2.2

Question 1

1. ________________
   When people are asked to identify a service provided by nature, most think of food. Fruits, vegetables, trees, fish, and livestock are available to us as direct products of ecosystems. A (answer) is any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature. Along with food, other types of () include drinking water, timber, wood fuel, natural gas, oils, plants that can be made into clothes and other materials, and medicinal benefits.

Answer 1

Provisioning Services

Question 2

2. _____________________
   Ecosystems provide many of the basic services that make life possible for people. Plants clean air and filter water, bacteria decompose wastes, bees pollinate flowers, and tree roots hold soil in place to prevent erosion. All these processes work together to make ecosystems clean, sustainable, functional, and resilient to change. A () is the benefit provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenomena. () include pollination, decomposition, water purification, erosion and flood control, and carbon storage and climate regulation.

Answer 2

Regulating Services

Question 3

3. _________________
   As we interact and alter nature, the natural world has in turn altered us. It has guided our cultural, intellectual, and social development by being a constant force present in our lives. The importance of ecosystems to the human mind can be traced back to the beginning of mankind with ancient civilizations drawing pictures of animals, plants, and weather patterns on cave walls. A () is a non-material benefit that contributes to the development and cultural advancement of people, including how ecosystems play a role in local, national, and global cultures; the building of knowledge and the spreading of ideas; creativity born from interactions with nature (music, art, architecture); and recreation.

Answer 3

Cultural Services

Question 4

4. ________________
   The natural world provides so many services, sometimes we overlook the most fundamental. Ecosystems themselves couldn’t be sustained without the consistency of underlying natural processes, such as photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, the creation of soils, and the water cycle. These processes allow the Earth to sustain basic life forms, let alone whole ecosystems and people. Without supporting services, provisional, regulating, and cultural services wouldn’t exist.

Answer 4

Supporting Services

Question 5

Wetlands are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the United States. We have lost more than ____________ of wetlands in the contiguous United States. Just a quick overview of some of the services provided by wetlands shows how important they are to people and why we should work to __________________them.

Answer 5

50 percent, protect and restore

Question 6

Many of the fish we rely on for food spend at least part of their life cycle in wetland habitats. Wetlands retain and control flood waters. Wetland plants absorb nutrients and ________ from the water, and they act as a natural filtration system. Wetland plants and soils store large amounts of carbon that, if released, would contribute to ___________. Wetlands are also a vital habitat for ____________, fish, and mammals, and their loss impacts __________ and biodiversity.

Answer 6

chemicals, climate change, migratory birds, recreation