Ecological Services

Question 1

Provision

Answer 1

• good that humans can use directly.

- water, minerals, lumber, food crops, medicinal plants, natural rubber, & furs

Question 2

Regulating

Answer 2

natural ecosystems help to regulate environmental conditions

Question 3

Support services

Answer 3

services required for the functioning of all other ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, pollination, soil formation, & seed dispersal

Question 4

Cultural Services

Answer 4

non-material benefits gained from ecosystems

Question 5

Valuation

Answer 5

practice of assigning monetary value to intangible benefits & natural capital

• Method 1: Calculate revenue generated by people who pay for benefit - tourists pay to visit nature preserve
• Method 2: use surveys - ask a number of people how much they would pay to know spotted owls exist

Question 6

What are the negative effects of the following human land uses?
extensive logging 
deforestation 
change of landscape 
paving
overuse of farmland

Answer 6

• extensive logging - mudslides
• deforestation = climate change & other environmental problems
• change of landscape = single largest cause of species extinctions
• paving = runoff & absorbs heat from sun & reradiates it = urban “heat islands”
• overuse of farmland = soil degradation & water pollution (& sometimes mudslides)

Question 7

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 7

tendency for a shared, limited resource to become depleted if it is not regulated in some way

Question 8

Externalities

Answer 8

cost or benefit of good or service that is NOT included in purchase price of that good or service or otherwise NOT accounted for
Environmental Injustice - people who are economically disadvantaged are more likely to live next to landfills, and the negative externality is the cost on their health

Question 9

Maximum sustainable yield

Answer 9

maximum amount of renewable resource that can be harvested without compromising future availability of that resource

Question 10

Sustainability

Answer 10

meets needs of present generation without compromising ability of future generations to meet their own needs