Major terrestrial ecosystems

2. “God blessed them and said to them ‘be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground’.” Genesis 1:28 The more the words the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?” Ecclesiastes 6:11 “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.” Alice in Wonderland

3. “ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit”United Nations Convention of Biological Diversity

4. Major terrestrial ecosystems

5. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES SERVICE – (n) act of help or assistance (v) to supply with assistance About 20 dictionary meanings – Latin servus = slave PROVISIONING REGULATINGSUPPORTINGCULTURAL

6. POVISIONING SERVICES - These are the most obvious and are the varied products or materials that we extract from different ecosystems for human use in its broadest sense. They include plant and animal material for direct consumption as food, other plant or animal materials such as wood, plant fibers or skins and sinews employed in shelters and clothing, herbs of medicinal value and even water that is trapped in rain in elevated forested areas and fed into streams and aquifers, and even water that may be used to generate energy. REGULATING SERVICES - Regulating services include a diversity of natural processes that provide stability to ecosystems and are beneficial to all life, including man of course. . One most important service is water and air purification. Another is decomposition of wastes, particularly organic wastes. Another is pollination of many plants. Again another service is pest and disease regulation. Perhaps the one that may not be as obvious is carbon sequestration and its role in climate regulation.

7. SUPPORTING SERVICES - Supporting services are those that are absolutely fundamental to life as we know it and thus all the other ecosystem services. At the base of these is photosynthesis and oxygen production, production of biomass, nutrient and water cycling, soil formation, dispersal of spores and seeds and creation of habitat diversity. CULTURAL SERVICES - Cultural services are those highly anthropocentric human benefits that individual humans gain from their awareness, appreciation and inspiration of the natural world and from their interaction with ecosystems. Many might add spiritual enlightenment. Modern ecotourism is certainly derived from this interaction. But many ecosystems certainly provide diverse forms of recreation, be it simply hiking or snorkeling, bird watching or flower photography. Finally it might be noted that ecosystems in all their diversity and complexity have, with human curiosity, driven the growth of the science of biology and all it sub-disciplines. Indeed the very concept of an ecosystem service is derived from an understanding of natural processes and man’s relationship with life and the planet.

8. Source: Adapted from R. Costanza et al., “The Value of the World’s Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital,” Nature Vol. 387 (1997), p. 256, Table 2.