Japan

Project) at the Research Institute for Humanity andNature, Japan. The goals of this project are to promote
understanding of the environmental problems associatedwith managing ecological resources and to contribute totheir solution using the Ecosystem Network concept(Yamamura, 2013).
The Ecosystem Network has a nested structure, involving interactions between and within subsystems,
including human societies (Fig. 1). Most terrestrial ecosystems affected by human activities are composed of amosaic of different subsystems (e.g., primary forests,
secondary forests, or swidden field areas). The subsystems interact with each other through material flows andthe dispersal of organisms. On the other hand, we identify©2014 AIRIES134

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different actors in a human society within the Ecosystem
Network and regard human activities as part of theinteractions within the Ecosystem Network. Some actors
do not directly interact with the ecosystem but do soindirectly, via other actors.
In this paper, we give an outline of the project andpresent its main conclusions. The project can be regarded
as a study of social–ecological systems (Ostrom, 2009),
and it pays attention in particular to the interactions
among different subsystems and various actors withinsociety. By analyzing and integrating the case studies
described below, we establish a theoretical framework
for the Ecosystem Network, which is expected to contribute to the understanding and management of otherecosystems and ecological resources.
GlobaleconomyHuman society
NGOs

Government

Localsociety

Enterprises

SwiddenfieldsPrimary
forests

Oil palm
plantations

Ecosystem Secondary
forests

ClimatechangeFig. 1 An example of an Ecosystem Network. The ecosystem
includes subsystems such as a primary forest and an oilpalm plantation, which are modified or managed by different human activities. Some actors interact directly with
subsystems, whereas others affect ecosystems indirectly
via other actors.

2. Study Areas and Methods
In this project, we addressed two tangible environmental problems in contrasting ecological settings:
grasslands in Mongolia as a model case in Central Asiaand tropical rainforests in Sarawak, Malaysia as one inSoutheast Asia (Table 1, Fig. 2). In both study areas,terrestrial ecosystems were significantly affected bysurging Asian economies. Nevertheless, many people
were still highly dependent on natural ecosystems, thedestruction of which directly resulted in dramaticchanges in their lives. Meanwhile, ecological characteristics – such as the regeneration time of vegetation andthe distribution of biomass within the ecosystems –differed greatly between the grassland and tropical forest
study sites.
In Mongolia, we focused on the degradation ofgrasslands used as pastures. For thousands of years,
many people in Mongolia have lived as nomadic herders
on the grasslands. In recent decades, however, the number of livestock – especially goats for the export of cashmere – has increased rapidly (Maekawa, 2013), causing
degradation of pastures and hindering sustainable
Table 1 Ecological characteristics of grasslands in Mongolia andrainforests in Sarawak. Data sources: Chave et al. (2008),
Fujita et al. (2009), Fujita et al. (2013) and Roubik et al.
(2005).
Grasslands inMongolia

Rainforests inSarawakDominant
vegetation
Species richnessof plants

Perennial herbs

Trees~30 spp.

~1000 spp.

Productivity~1 Mg/ha·yr~20 Mg/ha·yr

Regeneration timeof vegetation~1 years~250 years

Biomass

Low (~1 Mg/ha)

High (~500 Mg/ha)

Spatial variationin biomass
Temporalvariation inbiomass

High

Low

High

Low

Fig. 2 Vegetation in a grassland in Mongolia (left) and a tropical rainforest in Sarawak, Malaysia (right).

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks

nomadism (Konagaya & Maekawa, 2013).
In Sarawak, we focused on the loss and degradation offorests. Local ecosystems have undergone dramaticchanges during the last 100 years: land use has shiftedfrom small-scale agriculture by indigenous people tologging of natural forests as a source of timber for export,
and then to the development of oil-palm plantations(Ichikawa, 2007). The expansion of these plantations
has brought about a sharp decline in biodiversity(Kishimoto-Yamada et al., 2011) and ecosystem components essential to the livelihoods of indigenous people(Sakai, 2009).
We first proposed hypothetical Ecosystem Network
structures for Mongolian grasslands and tropical forests
in Sarawak, and then confirmed and evaluated these links
through field surveys, remote sensing, literature surveys
and modeling. The confirmed structure of the Ecosystem
Network provided insight into the factors that cause andaccelerate environmental problems and the barriers totheir resolution in each study area. By comparing the casestudies, we then correlated the ecological characteristicsof the ecosystems or ecological resources with the structure of the Ecosystem Network. This correlation served
as a basis for further generalization at the conclusion of
the project.

