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| Ph. Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata/Wikim. Commons |
Ecosystem services
Learn about the services that ecosystems provide (free of charge!) for all human societies:
"The
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
defined Ecosystem Services as “the benefits people derive from
ecosystems”. Besides provisioning services or goods like food, wood and
other raw materials, plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms provide
essential regulating services such as pollination of crops, prevention
of soil erosion and water purification, and a vast array of cultural
services, like recreation and a sense of place.."
"Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions of
ecosystems to human well-being. They support directly or
indirectly our survival and quality of life."
Ecosystem services can be described as parts of four types:
"Provisioning services are the products obtained from ecosystems such as food, fresh water, wood, fiber, genetic resources and medicines.
Regulating services are defined as the benefits
obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes such as climate
regulation, natural hazard regulation, water purification and waste
management, pollination or pest control.
Habitat services highlight the importance of ecosystems to provide habitat for migratory species and to maintain the viability of gene-pools.
Cultural services include non-material benefits that
people obtain from ecosystems such as spiritual enrichment,
intellectual development, recreation and aesthetic values.
Some
examples of key services provided by ecosystems are described below:
Climate regulation is one of the most important
ecosystem services both globally and on a European scale. European
ecosystems play a major role in climate regulation, since Europe’s
terrestrial ecosystems represent a net carbon sink of some 7-12% of the
1995 human generated emissions of carbon. Peat soils contain the largest
single store of carbon and Europe has large areas in its boreal and
cool temperate zones. However, the climate regulating function of
peatlands depends on land use and intensification (such as drainage and
conversion to agriculture) and is likely to have profound impacts on the
soil capacity to store carbon and on carbon emissions (great quantities
of carbon are being emitted from drained peatlands).
Water purification by ecosystems has a high
importance for Europe, because of the heavy pressure on water from a
relatively densely populated region. Both vegetation and soil organisms
have profound impacts on water movements: vegetation is a major factor
in controlling floods, water flows and quality; vegetation cover in
upstream watersheds can affect quantity, quality and variability of
water supply; soil micro-organisms are important in water purification;
and soil invertebrates influence soil structure, decreasing surface
runoff. Forests, wetlands and protected areas with dedicated management
actions often provide clean water at a much lower cost than man-made
substitutes like water treatment plants.
Pests and diseases are regulated in ecosystems
through the actions of predators and parasites as well as by the defence
mechanisms of their prey. One example of these regulating services is
provided by insectivorous birds in farms that use most of their land for
agriculture.
Soil biodiversity is a major factor in soil
formation, which supports a range of provisioning services such as food,
fiber and fuel provision and is fundamental to soil fertility, being a
highly important ecosystem service in Europe. In addition, a diverse
soil community will help prevent loss of crops due to soil-borne pest
diseases.
Cultural services provided by ecosystems are also
very important to EU citizens. Evidence can be found in the scale of
membership of conservation organizations. For example, in the United
Kingdom the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has a membership
of over one million and an annual income of over £50 million."
