Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and the nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit. Ecosystems range from relatively undisturbed and natural (some forests) to intensively managed and modified (agricultural land) and can range in size from oceans and deserts to a single decomposing log. They are a way of describing the world we live in.

The way ecosystems function also incidentally provides us with essential services. These ecosystem services (the benefits people obtain from ecosystems) include:

• the oxygen we breathe - provided by photosynthesizing plants and phytoplankton
• pollination of crops - mainly by insects, but some birds and bats too
• psychological benefits - e.g. hospital beds with a view of the natural world halve patients' recovery times
• stable climate - plants capture and lock up carbon in their tissues

Follow this link for more details on ecosystem services

The economic value of ecosystem services is enormous - for example, the United Nations estimated in 2005 that wetlands provide services to humanity worth $15 trillion annually, including the water supply on which 1.5 - 3 billion people depend.

However, our ecosystems and the services they provide are in trouble. For example, wetlands are being degraded and destroyed at a faster rate than any other type of ecosystem. The UN's Millenium Ecosystem Assessment published in 2005 estimates that about half of the Earth's land has been heavily transformed or degraded by human activities.

People are integral parts of many ecosystems and human well-being is intrinsically linked to ecosystems. This link hasn't been fully appreciated in the richer parts of the world because they are less affected by the loss of ecosystem services as they can purchase substitutes or offset local losses of services by shifting production and harvest to other regions. As a consequence, ecosystem services have not been adequately considered in decision-making and resource management. For example, the costs of lost ecosystem services frequently exceed the benefit of habitat conversion. Most economic calculations fail to account for ecosystem services or consider the gains to one group over the losses to the wider community.

Ecosystem services are what your planet does for you - if you'll let it.

Maybe it's time to consider what you can do for your planet.

One place to start is Living Landscapes - the Wildlife Trusts' campaign to restore Britain battered ecosystems

For more general planet-benefiting actions try:

The NAG - do one thing a month to make the world a better place

Saving the plant without costing the earth - book of simple ways of doing just that

I-Count - help stop climate chaos