3. The Grassland Ecosystem Network in
Mongolia
3.1 Characteristics of the natural ecosystems
Mongolia is a landlocked country on a plateau in theEurasian continent. Much of the country receives limited
annual rainfall of approximately 300 mm or less, andconsists of steppes characterized by grassland plains
lacking large trees, apart from those near rivers and lakes.
Grasslands cover about 80% of the land, although thevegetation varies greatly along the north–south gradientof precipitation, and large evergreen or deciduous conifer
forests (i.e., taiga) develop in the relatively wet north(Fujita & Amartuvshin, 2013; Ishii & Fujita, 2013). The
dominant grassland plants are perennial herbs with shallow roots reaching approximately 20 cm depth. Their
growth is severely limited by precipitation. Aboveground parts of the plants die down in winter andreemerge the following spring, using resources stored in
the underground parts. However, shrubs with deep rootsof up to 1 m, such as Caragana (Leguminosae), can utilize water in deep soil, and their growth is not limited bywater availability to the extent that it is for shallowrooted herbs. Such shrubs stabilize fluctuations of bothabove-ground and underground biomass arising fromgrazing and precipitation (Satoh et al., 2013). In thenorthern part of Mongolia there exist deciduous larch
forests that have even higher water retention ability thanshrubs, and thereby enhance and stabilize the primary
production of the grassland by supplying water (Ishii &Fujita, 2013).

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3.2 Impacts of human activities
Among the Mongolian population of 2.7 million,
about 40% are herders who depend on the grassland
ecosystem. In traditional Mongolian nomadic pastoralism, they settle in a base around a yurt (“ger”), theirmobile residence, and put their livestock out to grazewithin a range determined by the number of animals andthe condition of the pasture. They move the base fromseason to season, usually following a regular route(Nachinshonhor & Largalsaikhan, 2013). Nomadic
pastoralism has been conducted sustainably in Mongolia
for more than 2000 years, which suggests that the increase in degraded pastures, unsuitable for grazing, is a
recent phenomenon. Short-term grazing below a certain
intensity does not cause long-term damage to the pasture,and can even increase productivity (Fujita et al., 2009,2013). However, excessive grazing pressure over thelong term is one cause of pasture degradation, as it depletes the underground biomass stored by plants andinhibits re-growth after grazing. In this case, the pastureusually recovers if grazing is prevented there for a certain
period. However, if the pasture continues to be grazed
further, the resulting alkalization of the soil leads todominance of non-fodder plant species and further delays
the recovery of the pasture. Forest fires, deforestation due
to illegal logging, and failure of regeneration due tograzing damage (Tsogtbaatar, 2013) may also contributeto or accelerate degradation, since forests improve waterconditions of nearby grasslands, as explained above(Ishii & Fujita, 2013).
Batjargal and Batjargal (2013) have suggested that
global climate change is also affecting the condition ofMongolian grasslands. Increased temperatures do notnecessarily have negative effects on pastoralism inMongolia, where long, cold winters suppress plant
growth, but it may reduce humidity and thus plant
productivity if warming is not accompanied by increased
precipitation. One observed trend is reduced precipitation
and an extended summer dry season in some areas(Batjargal & Batjargal, 2013). If the climate changes
further toward drier conditions, it could lead to reduced
plant productivity and watering places for animals, and a
decline in livestock productivity, although it is unclear
whether this will be a long-lasting trend related to global
climate change.
3.3 Social and historical factors related topastoralism
While the household was the basic unit of management in traditional Mongolian pastoralism, institutions
and customs of mutual assistance such as Khot-ail, asmall community of households, existed to cope with thesevere climate and make pastoralists’ livelihood morestable and efficient. However, when Mongolia adopted
socialism in 1924, the government started structuring theherders’ organizations. To promote collectivization ofagriculture, the government established Negdel (pastoral
cooperatives). All the herders were organized into thelower groups of the regional Negdel and regarded as paid

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laborers to perform work allocated for livestock production. Under this system, animal numbers remained small.
There was little incentive for herders to increase animal
numbers, as it did not lead to higher incomes (Konagaya& Maekawa, 2013).
In 1992, Mongolia changed its name from The
Mongolian People's Republic to Mongolia, and introduced a multi-party system and market economy. As aresult, all livestock previously owned by the state were
distributed to herders as private property, and it became
necessary for herders to manage pastoralism themselves
without depending on a salary provided by the state(Maekawa, 2013). Therefore, herders increased their
number of animals and/or the proportion of goats for
production of cashmere, which did not require good access to the market and was most profitable in remoteareas. In addition, some herders migrated to urban areasor along main roads, where prices for livestock products
were high. Extremely severe winter weather (“Dzud”),
which can kill large numbers of animals, is one of the
primary threats to herders. After the breakup of the
Negdel system, which stockpiled animal feedstuffs in
preparation for Dzud, herders had to cope with Dzudindividually, resulting in greater losses than during
previous Dzud events.
One of the most important changes in government
policy related to nomadic pastoralism after socialism has
been land privatization, which has generally been supported by both environmentalists and developmentalists
in the international community. Land privatization
started in the vicinity of the capital and soon became
conspicuous inside and around Ulaanbaatar (Tsutsumida
et al., 2013), with people immigrating from the countryside accounting for a large proportion of it. Thus, byenhancing urban sprawl, the new policy caused various

