Ecosystem Services

ecosystem services, outputs, conditions, or processes of natural systems that directly or indirectly benefit humans or enhance social welfare. Ecosystem services can benefit people in many ways, either directly or as inputs into the production of other goods and services. For example, the pollination of crops provided by bees and other organisms contributes to food production and is thus considered an ecosystem service. Another example is the attenuation of flooding in residential areas provided by riparian buffers and wetlands.

Because ecosystem services are not usually bought and sold directly in markets, market activities do not fully reflect the benefits provided by those services. Unregulated markets thus promote excessive depletion of natural capital (e.g., the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems) and ecosystem services. The United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), which evaluated the consequences of ecosystem change, concluded that humans have degraded the ability of Earth’s ecosystems to support social welfare. In response, ecosystem services analyses promote policy decisions that recognize the full range of benefits and costs associated with actions that affect those services. Most formal evaluations of ecosystem services examine the consequences of changes to specific services in certain geographical areas for particular beneficiary groups; very few analyses approach ecosystem services from universal perspectives (e.g., all the services provided by wetlands across the planet).