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The multidisciplinary influence of common sustainability indices
Author(s) -
Mayer Audrey L.,
Thurston Hale W.,
Pawlowski Christopher W.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0419:tmiocs]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - emergy , sustainability , ecological economics , exergy , natural capital , systems ecology , natural resource , economics , ecological footprint , ecology , usable , multidisciplinary approach , ecosystem , natural resource economics , environmental economics , ecosystem services , applied ecology , sociology , social science , biology , computer science , engineering , plant ecology , world wide web , waste management
Sustainability is often poorly defined and difficult to measure. We describe several concepts from ecology, economics, and physics, that have contributed to sustainability indices, and discuss their positive and negative aspects. Indices range from mostly ecological (such as ecosystem resilience and global human carrying capacity), to those inspired by both economics and ecology (green income and maximum sustainable yield), to a mix of ecology and physics (exergy and emergy). Economic concepts such as substitutability of natural and human capital (the “weak” versus “strong” sustainability debate), and throughput of natural resources through an economic system, are the basis for several strictly economic indices. The second law of thermodynamics, which dictates the decrease in usable energy, has also had an increasing influence on sustainability discussions. The indices described here address different aspects of the interactions between human societies and ecosystems, and are therefore probably most effective when used in combination.