Social services
in the capital

Inaccessibility

Economicdevelopment

3.4 Mechanism for the degradation of grasslands
Although the increase in goats for cashmere export
has been regarded as the primary cause of pasturedegradation, our results suggest that the distribution of
livestock and decrease in mobility of nomadic herding
are the primary factors of importance in pasturedegradation (Fig. 3). The majority of the population ofMongolia is concentrated in the capital, where the priceof livestock products is notably higher than in other areasof Mongolia. For this reason, many herders havemigrated to areas surrounding the capital and along main
roads to the capital (Saizen et al., 2010). As a result,mismatches between the productivity of the grasslands
and distribution of livestock have occurred. In addition,
as stated above, land privatization has further accelerated
settlement of the herders (Kamimura, 2013) and exacerbated overgrazing, since herders cannot migrate to better
grasslands during years with poor grass growth. A
simulation model based on ecological and social dataobtained mainly through our project’s studies demonstrated that in an unpredictable environment, nomadic
pastoralism is more sustainable and profitable than asettled lifestyle (S. Kato, 2014).
According to an economic analysis using a projection
model (Kusano, 2013), the effect of fluctuations in theprice of cashmere in the global market is not significant.
Therefore, controlling the price of cashmere and limiting
cashmere trade in the country would not be effective for
reducing the number of goats.

Herders

Government(policy)Land
privatization

urban problems. The most significant effect of land
privatization on nomadic pastoralism has been reduced
mobility and resultant degradation of pastures around thecapital, which is evident even in satellite images (Sakai
et al., 2013).

Links we observed closely

Decreased
mobility

Important links

Concentrationof population
around UB

Concentrationof livestock

Ecosystem

Large pricedifferences inanimal products

Increasedgoat population

Large income
differences

Increase of
livestock

Development(agriculture,mining, etc.)

Livestockdamagefrom Dzud

Hypothesized, but notimportant

Deforestation

Degradation of
pastures
Depletion ofundergroundwater

Decreased
precipitation

Globaleconomy andenterprises

Foreigninvestment

Price ofcashmere

Global climatechangeFig. 3 Mechanism of the degradation of pastures in Mongolia. Line thickness indicates
relative significance of the factor (box at the base of the arrow) in the phenomenon(box at the end of the arrow).

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks

4. The Ecosystem Network of Tropical Forests
in Sarawak
4.1 Characteristics of natural ecosystems
The state of Sarawak, in Malaysia, is situated in thenorthwestern part of the island of Borneo, or immediately
north of the equator. It has a humid tropical climate
without distinct dry seasons, and most parts of the state
receive annual precipitation of 3,000 mm or more. The
original vegetation is mixed dipterocarp forests, dominated by trees of the family Dipterocarpaceae. Lowland
dipterocarp forests in this region have the highest level of
species diversity of tropical forests, and are recognized asa global biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000). The
primary productivity of plants here is among the highest
on Earth, at about 20 Mg ha-1 yr-1 (Chave et al., 2008).
The photosynthesis products accumulate as a huge
aboveground biomass in trees. The forest canopy, structured by large trees of the family Dipterocarpaceae andother families, supports the coexistence of other organisms with various ecological characteristics by providing
complex habitats and resources (e.g., Tanaka & Itioka,
2011; Tanaka et al., 2012) and maintains complex
interactions among species and different ecological processes (Hyodo et al., 2010).
4.2 Impacts of human activities
The population of Sarawak is around 2.4 million,
comprising Chinese (24%), who immigrated during thepast two centuries; Malay and Melanau, who populate theurban and coastal areas (30%); and Iban and otherminority indigenous people, who live in the interior partsof the state in close association with forests (40%; hereafter referred to as “indigenous” groups).
The forests have served as a basis for the life andculture of the indigenous people (e.g., Y. Kato, 2014),
who utilize forests for swidden agriculture, gathering
forest products and hunting. In traditional swidden
agriculture, forests are cut and burned every one- to several decades, then rice and root crops are cultivated forthe first season, after which the land is abandoned toallow natural recovery. The indigenous people collectforest products for consumption and trade, or for
medicinal or ritual uses. The government recognizes theirright to use land that they cultivated before 1958, called“Native Customary Rights” (NCR), where commercial
development is limited (Ichikawa, 2010).
Commercial logging for timber export in Borneo
intensified during the 1970s. The government has
granted commercial logging rights, effective for a specified area and duration, allowing enterprises to harvest
and transport timber. Sustainable forestry practices specify that only trees larger than a certain size should be cut,and that an appropriate regrowth period should be observed before repeated logging. However, in reality, forests have been seriously degraded due to minimal recovery periods between logging cycles and inappropriate
methods of cutting and removing the logs from the forest.
After almost all areas of primary forest in Sarawak

