Ecosystem Services: Difference between revisions
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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) report 2005 defines Ecosystem services as benefits people obtain from ecosystems and distinguishes four categories of ecosystem services, where the so-called supporting services are regarded as the basis for the services of the other three categories.The more details about the four services shows in [[Essential ecosystem services]]. | The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) report 2005 defines Ecosystem services as benefits people obtain from ecosystems and distinguishes four categories of ecosystem services, where the so-called supporting services are regarded as the basis for the services of the other three categories.The more details about the four services shows in [[Essential ecosystem services]]. | ||
These services are known as Supporting services, Provisioning services, Regulating services and Cultural services | |||
=== Supporting services === | === Supporting services === | ||
:include, but are not limited to, [[Nutrient Cycling]], primary production, soil formation, habitat provision and pollination. | :include, but are not limited to, [[Nutrient Cycling]], primary production, soil formation, habitat provision and pollination. Each of these services do not directly contribute to benefit by humans, but instead are the foundation of most if not all other services. These services are generally the hardest to notice and appreciate, and as such are often neglected when considering the value of an ecosystem as a whole. | ||
=== Provisioning services === | === Provisioning services === | ||
:Food, | :Food | ||
:Materials | Humans consume primarily organic materials for metabolic activity. The pollination of crops by bees is required for 15-30% of U.S. food production alone. More than one billion people worldwide rely on fish as their main source of animal protein, and in 2000 fisheries accounted for 12 percent of world food production. | ||
:Water, which | :Materials | ||
:Energy | Marine creatures provide numerous raw materials for things such as dyes, clothing, lime extracted from corals for building, or deep sea gas pockets. Biochemicals extracted from marine organisms have unique properties for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and numerous other products. | ||
:Water | |||
Humans rely on water for a myriad of activities other than simply just drinking. Food must be grown and cooked with it, nearly everything is washed with it, and nearly every manufacturing process from cars to cosmetics requires the use of clean water at some point. Ecosystems are responsible for the purification of nearly all water humans use. New York City at one point had water lower than the standards required by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and needed a system to purify it. Instead of building a costly water filtration plant, which would also need to be operated and maintained, the city instead opted to restore the Catskill Watershed to its previous environmental standard, which provided clean water through the processes of natural soil absorption and filtration. Because the sewage and pesticides were no longer being dumped into the watershed, several million people suddenly had cheap access to clean water. | |||
:Energy | |||
While most renewable energy comes from abiotic factors such as the sun, wind and tide, most energy consumed in this decade comes from fossil fuels. Ancient ecosystems rich in plants were killed and buried in a rapid process, and as a result we now enjoy high energy liquid, solid, and gaseous resources right under our feet. These sources of energy are the result of ancient ecosystems. | |||
=== Regulating services === | === Regulating services === | ||
:carbon sequestration and climate regulation | :carbon sequestration and climate regulation | ||
:waste decomposition | :waste decomposition | ||
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=== Economics === | === Economics === | ||
There are questions regarding the environmental and economic values of ecosystem services. Although environmental awareness is rapidly improving in our contemporary world, ecosystem capital and its flow are still poorly understood, threats continue to impose. | There are questions regarding the environmental and economic values of ecosystem services. Although environmental awareness is rapidly improving in our contemporary world, ecosystem capital and its flow are still poorly understood, threats continue to impose. | ||
=== Maintain Biovdiversity === | === Maintain Biovdiversity === | ||
Revision as of 22:49, 2 May 2019
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits that humans freely gain from the natural environment and from properly-functioning ecosystems.
Denfinition
Per the 2006 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), ecosystem services are "the benefits people obtain from ecosystems". These benefits may be as broad as the oxygen we breathe to the simple joy one experiences when walking past a garden. Because they are so broad and overlapping, the term "ecosystem services" has been defined into select categories to further describe which particular ecosystems or habitats provide which service. While a small garden may produce oxygen, the services yielded by such a small system would likely come from the foods produced and thereby consumed, rather than the minute amount of oxygen a few garden plants produce.
Four categories
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) report 2005 defines Ecosystem services as benefits people obtain from ecosystems and distinguishes four categories of ecosystem services, where the so-called supporting services are regarded as the basis for the services of the other three categories.The more details about the four services shows in Essential ecosystem services. These services are known as Supporting services, Provisioning services, Regulating services and Cultural services
Supporting services
- include, but are not limited to, Nutrient Cycling, primary production, soil formation, habitat provision and pollination. Each of these services do not directly contribute to benefit by humans, but instead are the foundation of most if not all other services. These services are generally the hardest to notice and appreciate, and as such are often neglected when considering the value of an ecosystem as a whole.
Provisioning services
- Food
Humans consume primarily organic materials for metabolic activity. The pollination of crops by bees is required for 15-30% of U.S. food production alone. More than one billion people worldwide rely on fish as their main source of animal protein, and in 2000 fisheries accounted for 12 percent of world food production.
- Materials
Marine creatures provide numerous raw materials for things such as dyes, clothing, lime extracted from corals for building, or deep sea gas pockets. Biochemicals extracted from marine organisms have unique properties for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and numerous other products.
- Water
Humans rely on water for a myriad of activities other than simply just drinking. Food must be grown and cooked with it, nearly everything is washed with it, and nearly every manufacturing process from cars to cosmetics requires the use of clean water at some point. Ecosystems are responsible for the purification of nearly all water humans use. New York City at one point had water lower than the standards required by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and needed a system to purify it. Instead of building a costly water filtration plant, which would also need to be operated and maintained, the city instead opted to restore the Catskill Watershed to its previous environmental standard, which provided clean water through the processes of natural soil absorption and filtration. Because the sewage and pesticides were no longer being dumped into the watershed, several million people suddenly had cheap access to clean water.
- Energy
While most renewable energy comes from abiotic factors such as the sun, wind and tide, most energy consumed in this decade comes from fossil fuels. Ancient ecosystems rich in plants were killed and buried in a rapid process, and as a result we now enjoy high energy liquid, solid, and gaseous resources right under our feet. These sources of energy are the result of ancient ecosystems.
Regulating services
- carbon sequestration and climate regulation
- waste decomposition
- purification of water and air
- regulation of pest species such as deer and elk
Cultural services
- Cultural works such as art, sculptures, paintings, writings
- Spiritual or religious events
- Education
- Therapy
Other Use
Economics
There are questions regarding the environmental and economic values of ecosystem services. Although environmental awareness is rapidly improving in our contemporary world, ecosystem capital and its flow are still poorly understood, threats continue to impose.
Maintain Biovdiversity
Ecosystem not only provides all kinds of biological breeding ground, the more important is provides the necessary conditionsfor for biological evolution and biodiversity.
References
[1]Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA). 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis
[2]"Conservation of ecosystem services". Adam Purcell. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014
[3]Raudsepp-Hearne, C. et al. 2010. Untangling the Environmentalist's Paradox: Why is Human Well-being Increasing as Ecosystem Services Degrade? Bioscience 60(8) 576–589.
[4]Ostrom, E. 1990. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[5]MOlnar, Michelle; Clarke-Murray, Cathryn; Whitworth, Jogn & Tam, Jordan. " 1 December 2014.