| Ecosystem Goods and Services. Healthy ecosystems carry out a
diverse array of processes that provide both goods and services to humanity. Here, goods refer to
items given monetary value in the marketplace, whereas the services from ecosystems are valued,
but are rarely bought or sold.
Ecosystem processes include:
- Maintenance of energy flux, dissipation, climate modulation
- Maintenance of hydrologic flux, hydrologic cycle, water quality
- Biological productivity, plant pollination
- Maintenance of biogeochernical cycling, storage, mineral-gaseous cycles, water-air quality
- Decomposition, weathering, soil development-stability, soil quality
- Maintenance of biological diversity
- Absorbing, buffering, diluting, detoxifying pollutants-xenobiotics
Ecosystem "goods" include:
- Food
- Construction materials
- Medicinal plants
- Wild genes for domestic plants and animals
- Tourism and recreation
Ecosystem "services" include:
- Maintaining hydrological cycles
- Regulating climate
- Cleansing water and air
- Maintaining the gaseous composition of the atmosphere
- Pollinating crops and other important plants
- Generating and maintaining soils
- Storing and cycling essential nutrients
- Absorbing and detoxifying pollutants
- Providing beauty, inspiration, and recreation
(Modified from Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1991, Lubchenco et al. 1993,
and Richardson 1994)
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