Ecosystem services — Science definition
Defined in 2 courses:
- The benefits people get from functioning ecosystems, grouped as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. (Physics & Environmental Science)
- The many benefits healthy, biodiverse ecosystems provide to people for free, such as pollination, clean water, fertile soil, and climate regulation. (Physics & Environmental Science)
Where it is taught
- Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services — Ecology, Populations & Biodiversity, Physics & Environmental Science, Grade 12
- Biodiversity Loss — Conservation, Systems & Environmental Design, Physics & Environmental Science, Grade 12
In use
Because functioning ecosystems quietly perform work that human economies depend on, called ecosystem services.
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services include food, pollination, water regulation, cultural values, and other benefits.
Biodiversity Loss
Questions using ecosystem services
Problem 1
Describe two ecosystem services that healthy, biodiverse ecosystems provide to people, and explain why losing biodiversity puts them at risk.
Answer and explanation
Examples include pollination of crops by insects, filtering and cleaning of water by wetlands and forests, fertile soil built by soil organisms, flood control, and climate regulation. These services depend on many interacting species; as biodiversity declines, the organisms that perform them are lost and the services weaken or fail, directly harming the food, water, and protection people rely on.
Taught alongside
- biodiversity
- genetic diversity
- species diversity
- ecosystem diversity
- keystone species
- extinction
- habitat fragmentation
- invasive species