Ecosystem+services

= Ecosystem services = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 [|Pollination] by a [|bumblebee], a type of ecosystem service  Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural [|ecosystems]. Collectively, these benefits are known as **ecosystem services** and include products like clean [|drinking water] and processes such as the [|decomposition] of wastes. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services for decades, these services were popularized and their definitions formalized by the United Nations 2004 [|Millennium Ecosystem Assessment] (MEA), a four-year study involving more than 1,300 scientists worldwide. [|[1]] This grouped ecosystem services into four broad categories: //provisioning//, such as the production of food and water; //regulating//, such as the control of climate and disease; //supporting//, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and //cultural//, such as spiritual and recreational benefits. As human populations grow, so do the resource demands imposed on ecosystems and the impacts of our [|global footprint]. Natural resources are not invulnerable and infinitely available. The environmental impacts of [|anthropogenic] actions, which are processes or materials derived from human activities, are becoming more apparent – air and water quality are increasingly compromised, oceans are being [|overfished], pests and diseases are extending beyond their historical boundaries, and [|deforestation] is exacerbating flooding downstream. It has been reported that approximately 40-50% of Earth’s ice-free land surface has been heavily transformed or degraded by anthropogenic activities, 66% of marine [|fisheries] are either [|overexploited] or at their limit, atmospheric CO2 has increased more than 30% since the advent of [|industrialization], and nearly 25% of Earth’s bird species have gone [|extinct] in the last two thousand years. [|[2]] Society is increasingly becoming aware that ecosystem services are not only limited, but also that they are threatened by human activities. The need to better consider long-term ecosystem health and its role in enabling human habitation and economic activity is urgent. To help inform decision-makers, many ecosystem services are being assigned economic values, often based on the cost of replacement with anthropogenic alternatives. The ongoing challenge of prescribing economic value to nature, for example through [|biodiversity banking], is prompting transdisciplinary shifts in how we recognize and manage the environment, [|social responsibility] , business opportunities, and our future as a species. =Ecosystem Services = Ecosystem services are ways in which organisms and natural forces interact to support human life. It is through these natural services that people garner the most tangible value from biodiversity. Walking outside on a warm day you may feel the sun on your skin, see a butterfly pollinating a flower, and be cooled by a gentle breeze. The sun, the pollination, and even the breeze, are examples of ecosystem services. While some ecosystem services provide humans with basic necessities, others regulate climate and even disease. Underlying these are more fundamental ecosystem services including the recycling of waste, replenishing of soil and water, and photosynthesis. At first glance, the fundamental ecosystem services of recycling waste and replenishing the soil may not appear to directly benefit humans; but think, for example, about the organisms and natural forces that support plant growth. Plants form the basis of many things, providing us with the oxygen we breathe and removing toxins from the air. Plants can also be eaten, turned into medicines, or used for clothing fibers and fuels. These higher level ecosystem services would not be possible without the organisms which break down rock and organic waste. In doing so, these organisms create soil, replenish nutrients, and aerate the soil which allows water to reach plant roots more easily. In the process of breaking down waste, organisms also release elements such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Known as nutrient cycling, this service is not only essential to plant growth, but to overall ecosystem health. By contributing to the array of nutrients available, biodiversity, in the form of plants, insects, and animals, helps humans meet their basic needs. Many medicines are also based on the diverse array chemicals found in plants, animals, and micro-organisms; nearly 50% of the most often prescribed drugs are derived from living things. The genetic diversity of these plants and animals increases the chances the populations of these species will survive when threatened by pests and pathogens. Natural assets that help to regulate ecosystems and control infectious diseases substantially improve human health. The soil acts as a filter, cleaning rainwater or runoff of some pathogens and toxins before it reaches the ground water supply. By breaking down human and ecosystem waste, many organisms reduce the threat of diseases, like cholera. Sanitation systems which rely on these organisms also safeguard human health by removing harmful parasites and bacteria from the water supply. The presence of predatory organisms keeps a population of pathogens and its carriers relatively low. Reducing predator