“God blessed them and said to them ‘be fruitful and
increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule
over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and
over every living creature that moves on the ground’.”
Genesis 1:28
The more the words the less the meaning, and how
does that profit anyone?”
Ecclesiastes 6:11
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather
a scornful tone, “it means what I choose it to mean,
neither more nor less.”
Alice in Wonderland
“ecosystem is a dynamic
complex of plant, animal and
micro-organism communities
and their non-living
environment interacting as a
functional unit”
United Nations Convention of
Biological Diversity
Major terrestrial ecosystems
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
SERVICE – (n) act of help or assistance (v) to supply with
assistance
About 20 dictionary meanings – Latin servus = slave
PROVISIONING
REGULATING
SUPPORTING
CULTURAL
POVISIONING SERVICES - These are the most obvious and are
the varied products or materials that we extract from different
ecosystems for human use in its broadest sense. They include
plant and animal material for direct consumption as food, other
plant or animal materials such as wood, plant fibers or skins and
sinews employed in shelters and clothing, herbs of medicinal value
and even water that is trapped in rain in elevated forested areas
and fed into streams and aquifers, and even water that may be
used to generate energy.
REGULATING SERVICES - Regulating services include a diversity
of natural processes that provide stability to ecosystems and are
beneficial to all life, including man of course. . One most
important service is water and air purification. Another is
decomposition of wastes, particularly organic wastes. Another is
pollination of many plants. Again another service is pest and
disease regulation. Perhaps the one that may not be as obvious is
carbon sequestration and its role in climate regulation.
SUPPORTING SERVICES - Supporting services are those that are
absolutely fundamental to life as we know it and thus all the other
ecosystem services. At the base of these is photosynthesis and
oxygen production, production of biomass, nutrient and water
cycling, soil formation, dispersal of spores and seeds and creation
of habitat diversity.
CULTURAL SERVICES - Cultural services are those highly
anthropocentric human benefits that individual humans gain from
their awareness, appreciation and inspiration of the natural world
and from their interaction with ecosystems. Many might add
spiritual enlightenment. Modern ecotourism is certainly derived from
this interaction. But many ecosystems certainly provide diverse
forms of recreation, be it simply hiking or snorkeling, bird watching
or flower photography. Finally it might be noted that ecosystems in
all their diversity and complexity have, with human curiosity, driven
the growth of the science of biology and all it sub-disciplines.
Indeed the very concept of an ecosystem service is derived from
an understanding of natural processes and man’s relationship with
life and the planet.
Source: Adapted from R. Costanza et al., “The Value of the
World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital,” Nature Vol.
387 (1997), p. 256, Table 2.
Estimates of various Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services
Value
(trillion $US)
Soil formation
17.1
Recreation
3.0
Nutrient cycling
2.3
Water regulation and supply
2.3
Climate regulation (temperature and
precipitation)
1.8
Habitat
1.4
Flood and storm protection
1.1
Food and raw materials production
0.8
Genetic resources
0.8
Atmospheric gas balance
0.7
Pollination
0.4
All other services
1.6
Total value of ecosystem services
33.3