Hilborn, R. and C. J. Walters, D. Ludwig. 1995. "Sustainable Exploitation of Renewable Resources." Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26: 45-67.

Thesis:

Hilborn et al. provide a very detailed analysis of resource management, specifically they introduce the concepts of reproductive surplus, sustainable yield, optimal exploitation and adaptive management. Their focus is on the fields of fish, wildlife and forest management and the biological basis for the sustainable exploitation of renewable resources. Their aim is to "...review the development and current state of knowledge in these fields and to suggest the relevance of this knowledge to the general problem of sustainable development" (p. 46).

Summary:

The biological basis of sustainability (see p. 47-52):

Reproductive surplus is the biological basis for all sustainable harvesting. For example, harvesters must retain enough seeds per plant for seeding next year's crop. The surplus that remains is the reproductive surplus which can be sustainably harvested. The size of the sustainable yield varies by the reproductive surplus per reproductive unit and the absolute size of the population.

Historical patterns in biological production:

Temperature and human impact (the elimination of habitat, for example) are the two factors most responsible for variances in production.

Estimating the potential yield (see p. 52-6):

Experimentation, observation and deduction are the three most common methods for estimating yields.

The next two sections show how knowledge and management action interact (see p. 56-8). Managers need scientists to tell estimate potential yields, but scientific knowledge is limited in three ways: a lack of replicates and controls, a lack of randomization in treatments in natural experiments, and changes in underlying systems. Therefore, the authors contend that scientific estimation mistakes are responsible for the collapse of some potentially sustainably harvested systems, particularly in fisheries.

The final two sections address issues related to human management (see p. 59-61), specifically resource exploiters. They examine the utility of self-regulation and other incentives endorsed by ecological economists. They contend that private ownership is the most successful institution for promoting sustainable resources.

Keywords: sustainable yield, optimal exploitation, adaptive management