Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services and Their Importance to Mankind

University of Illinois at Chicago

Introduction:

Although technological advances over recent centuries have surpassed unfathomable expectations, those services most essential to the survival of mankind are provided for, freely, by natural occurring events taking place regularly in our ecosystems. The purification of air and water, protection against droughts and floods, reduction of greenhouse gases, decomposition of organic matter, preservation and recycling of soils and the nutrients therein are just a few examples of the many (Daily, 2). These ecosystem services are defined as any function of natural origin providing some benefit to human society (Cairns, 534). Unfortunately, many of these technological advancements come with some expense, namely, habitat destruction, introduction of invasive exotic species, and the alteration of gaseous atmospheric composition. Furthermore, these services are so fundamental to life that they are often overlooked and underappreciated (Daily, 3). Although it is difficult to determine exactly which service results in what benefit, its absence tends to indicate its extinction from human society altogether. Because individuals are unaware of the importance these ecosystem services, their preservation is seemingly, an impossible feat.

Ecosystem Goods:

Aside from services provided for by the ecosystem, often times goods are directly extracted from the environment. For example, cultivation of crops like maize, soybean, and wheat are just a few harvested here in the mid-west. Other goods such as timber, fuel wood, fiber and pharmaceuticals are provided by our ecosystems at next to no cost relative to the profits they produce (Daily, 4). In the United States alone, the value of the fishery industry exceeds that of the annual global yield combined. Obviously, this ecosystem service is of great importance to the U.S. economy. However, pollution and over fishing are severely declining the gross output.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions:

The earth's climate is the most apparent reason as to why other planets remain uninhabitable. Cumulatively, temperature, resources, and atmospheric gas composition play a major role in defining which planets may or may not support life. Over the course of approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the earth's climate has changed drastically. As a result of naturally occurring events, organisms have successfully developed mechanisms to compensate for these changes. Natural ecosystem over the past million years have developed methods to prevent overheating of the earth by removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as the sun grew brighter and hotter (Daily, 6). Evolutionary adaptations such as stomatal opening/closing regulation in many tropical and desert dwelling plant species allows them to prevent evaporative water loss during the hot hours of the day (Dr. Kathleen Craft). One example of an ecosystem service essential to preventing the earth's overheating is the drop in sea level. This results in nutrient runoff and increases the phytoplankton population. As they form calcium carbonate shells, carbon more carbon dioxide is then removed from the oceans and atmosphere (Daily, 6). Furthermore, a positive chain reaction then occurs as the reduction of carbon dioxide cools the climate causing an even further drop in sea level. Unfortunately, burning of fossil fuels and pollution resulting from incomplete vehicle combustion and leaf burning are resulting in higher rates of greenhouse gas production than the ecosystem services can repair.

Flooding and Erosion:

As rain ascends from the clouds and strikes the earth's surface, leaf litter and trees and plants shield the soil from its damaging forces. Areas where deforestation and clearing takes place, soil remains vulnerable to clogging and erosion (Daily, 7). As the rain impacts the bare soil, mud is formed preventing the lower layers form absorbing any water. Soil clogging promotes water runoff and flooding. In 1995, severe reports of flooding had taken place in northern California. Since two centuries prior to these mass floods, ninety percent of California's