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were lost, oil palm plantations rapidly expanded to takeadvantage of increased global demand for food andbio-ethanol uses. Since oil palm fruits need to be processed within 24 hours of harvest, plantation development started in the coastal region where there was goodaccess to main roads. The area of oil palm plantations inSarawak was estimated to reach nearly 10% of state landin 2013 (Borneo Post, 2014). Previously, development ofplantations in NCR areas was prohibited by law. Since
introduction of a new NCR land development scheme
called “Konsep Baru” (new concept), however, it has
become legal and is being strongly promoted by thegovernment (Ichikawa, 2008). In inland areas, thegovernment is encouraging planting of fast-growing trees,
mostly Acacia mangium (Leguminosae), to compensate
for a predicted decline in pulp supply from natural forests.
4.3 Social and historical factors related to loss offorests
The export of natural products has a long history inSarawak. A proportion of the agricultural products andforest resources collected by the indigenous people wasexported from Borneo, and the trade revenues supported
the Brook Dynasty, which ruled Sarawak in the 19th
century with British backing. Even today, cultivation ofexport products such as pepper and rubber are importantsources of income for the indigenous people.
The Brook Dynasty was followed by periods ofoccupation by the Japanese army and as a British colony,
after which Sarawak was officially granted independence
in 1963 and joined the Federation of Malaysia with
Malaya, Sabah, and Singapore. From this period, forest
logging intensified and became a main industry ofSarawak State, resulting in greater conflict between logging companies and the indigenous people (Hong, 1987).
Most of the harvested timbers were exported to Japan andother developed countries. The international community,
particularly international NGOs based in developed
countries, also expressed strong criticism of logging
procedures. In the late 1980s and 1990s, resistance tocommercial logging activities among the Penan, Borneo's
nomadic hunter gatherers, culminated in a series of protests and timber blockades that were publicized all over
the world through environmental NGOs. Strong international criticism compelled the Malaysian government toaddress the problem.
Historically, there have been conflicts between theindigenous people, who have used forests for a living,and enterprises, which have logged and developed forests
with the support of the governmental policy of promoting
economic development. More recently, plantation developments often encounter strong resistance from theindigenous people. Life for the indigenous people, however, is also changing as they adopt a monetary economy,
and plantation developments also have a positive side for
local people. Plantation companies may pay compensation to the village, provide access from villages to forestsand cities, and purchase agricultural products (Y. Kato,

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2014). In addition, the disadvantages of conflicts withlocal people have become more significant to enterprises
as a result of the introduction of a certification system fortimber and palm oil.
4.4 Effects of the loss of forests
The decrease and degradation of forests due to humanactivities such as swidden cultivation, logging andplantation development, inevitably result in a considerable loss of forest organisms and biodiversity. Our studies
demonstrated that a major proportion of species were
found only in primary forests, while some of the species
can be sustained in secondary forests after swidden
cultivation (Nakagawa et al., 2014, Takano et al., 2014).
In comparison, species loss is much greater when forests
are converted to oil palm plantations (e.g., Fukuda et al.,2009). In addition, the effects of primary forest loss are
not always simple. The effects strongly depend on thegroup of organisms, and they sometimes have repercussions on biodiversity in the surrounding area (Kishimoto
et al., 2013). The changes in species composition andforest structure alter biological interactions and ecosystem functions (e.g., Tokumoto et al., 2013). Theseobservations suggest that the loss of biodiversity andecosystem services following reduction of forest area do
not proceed linearly but show an abrupt decline beyond acertain point (“tipping point”). Once a majority of theforests are lost or become degraded on a large scale, andre-colonization of the organisms becomes difficult,recovery of natural forests may be impossible.
Drastic changes in land cover are considered responsible for many negative changes in the lives andsociety of indigenous peoples (Fig. 4). To investigate theIndigenous
peopleeffects of such changes quantitatively, we conductedinterview surveys in more than 90 villages in the Baramand Rajang river basins (Sakai et al., 2013). We alsocollected data on aspects of their environments; forest
cover was evaluated based on land cover maps produced
using satellite data, and the available infrastructures ofthe villages were recorded based on interviews with thevillage leaders. The data indicate that while the decreasein forest areas around the villages has not directly caused
a decrease in the population, it reduces various forest
uses such as hunting and swidden agriculture by the local
people.

