What are ecosystems and ecosystem services?

Ecosystem services are benefits provided by ecosystems. These services may directly affect people, or may be supporting services, which help maintain other ecosystem services. Many of these services are also interlinked, and can involve different aspects of the same biological processes, such as primary production, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, and water cycling.

Ecosystems can be divided into 5 main types:

• arid and semi-arid zone ecosystems such as grasslands, savannahs, deserts, semi-arid deserts, tundra communities and cold deserts
  
•  coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems including mangroves, coral reefs, seagrasses, open-ocean (pelagic) communities, deep-sea communities, rivers, lakes and wetlands
  
• forest ecosystems such as boreal and temperate needleleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, tropical moist forests, tropical dry forests and forest plantations
  
•  mountain and highland ecosystems 
  
• agricultural ecosystems, predominantly characterised by permanent pastures.
  

Ecosystem services are benefits provided by ecosystems, which  directly affect people and the supporting services needed to maintain other ecosystem services. Ecosystem services can be categorised as:

• supporting services: soil formation, pollination, and nutrient cycling
  
• provisioning services: food, water, timber, fiber, and genetic resources 
  
• regulating services: regulation of climate, floods, disease, water quality and waste treatment 
  
• cultural services: recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, and spiritual fulfillment.