Eco-economics

Nature giveth and nature taketh away. That sums up the connection between our environment and Southwest Florida's economy.

On one hand, our tourism-based economy depends on keeping beaches, estuaries and wetlands-our prime natural resources-free from pollution and destruction, so they can continue to provide tourists with

places to enjoy the sun, catch a tarpon or watch a woodstork. Visitors spending money on these activities support a myriad of local businesses.

Without question, the beaches are the No. 1 natural resource that draws tourists to Southwest Florida. They consistently rank among the best beaches in the country, attracting visitors who spend plenty of money for the privilege of looking at these ribbons of sand from the balcony

of their hotel rooms, wading in the Gulf of Mexico's warm water or lying on the beach to work on their tans.

The region's wildlife also holds indisputable allure for tourists, from the multimillion-dollar birding industry to the even more lucrative recreational fishing industry. And visitors gladly give up a day at the beach to rent cars or take tour buses for an excursion that will put them eye-to-eye with an alligator.

On the other hand, Mother Nature has dealt us some setbacks in our attempts to lure visitors to Southwest Florida, keeping us humble and taking away a share of that revenue. Of special note in this category are hurricanes and a disturbing frequency of red tide events.

Few will forget the hurricane season of 2004. Four storms inflicted millions of dollars in damage and forever altered the lives of many residents who lost homes and/or businesses. The residual effects of this is still apparent as summer bookings of hotel rooms are down from past years; some accommodations still haven't completely reopened, and some travelers fear being at ground zero when a storm roars ashore.

The other major tourism killer is a red tide event. Red tide is a microscopic algal organism known as a dinoflagellate. The species is a normal component of seawater, but for reasons not yet fully understood, the right set of conditions triggers a massive population explosion. This creates two problems that result in the death of fish and other marine life.

The first problem relates to cellular respiration-the process by which cells use oxygen and glucose to create energy, water and carbon dioxide. The other problem relates to a cell's tendency to excrete its wastes into the surrounding environment.

Respiration is not a problem during the day, when sunlight powers the process of photosynthesis, the series of chemical reactions by which plants and algae produce oxygen that living organisms need to survive. But at night, photosynthesis stops and oxygen production ceases, but respiration continues on. Once the masses of red tide cells use up all the oxygen that is dissolved in the water, organisms that can't get out of the red-tide zone suffocate.

Compounding the problem is the toxic chemical excreted by the red-tide organism. With billions of cells producing this toxic substance, the amount accumulates to a level lethal for almost everything that gets in the way of the red-tide bloom.

As if a beach strewn with dead and rotting fish, sponges and other sea creatures weren't enough to chase away tourists, the toxic chemical produced by red tide easily becomes airborne as red-tide laced waves break on the shore, causing itchy, burning and watery eyes for beachgoers and a burning sensation in respiratory systems.

Dinoflagellates that cause red tide have traits similar to plants, especially in how they thrive in the presence of nitrogen and phosphorus, the main nutrients in fertilizer homeowners liberally apply to plants to help them grow. Unfortunately, the source of this problem nutrient is man-made, and it accumulates as it flows from Lake Okeechobee, down the Caloosahatchee River, and into the estuaries around Sanibel and Pine Island and the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The nutrient-laden water stimulates the red tide to bloom and last longer-not a good situation for beach lovers and the businesses that depend on tourism.

We have not yet found a way to steer hurricanes away from land or to make them weaker before they hit land. Nor have we found a way to prevent red tides. A solution to either does not seem imminent.

But we can do something about protecting our natural resources. If we destroy wetlands and other wildlife habitat that are the economic capital for our tourist-based economy,

everyone loses. And if we understand that our environment is tightly interwoven with the economy, more people will see that the need to protect the environment is just as much for us and our economic welfare as it is for the bugs and bunnies. GB