5. Mitigation of Ecosystem Degradation
As we have shown above, the degradation of ecosystems differs considerably between the Mongolian grassland and Sarawak forest in the degree of damage and thus
the possible countermeasures that can be taken in eachcase.
5.1 Mongolian grasslands
The necessity of addressing the problem of pasturedegradation has received strong recognition by the
Mongolian government as well as domestic and international NGOs. However, international measures to mitigate the problem of pasture degradation based on market
mechanisms, comparable to globally recognized certification systems for forests and plantations or REDD (seebelow), are practically absent. This may be because forthe international community, ecosystem services provided by pastures are relatively minor compared withthose of tropical forests, which provide significant
Links we observed closely

Loss of culture
and knowledge
Decreased
forest use
Dilution ofhumanrelationships

Regionaldifferences
Working awayfrom home

Population
decrease

Hypothesized, but notimportant

Ecosystem
Decreasedbiodiversity
Degradation of
ecosystemfunctions
Decrease inforests

Economicdevelopment

Government(policy)

Important links

Global economy
and enterprises

Price of palm oil

Plantation
development
Deforestation

CO2 emissions

Global climatechangeFig. 4 Causes and consequences of deforestation and plantation development in Sarawak.
Line thickness indicates relative significance of the factor (box at the base of thearrow) in the phenomenon (box at the end of the arrow). In contrast with pastures in
Mongolia, effects of global climate change on Bornean forests have not gotten muchattention (but see, e.g., Kumagai & Porporato, 2012).

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks

ecosystem services such as massive carbon storage andmaintenance of extremely high biodiversity. Thus, thedifference again stems from ecological characteristics ofthe two areas.
As a countermeasure under national law against pasture degradation, land privatization has been proposed on
the basis of the idea that making owners responsible formanaging the pasture could prevent degradation. As discussed above, however, land privatization in Mongolia
could restrict the mobility of nomadic pastoralism andinevitably result in environmental degradation throughlocalized intensification (S. Kato, 2014). Policies should
therefore be carefully developed to maintain mobility.
Further, consideration is needed of other factors also
important to maintaining nomadic pastoralism as a
substantial way of living in Mongolia more than just toconserve the Mongolian grasslands. Individual households can neither achieve sustainable management of
pastures nor prepare for Dzud; some governmental or
non-governmental organizations are therefore necessary.
Today, some NGOs and other international bodies areworking to organize herders in limited areas of Mongolia(Kamimura, 2013). Protection of forests from illegal
logging, expansion of forest areas by tree planting, andprotection of shrubs from overgrazing are also key tosustainable pastoralism in Mongolia. Systematic government countermeasures to pasture degradation are needed
to maintain grasslands for sustainable pastoralism.
Mining and large-scale agricultural development will
become more important factors in the degradation of
pastures in the near future.
5.2 Sarawak tropical forests
International concern has been expressed over loss of
biodiversity and emission of CO2 due to extensive loss oftropical forests. The current international movement
toward sustainable timber harvesting includes the Forest
Certification System, which distinguishes and puts apremium on timber produced through sustainable forestry, and encourages consumers to choose certified
products. However, it is not very popular in Sarawak atpresent, partly because of the higher cost of “sustainable”
logging and also due to poor recognition in the export
market.
A certification system for oil palm production andplantations has also been implemented by the Roundtableon Sustainable Oil Palm (RSOP), established in 2004.
The RSPO is an association representing different sectorsof the palm oil industry including oil palm producers,
palm oil processors or traders, consumer goods manufacturers, environmental or nature conservation NGOs
and social or developmental NGOs. A few enterprises inSarawak have achieved certification under Accreditation
Services International appointed by the RSOP. To someextent the certification system has improved problems ofwater and soil pollution by oil palm plantations andplants and conflicts involving local people. The certification system has been the subject of criticism, however.
For example, the system does not evaluate types of139

