15. Ecosystems Provide Services

Question 1

What is the ultimate benefit that ecosystems provide to societies?

Answer 1

there is monetary value to the systems they provide (for free), because they are necessary and would be costly to replace

Question 2

What are some services ecosystems provide? (in order of importance)

Answer 2

nutrient cycling, cultural, waste treatment, disturbance regulation, water supply, food production, gas regulation, recreation, raw materials, pollination

Question 3

Describe nutrient cycling

Answer 3

storage, cycling, acquisition

nitrogen, phosphorous, other cycles

we cycle nutrients manually with fertilizer

Question 4

Describe the cultural benefit

Answer 4

art, spirituality, educational benefit, science (experimenting)

non-commercial avenue for culture

Question 5

Describe waste treatment

Answer 5

recovery of mobile nutrients, detoxification, pollution control

Question 6

Describe disturbance regulation

Answer 6

storm protection, flood control by vegetation

Question 7

Describe water supply

Answer 7

storage and retention by watersheds, aquifers, reservoirs

Question 8

Describe pollination

Answer 8

facilitates food production

would be costly to do manually via GMOs or hiring people to do the job

Question 9

What is higher, global GNP or global ecosystem services?

Answer 9

global ecosystem services almost doubled the value of the global GNP (as per a 1997 analysis)

we usually get these services free from nature, but as it gets destroyed these services will have to be paid for by the GNP (thus decreasing it)

Question 10

What are the traditional and accurate views of nature and the economy?

Answer 10

traditional: nature as external to the economy
accurate: nature subsidizes the economy (our wealth comes from nature)

Question 11

Describe ecosystem sustainability

Answer 11

a functioning ecosystem can only provide a fixed amount of service of each type (there is a ‘budget’)

Question 12

What is the relationship between value of ecosystem service compared to how much nature is present?

Answer 12

the more nature the more services
the less nature the less services

Question 13

How do the implications of sustainable harvest pertain to the services provided by ecosystems?

Answer 13

take only the ‘interest’ from wild populations, communities, or ecosystems while leaving the capital untouched

if we take more we are beyond the capacity of these resources (like we are today)

Question 14

How could you employ the relevance of “ecosystems provide services” in an argument?

Answer 14

one of the most powerful anthropocentric arguments to make in the attempt to protect ecosystems

(anthropocentric arguments are fine if the accounting is accurate)