Ecosystem Services
Concept of ecosystem services
The Hopelessness of Conservation:
Human population growth, human primary needs, habitat loss and degradation,
overexploitation and waste, animal trade, invasive species, climate change, altered
biochemical cycles, etc.
More than a city of 1 million people added every week – extremely heavy environmental
costs.
Convincing those that matter: ‘pretty biodiversity’ makes great photos but doesn’t work.
Can human risk and reward work where pretty fails? Ecosystem, what have you done for
me lately?
Benefits of Species and Genetic Diversity:
Practical Benefits: e.g. in the US more than 25% of prescriptions contain substances
derived or originally discovered from plants or fungi. Genetic diversity in crops provides
material for improved yields and resistance to diseases.
Beyond Species – Benefits from Ecosystems:
Services: previously only goods given value – service values are a relatively new tool.
Ecosystem services encompass all the processes through which natural ecosystems and
their species help sustain human life. Ecosystems operate at such a large scale with
layers of complexity they cannot be replicated via technology.
A Useful Concept?
Identification of services – reveals human dependence of healthy functioning
ecosystems.
Valuation of services – quantifies economic, social and cultural dependence of humans on
ecosystem services.
Utility of valuation – links use of natural resources to protection of their ecosystems,
informs policy and decision making & incorporates ecosystem into economic system.
Scales of Services:
Global scale – carbon sequestration, climate change
Landscape scale – water purification, erosion control
Community scale – crop pollination, pest control
Field, plot or individual person scale – local nutrients, disease and pest preventions
Application of the Concept:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 – multi-governmental agency, international
coalition including scientists and conservation organisations. Aimed to focus research on
connections between biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Scientific basis for actions which enhance protection of ecosystems and sustainable use
– now routine and frequently updated regionally.
Major groups of ecosystem services:
4 key types of services:
Supporting Services – the underlying support for all other services, e.g. soil formation,
photosynthesis, nutrient cycling
Provisioning Services – e.g. food, fibers, fuel, water
Concept of ecosystem services
The Hopelessness of Conservation:
Human population growth, human primary needs, habitat loss and degradation,
overexploitation and waste, animal trade, invasive species, climate change, altered
biochemical cycles, etc.
More than a city of 1 million people added every week – extremely heavy environmental
costs.
Convincing those that matter: ‘pretty biodiversity’ makes great photos but doesn’t work.
Can human risk and reward work where pretty fails? Ecosystem, what have you done for
me lately?
Benefits of Species and Genetic Diversity:
Practical Benefits: e.g. in the US more than 25% of prescriptions contain substances
derived or originally discovered from plants or fungi. Genetic diversity in crops provides
material for improved yields and resistance to diseases.
Beyond Species – Benefits from Ecosystems:
Services: previously only goods given value – service values are a relatively new tool.
Ecosystem services encompass all the processes through which natural ecosystems and
their species help sustain human life. Ecosystems operate at such a large scale with
layers of complexity they cannot be replicated via technology.
A Useful Concept?
Identification of services – reveals human dependence of healthy functioning
ecosystems.
Valuation of services – quantifies economic, social and cultural dependence of humans on
ecosystem services.
Utility of valuation – links use of natural resources to protection of their ecosystems,
informs policy and decision making & incorporates ecosystem into economic system.
Scales of Services:
Global scale – carbon sequestration, climate change
Landscape scale – water purification, erosion control
Community scale – crop pollination, pest control
Field, plot or individual person scale – local nutrients, disease and pest preventions
Application of the Concept:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 – multi-governmental agency, international
coalition including scientists and conservation organisations. Aimed to focus research on
connections between biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Scientific basis for actions which enhance protection of ecosystems and sustainable use
– now routine and frequently updated regionally.
Major groups of ecosystem services:
4 key types of services:
Supporting Services – the underlying support for all other services, e.g. soil formation,
photosynthesis, nutrient cycling
Provisioning Services – e.g. food, fibers, fuel, water
