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Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

From ecosystem integrity to ecosystem condition: a continuity of concepts supporting different aspects of ecosystem sustainability

The current emphasis on sustainable development and ecosystem services promotes the need to better understand long-term ecosystem integrity and ecosystem functioning. This secures long-term provision of ecosystem services and ecosystem conservation. Ecosystem integrity or related notions are referred to in several national and international biodiversity and ecosystem policies that couples ecosystem integrity with human well-being. However, it is still poorly defined. The scientific literature has mobilized an array of terms and notions attempting to conceptualize and describe degrees of ecosystem intactness or alteration. Based on a review of papers proposing ecosystem integrity indicators, we identify five forms of ecosystem integrity which we define their specificities: ecosystem integrity of wilderness, ecosystem functional and structural integrity, ecosystem stability and reliance, ecosystem condition and ecosystem quality and value. These five forms gather into two main strands by the link to conservation ecology or to ecosystem services. Through this clarification, this work provides a platform for more streamlined and comprehensible development of policies and scientific agendas for sustainable development/conservation purposes.

Introduction

Environmental and ecological literatures, that discuss the state of ecosystems, use various different wordings and concepts to conceptualize and describe the degree of intactness of ecosystems. Their agendas range from ethical considerations on pristine and untouched nature [1] to very practical issues such as evaluating degradation of ecosystems [2]. The notion of nature itself has several meanings that are related to perception ecosystem intactness from the origin, the innate disposition of things to the organization of the world elements untouched by the human activities. The upshot is that policies setting conservation and sustainability target-states to secure long-term maintenance of ecosystems, are framed in different terms, such as ecosystem integrity, ecosystem condition, ecosystem state or ecosystem health [3, 4]. Despite this diversity of terms linked to what   —   for simplicity's sake   —   we will call 'ecosystem integrity' here, the notion and its different uses have proven useful for conservation science and easily understandable for decision makers and the public [5••, 6, 7]. Nevertheless, although apparently simple and relatively easy to communicate to stakeholders and citizens, the 'ecosystem integrity' notion can lead to approximate and badly-defined concepts. Ecosystem integrity is a notion with many meanings encompassing several aspects from wilderness, intactness, health and functioning to quality, resilience and many more [5••, 7, 8, 9••, 10]. Ecosystem integrity has basically two components: integrity  —   'the state of being unimpaired, sound' and 'the quality or condition of being whole or complete' [8, 9••, 11]   —   and ecosystem  —   the system of interacting physico-chemical environment and wildlife. Here we clarify the cloud of concepts associated with ecosystem integrity to provide a more consistent definition that can frame a more coherent set of indicators and references. Earlier studies have attempted to clarify the concepts behind the notion of ecosystem integrity (e.g. [5••, 7, 9••]). Here we aim to advance by providing a comprehensive picture of the current notions and their applications from the ecological and ecosystem perspective. Based on review of a wide range of studies and approaches on ecosystem integrity with overlapping wordings (e.g. ecosystem integrity, ecosystem and ecological quality, ecosystem condition and ecosystem health) we clarify the key concepts and specificities associated to the different forms of ecosystem integrity. We go on to discuss applications of these forms of ecosystem integrity for conservation and sustainable ecosystems policies and the sustainability of the services they provide to people.

Section snippets

Different terms and concepts related to ecosystem integrity

Integrity first entered ecological science in Leopold's book [1] that linked philosophical and biological notions: 'A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community'. Cairns (1977) later proposed a more ecologically-refined definition [12], in line with the analytical thinking of the time: 'The summation of chemical, physical and biological integrity can be equated with ecological integrity. A system possessing integrity can withstand, and

Uses and indicators

The two strands and the different forms of 'ecosystem integrity' can be related to different set of indicators and different management and policy targets. With the focus on the conservation of ecosystems and of biodiversity, the first strand and the first three forms of 'ecosystem integrity' can be addressed with sets of indicators based primarily on biodiversity data, species composition, natural ranges of disturbances, ecosystem processes and remoteness from human activities (Table 1). As an

Conclusions

In this paper we propose a clarification of the 'ecosystem integrity' concept by identifying different forms. Neither the two main strands nor the five forms of ecosystem integrity proposed should be opposed or used alternatively, but instead considered in a multifaceted integrated approach to ecosystem integrity that encompasses both ecosystem conservation issues and the sustainable use of ecosystem by human.

Being more clear on what is form of 'ecosystem integrity' is addressed will facilitate

Conflict of interest statement

None.

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:

• of special interest

•• of outstanding interest

Acknowledgements

We thank Kevin Tastayre for its helps with the literature review of ecosystem integrity indicators. This study was partly supported by the IMAGINE project (ERANET BIODIVERSA 3 project). The authors' team is funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR).

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    Since 2011, the Convention on Biological Diversity (through the Aichi biodiversity targets) and the EU Biodiversity Strategy have adopted the ecosystem services approach to protect biodiversity. However, understanding the relationship between the ecosystem functioning, integrity, biodiversity, and the delivery of ecosystem services is still an impellent research question (Ricketts et al., 2016; Liquete et al., 2016c; Roche and Campagne, 2017). Indeed, although there are numerous evidences supporting a positive relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and the delivery of ecosystem services (Egoh et al., 2009; Cardinale, 2011; Isbell et al., 2011; Mace et al., 2012; Harrison et al., 2014), there is not much consensus on what the links are and how they operate (Loreau et al., 2001; Harrison et al., 2014).

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