Impact

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Hassan et al. 2005) defined four categories of ecosystem services:

Supporting services - biophysical processes that maintain the functioning of the ecosystem, and are necessary for the production of other ecosystem services, but may not have direct impacts to humans, including

• Structure – Soil stabilization, wave energy attenuation
• Nutrient & contaminant processing
• Water cycling
• Carbon storage & cycling – including primary production
• Provision of food and habitat to critical species

Regulating services – biophysical processes that regulate the ecosystem, including

• Air quality regulation
• Climate regulation
• Water regulation
• Erosion regulation
• Water purification and waste treatment
• Disease regulation
• Pest regulation
• Pollination
• Natural hazard regulation

Provisioning services – the biological, chemical, or products obtained or harvested from ecosystems for human use including

• Water resources – including fresh water
• Food resources – including finfish, shellfish, and hunting stock
• Biochemical & genetic resources – for pharmaceutical development, or breeding of wild & controlled populations
• Raw materials – including fuel, fiber, and ornamental resources

Cultural services – include the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from the ecological integrity of ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences, including

• Recreational value and ecotourism
• Aesthetic value
• Cultural value
• Spiritual or religious value
• Social relations
• Sense of place
• Educational or knowledge value
• Research potential
• Untapped future potential