populations, as a result of habitat fragmentation or competition from invasive species, on the other hand, can lead to an increase in disease. Another direct benefit of biodiversity is the security and stability ecosystem services can offer. Humans rely on regular nutrient cycling, weather patterns, and habitat conditions for basic necessities such as oxygen and nutrients, as well as for the commodities which drive our economy, such as fuel and crops. Rain, for example, is an extremely valuable ecosystem service because plants and animals rely on water to live, but also because it can help fight forest fires. Forest and wetland ecosystems have been shown to help mitigate or prevent flooding, droughts, and fires. In coastal areas, mangroves and coral reefs shelter the shoreline from erosion and heavy surf. Humans often benefit from the security such natural assets provide, though, estimating the monetary value of these services is highly variable because the natural assets are just that - natural. According to estimates by economist Robert Constanza and his research team, if humans had to perform all the services that ecosystems perform, it would cost approximately $33 trillion. In 1997, at the time the estimate was calculated, the total gross domestic product of the world was slightly over half that: $18 trillion. Since ecosystem services are freely available, they are often undervalued when changes to the ecosystem are being considered. There are many uncertainties associated with modifying an ecosystem, and unintended consequences can be costly. Levees, a technological substitute for a river's natural flood control system of wetlands and floodplains, for instance, enables farmers to cultivate the rich soil by rivers, bringing greater economic security to an area. Failure of the Mississippi River levees in 2008, however, cost Indiana over $1 billion. Thus, it is imperative to critically asses the possible effects of ecosystem change and technological substitution on natural systems, a step which is often forgotten.  //Updated by Skyler Treat & Nicole Barone Callahan//   Ecosystem Services for Human Well-Being This short fact sheet from the Convention on Biological Diversity explains the goods and services which people obtain from ecosystems. An excellent diagram of the relationship between these services is included.  Nature's Services: Ecosystems are more than wildlife habitats The Rand Corporation provides an easy to understand paper summarizing the value of ecosystem services, as well as some specific examples on what it has cost to replace them.  Ecosystem Services In this Ecological Society of America article, a group of notable scientists and economists including Gretchen Daily, Paul Ehrlich, and David Tilman gives a detailed description of many ecosystem services. The article also addresses how ecosystem services are valued and the uncertainty of human influence.  Biodiversity and Its Value This paper, sponsored by the government of Australia, includes a description of the value of ecosystem services, biological resources, and social benefits of biodiversity.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">DATA & MAPS
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> What Is the Value of Biodiversity to Our Collective Future? This article from Science Daily discusses the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project which, in 2008, estimated the value of the services offered by the world's land-based nature reserves at around $5 billion per year. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> The Empirics of Wetland Analysis This site contains a comprehensive 2003 review from the Convention on Biological Diversity on empirical wetland valuation literature of the past 25 years.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">LAWS & TREATIES
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Monumental Debt-for-Nature Swap Provides $20 Million to Protect Biodiversity in Madagascar Providing money for conservation is one way countries and individuals indicate their value of biodiversity. This Science Daily article chronicles a 2008 agreement between the governments of France and Madagascar.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">VIEWPOINTS
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Appreciating the Benefits of Plant Biodiversity The Worldwatch Institute discusses the benefits of genetic diversity in plants, arguing that genetic diversity is integral to pest resistance and recovery of food crops from blight.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">FOR THE CLASSROOM
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Ecosystem Services - Water Purification This lesson serves to illustrate how essential ecosystem services are to humans and the problems which can come about if they are not protected. [Grades 6-8] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">**References** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">R. Costanza //et al//, " The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital ," //Nature// Vol. 387 (1997), p. 256, Table 2. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">Sagoff, Mark. ? Can We Put a Price on Nature's Services? ? Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. 1999. []

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