vegetation prior to plantation development or the designof the plantation so that it can support more ecosystem
functions and greater biodiversity.
Though the certification systems for forests and palm
oil have reduced loss of ecosystem services rather thanstopping deforestation itself, other systems that function
with no loss of forests have been implemented or proposed. One such system expected to be effective in
reducing deforestation in tropical regions is Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation(REDD). REDD is an effort to create a financial value forthe carbon stored in forests, offering incentives fordeveloping countries to reduce emissions from forested
lands and to invest in low-carbon pathways to sustainable
development. Application of this system to sustainable,
productive forests has also been proposed. The system is
expected to enhance sustainable use and conservation offorests in developing countries, although designing a fairand effective system is challenging.
Some developing countries take advantage of thegenetic resources in tropical forests to press successfully
for forest conservation. In Sarawak, the Sarawak Biodiversity Center is responsible for bio-prospecting. They
investigate useful organic compounds in microorganisms,
plants and other living organisms with help fromindigenous people, who have traditional knowledge of
medicinal treatments. Although the economic returnfrom bio-prospecting may be insufficient to compensate
for the cost of conservation, considering the other advantages for developing countries, such as technology
transfer, it can act as an incentive for forest conservation.
To be sustainable, it will be essential to establish an
equitable system of payment for indigenous knowledge(Koizumi & Hattori, 2010; Onuma, 2012). The potential
benefits of bio-prospecting are likely to be lost in the
future if engineering innovations occur, thus it cannot be
regarded as a panacea for conservation.

6. Comparison of Ecosystem Networks
between Grasslands in Mongolia andTropical Forests in Sarawak
Our research project has elucidated the structure of
Ecosystem Networks leading to deterioration and collapse of ecosystems in Mongolia and Sarawak. In thissection, we synthesize our investigation of the two casestudies to obtain the implications of maintaining or
restoring Ecosystem Networks so that they continuously
support human wellbeing.
An important difference in the Ecosystem Networksof Mongolia and Sarawak is whether enterprises exploit
ecological resources directly or indirectly (Fig. 5). In
Mongolia, the grasslands are used by the local people asan ecological resource and their products are sold toenterprises which do not use the grasslands directly. Thus,
people do not compete with enterprises for the resources.
On the other hand, in Sarawak, enterprises exploit theecological resource of the forests directly. Thus, in thiscase, the local people compete with enterprises for the

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Investment in
Resource use

Grasslands in Mongolia

Tropical forests in Sarawak

Enterprises

Enterprises

Resource flow
Payment forresources

Local
peopleOther
ecosystem
services

Ecologicalresources

Local
peopleOther
ecosystem
services

Ecologicalresources

Fig. 5 Comparison of simplified Ecosystem Networks of Mongolia and Sarawak. In Mongolia, pastures are used by herders tofeed livestock, and their products are sold to the market through companies and enterprises. In Sarawak, on the other hand,timber is harvested, and oil palms are produced directly by enterprises. The arrows with dashed lines indicate potential
suppression of ecological resource use by the people due to decline in other ecosystem services provided by the local
ecosystem. Such suppression does not occur in the use by enterprises (see text for details).

same resources. Here we assume that local people andenterprises have different degrees of mobility and dependence on local ecosystems. Ecosystem deterioration
affects local people more significantly than enterprises
for two reasons. First, the local ecosystem is the only
source of ecological resources for the people, while
enterprises can get the same resources from ecosystems
in different areas if necessary. Thus local people may be
more strongly motivated to use the resource sustainably
than enterprises would. Second, in addition to ecologicalresources (i.e., provisioning ecosystem services), regulatory, supportive or cultural ecosystem services provided
by the ecosystem are also essential to the local people,
though enterprises may not depend on these services.
Reduced quality and quantity of these ecosystem services
due to overexploitation of the ecological resource could
drive people to suppress their reliance on them (Fig. 5,
arrows with dashed lines). In addition, local people cannot migrate as easily as enterprises, even if their current
environment deteriorates. In short, resource use by local
people has innate regulatory mechanisms, though these
may or may not be sufficient for sustainability, while
resource use by enterprises lacks such feedback mechanisms. We think that whether enterprises exploit ecological resources directly as in Sarawak or indirectly as inMongolia depends much on the expected costs andbenefits. The costs and benefits are mostly affected byeither or both i) the properties of the ecosystems and ii)
relationships with the local people. Our focus here is on
productivity and biomass (or resource) distribution as
important properties of ecosystems. In grasslands underrather dry and unstable climates, the resource is scatteredand unpredictable spatially and temporally owing to thelow productivity and fast turnover rate of the biomass(Table 1). Stable and sustainable production fromharvesting such resources requires rather high mobility
over a huge area, and thus is not very attractive to enterprises, because they cannot expect sufficient improvement in harvesting efficiency by increasing investment
size. Therefore, they are likely to choose to buy products
from nomadic local people who can follow the fugitive

resources more easily rather than to exploit the resources
themselves. In tropical rain forests, in contrast, biomass
production spanning more than 100 years has accumulated above the ground. This significant and evenly
distributed resource is highly attractive to enterprises,
because a huge investment, which cannot be made by
local people, produces disproportionately high profits. To
minimize costs attributed to relationships with local
people, in general, land development avoids areas people
have already been utilizing, at least in the early stages. As
the available grasslands have been used as a commons by
the people in Mongolia in the past, it would be difficultfor enterprises to join livestock industries on such common land. National lands in which local people do nothave utilization rights were developed first in Sarawak,
and development gradually started to expand, encroaching into lands for which local people did have utilizationrights (Native Customary Land).

