Abstract
Ecosystem services flow from stocks of natural capital and provide benefits to humanity, for example, the carbon sequestration of forests that regulates global atmospheric composition and thus climate; the clean, fresh water flowing from natural landscapes and provided to dams and irrigation projects downstream and the flood storage capacity of wetlands that regulates floodwaters upstream of flood-prone urban areas. These services and the natural capital stocks from which they are derived are critical to the life-support functions of the Earth and contribute to human welfare in direct and indirect ways (Costanza et al. 1997). Ecosystem services are variously classified (see Fisher et al. 2009) including by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005) into provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Provisioning services include the provision of food, timber, textiles and water, regulating services provide regulation against hazards (such as floods and droughts). Cultural services are the non-material aesthetic, recreational, spiritual and health benefits provided by nature. Supporting services support the aforementioned through, for example, maintenance of soil fertility. Ecosystem services are considered to be fundamentally dependent upon biodiversity (Hooper et al. 2005; Balvanera et al. 2006; Tilman et al. 2006). The term ecosystem services is used for both goods (provisioning services) and services (regulating, cultural and supporting services).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Routledge International Handbook of Sustainable Development |
| Editors | Michael Redclift, Delyse Springett |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis Inc. |
| Pages | 179-195 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780203785300 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781135040727, 9780415838429 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Mar 2015 |