ecosystem services

healthy ecosystem are the base for a wide range of economic , environmental, and aesthetic goods and services. the products of ecosystem processes are named as ecosystem services. for example , healthy forest ecosystem purify air and water . mitigate droughts and floods , cycle nutrients , generate fertile soils , provide wildlife habitats , maintain biodiversity, pollinate crops, provide storage site for carbon and also provide aesthetic, cultural and spiritual values.

researcher have put an average price tag of us $ 33 trillion a year on these fundamental ecosystem services, which are largely taken for granted because they are free. this is nearly twice the value of the global gross national product gnp which is ( us $ 18 triilion ).

out  of  the total cost of various ecosystem services, the soil formation accounts for about 50 percent and contribution of other service like recreation and nutrient cycling , are less than 10 percent each. the cost of climate regulation and habitat for about 6 percent each.