7. Toward General Application of the
Ecosystem Network Concept to Other
Problems
We can also find these two types of Ecosystem Network structure in the utilization of other natural resources.
For example, there are emerging environmental problems
in Mongolia, where the network structure is similar tothat in Sarawak forests: in coal, gold, copper and rare
metal mines developed by foreign enterprises. Open-pit
mining inevitably destroys wide areas of grassland which
serve as pasture for local herders. As mining operations
need a large amount of water, enterprises tend to occupy
grasslands on valley floors that would otherwise beappropriate for pasture. Furthermore, they cause water
depletion and pollution in the lower reaches of valleys.
Development of agricultural fields for wheat and vegetables in Mongolian grasslands produces a similar network
structure to that of Sarawak. On the other hand, enterprises in Sarawak also purchase rubber and oil-palm
products from small farms run by local people, which
exhibit the network structure of Mongolian grasslands.

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks

The discussion above can also be applied to resource
management in aquatic systems. Overfishing in aquatic
ecosystems leads to two types of Ecosystem Network
structure. In terms of the relationships between local
people and enterprises, we find the Mongolian type incoastal fisheries, and the Sarawak type in open-sea
fisheries. The entry of enterprises to coastal fisheries
would be difficult because fishing rights have alreadybeen provided to local people on every coast whereconditions are appropriate for fisheries. On the other
hand, enterprises can exploit resources directly inopen-sea fisheries, where they rarely encounter conflicts
with local people, because local people do not have thecapital to manage large-scale open-sea fisheries. Interestingly, the opposite relationship could be discussed interms of ecosystem properties: rare and heterogeneous
biomass production in pelagic waters resembles that ofgrassland systems, while coastal zones and tropical forest
ecosystems share the features of high and constantproductivity with rich diversity.
The typological distinction of the two Ecosystem
Network structures highlighted here may help in
considering how we can mitigate problems related toecosystem degradation. One of the most important features is “negative feedback” between ecosystem resources and the users. If the users want to harvest theresources sustainably, they tend to reduce resource use, if
conditions allow, when levels of the resources drop too
low. Negative feedback control exists between theecosystem resource and its user (i.e., the herders) in the
Mongolian grassland Ecosystem Network while it does
not for the dominant users (i.e., the enterprises) in that of
the tropical forests in Sarawak. In the former case,degradation of the grasslands suppresses the extent of
their use by the local people. As long as the effect of thenegative feedback is sufficiently strong and quick, thegrassland condition and livestock density should bemaintained near a feasible equilibrium state of the system,and so this is the current condition in Mongolia. There
are two possible factors that can destabilize such a systemfrom its equilibrium. One is a highly fluctuating climate,especially precipitation. In this region precipitation affects productivity and biomass much more strongly thandoes human activity (e,g., Wang et al., 2013), to the degree that human use of grasslands can hardly be detected,
and negative feedback does not control the system. To
cope with high temporal fluctuations of precipitation, thepeople must migrate over a wider area to seek better
pastures. Therefore, the sustainability of the Mongolian
grassland ecosystem depends on mobility and would not
be compatible with private land use, where use by thepeople is confined to within their own lands. The second
destabilizing factor is the so-called tragedy of thecommons (Hardin, 1968). If each individual herder uses
common resources in a rational, self-interested manner,with no regard for others, the resource will eventually be
depleted, because the existence of competitive users
prevents him/her from leaving the resource unused.
Generally, this is known to happen where there is open

141

access to an ecosystem resource. In Mongolia, as statedabove, pastures basically provide open access to allow
herders the mobile style needed for adapting to thespatio-temporally heterogeneous grass resource. So far,neither of these factors has produced serious instability inlivestock density or the grassland condition and thus, theMongolian grassland Ecosystem Network has maintained a rather stable structure. However, if livestocknumbers increase or become rapidly more concentrated
around the capital area, both factors may soon destabilize
the system.
In the forest Ecosystem Network in Sarawak, on theother hand, there exist multiple users of forest resources,
among which the dynamics of enterprise are not regulated by negative feedback control from the resource. In
other words, a decrease in the resource does not decelerate utilization by the enterprise. Once enterprises invest
their capital in some forests, pressure for development
increases because they try to seek more profit from theinvestment already made. From our study, it was suggested that the intensity of resistance by local people
against forest development depended on how much they
were relying on the forest’s resources. Local people
would resist development by enterprises if they wereusing the rich plant and animal life in the forests as essential resources, but their resistance would become weaker
if the value of the forest and forest products to them decreased in response to development by enterprises. Thus,in the forest Ecosystem Network in Sarawak, the interactions among the resources and the users exhibit apositive feedback. Systems with positive feedback may
have alternative stable states in general, and often show arapid change from one state to another; this process isknown as a regime shift (Scheffer et al., 2001).

