________________ The Sea, Volume 16, edited by Michael J. Fogarty and James J. McCarthy ISBN 978-0-674-07270-1 ©2014 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College 245 Chapter 9. An Ecosystem Accounting Framework for Marine Ecosystem-Based Management IRIT ALTMAN Department of Biology, Boston University ROEL BOUMANS AFORDablefutures LLC JOE ROMAN Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont SUCHI GOPAL Department of Geography & Environment, Boston University LES KAUFMAN Boston University Marine Program and Conservation International Contents 1. Introduction 2. Ecosystem Accounting 3. Case Study: Massachusetts Bay 4. Conclusions References Appendices 1. Introduction At the heart of ecosystem-based management lies the notion that ecological pat- terns and processes are essential to human populations and that people, in turn, strongly influence the natural world. The idea is not a new one. George Perkins Marsh was likely the first to introduce the concept of linked systems in a formal and comprehensive way through his book Man and Nature. This seminal account ushered in a new era in resource management and environmental thinking– Marsh’s writings led the American Association for the Advancement of Science to petition the government for a national forestry commission in 1873 (Lowenthal MS1