NOTE: I have only deleted one term from this chapter because it is not very technical.

Glossary
Chapter 7: Ecological Economics--Some Basic Concepts

A
absorptive capacity of environment the ability of the environment to absorb and render harmless waste products.

C
capital depreciation a deduction in national income accounting for the wearing-out of capital over time.

closed system a system that exchanges no energy or resources with another system; except for solar energy and waste heat, the global ecosystem is a closed system.

E
ecological complexity the presence of many different living and nonliving elements in an ecosystem interacting in complex patterns; ecosystem complexity implies that human impact on ecosystems may be unpredictable.

empty-world and full-world economics the view that economic approaches to environmental issues should differ depending whether the scale of the economy relative to the ecosystem is small (an empty world) or large (a full world).

I
intergenerational equity the distribution of resources, including humanmade and natural capital, across human generations.

irreversibility environmental damage that cannot be reversed, such as the extinction of species.

M
macroeconomic (system) scale the total scale of an economy; ecological economics suggests that the ecosystem imposes scale limits on the macroeconomy.

N
natural capital the available endowment of land and resources including air, water, soil, forests, fisheries, minerals, and ecological life-support systems.

natural capital depreciation a deduction in national accounting for loss of natural capital, such as a reduction in the supply of timber, wildlife habitat, or mineral resources.

natural capital sustainability conserving natural capital by limiting depletion rates and investing in resource renewal.

net investment the process of adding to productive capital over time, calculated by subtracting depreciation from gross, or total, investment.

net primary product of photosynthesis (NPP) the biomass energy directly produced by photosynthesis.

O
open system a system that exchanges energy or natural resources with another system; the economic system is considered an open system because it receives energy and natural resources from the ecosystem and deposits wastes into the ecosystem.

P
physical accounting a supplement to national income accounting that estimates natural resource stock or services in physical, rather than economic, terms.

precautionary principle the view that policies should account for uncertainty by taking steps to avoid outcomes that are damaging to health or the environment, especially when such outcomes are irreversible.

S
satellite accounts accounts that estimate the supply of natural capital in physical rather than monetary terms; used to supplement traditional national income accounting.

strong sustainability the view that natural and humanmade capital are generally not substitutable and, therefore, natural capital levels should be maintained.

substitutability (of natural and manufactured capital) the ability of humanmade capital to compensate for the depletion of some types of natural capital, such as the ability of fertilizer to compensate for the loss of soil fertility.

sustainable yield a yield or harvest level that can be maintained without diminishing the resource stock or population.

T
throughput the total use of energy and materials as both inputs and outputs of a process.

W
weak sustainability the view that natural capital depletion is justified as long as it is compensated for with increases in humanmade capital; assumes that humanmade capital can substitute for most types of natural capital.