8. Summary
Ecosystem degradation is ubiquitous today, and asolution is needed urgently. The concept of Ecosystem
Network structures studied in this project may be usefulin coping with similar problems anywhere. In many
freshwater ecosystems, for example, the livelihoods of
local people, who have depended on ecosystem services
provided by rivers and lakes, are changing drastically as aresult of economic globalization. In marine fisheries,
Ecosystem Networks causing overfishing may differ
between deep-sea fishing and coastal fishing, as statedabove. In developed countries, there is a problem of underuse, while the problems we have referred to so far are
those of overuse. With underuse, ecosystem services
managed as a result of daily use by local people decrease.
Underuse occurs as people today depend on external
ecosystems and a monetary economy rather than on collecting and managing local ecological resources, andrural populations are shrinking. Examination and comparison of a wide range of Ecosystem Networks would
contribute to further development of the concept and thus
to finding novel means of ecosystem conservation.

142

R. ISHII et al.

Acknowledgements
Funding for this work was provided by the ResearchInstitute for Humanity and Nature (Project D-04) JSPS
KAKENHI Grant Number 30361306. We thank S. Yachi,
T. Nakashizuka, E. Wada and all other members of the
project for their support and valuable discussions andinsights.
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Reiichiro ISHII
Reiichiro ISHII is a senior scientist at the Japan
Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). He was the sub-leader of
RIHN’s research project, Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human Activity(2007-2012), for 2012, having also served as
leader of the modeling group throughout the
project period. He received his doctoral degreefrom the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University in 1999. He has
been studying theoretical ecology on species interactions under environmental change. His current topic is vegetation transition under global
climate change and human activities.

Shoko SAKAI
Shoko SAKAI is an associate professor at Center
for Ecological Research, Kyoto University. She
led RIHN’s research project, Collapse andRestoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human
Activity (2007-2012), for 2012. The project investigated social and ecological systems ingrasslands in Mongolia and tropical rainforests inSarawak, Malaysia. She started her academic
career in botany and ecology. She received her doctoral degree from the
Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University in 1999. She has conducted
several research projects on plant reproduction and plant-animal interactions in the tropical forests of Borneo and Panama. In recent years, herinterests have broadened to include interactions between ecosystems andhuman societies.

Noboru FUJITA
Dr. Noboru FUJITA is the chief director of Center
for Restoration of Regional Nature, Japan. He has
a in masters degree and PhD from the Graduate
School of Science, Kyoto University, Japan. He isinterested in various aspects of a variety Environmental Sciences, mainly from the viewpoint ofplant ecology. He been studying of recently hassustainable use of Mongolian nomadic grassland.

Takao ITIOKA
Takao ITIOKA is a professor at the Graduate
School of Human and Environmental Studies,
Kyoto University. He is interested in entomology
and population and community ecology. He has
been studying insect ecology since 1987 as a fieldbiologist. He received his doctoral degree fromthe Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences,
Kyoto University in 1993. He taught undergraduate and graduate students in Nagoya University from September
1993 to March 2004 before transferring to Kyoto University. He joined a
research project on long-term population dynamics of insects in thetropical rainforests of Borneo in 1994. Since then he has conducted several
research projects, some of which are now on-going, on various aspects of
biodiversity science and ecology of tropical insects in Borneo incollaboration with the research staff of the Forest Department of Sarawak.

Norio YAMAMURA
Norio YAMAMURA is a professor of Culture andInformation Science at Doshisha University andDirector of the Center for Toki and Ecological
Restoration at Niigata University. Until 2011, he
led RIHN’s research project, Collapse andRestoration of Ecosystem Network with Human
Activity (2007-2012). He received his PhD fromthe Faculty of Science, Kyoto University in 1977.
His dissertation was on mathematical analysis of interacting biologicalcommunities. He previously held professorship at Kyoto University andSaga Medical School. His major research fields are mathematical ecology
and conservation ecology. His recent research publications relate tolinkage among environments, biological communities and humans.

(Received 12 May 2014, Accepted 22 October 2014)