Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Riverside, CA, 92507, USA.
Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture, Riverside, CA, 92507, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Oct 15;344:118752. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118752. Epub 2023 Aug 11.
Ecosystem Services (ESs) are either material or non-material benefits humans receive from ecosystems. Definitions, classifications, and typologies of ESs can vary to address different research and policy purposes. However, a boundary that distinguishes ESs from other ecosystem-related benefits (e.g., industrial products that consume raw materials, fossil fuels that used to be a part of ecosystems) is needed to avoid the risk of using ESs as an all-encompassing metaphor that captures any benefit. The boundary also maintains a common ground for communication and comparison of ESs across studies. To guide future development and application of the ES concepts, we suggest five criteria. ESs are (1) primary contributions of ecosystems, (2) flows assessed during a period or per time unit (not stock existing at a time point), (3) renewable (having the potential to be reproduced with a conceivable timeframe relevant to human use), (4) affected by biotic parts of ecosystems to occur. ESs include both biotic and some abiotic flows (e.g., water provisioning) but exclude abiotic flows (e.g., wind and solar energy) whose occurrence is unaffected by ecosystem functions, processes, or characteristics; and (5) inclusive to the benefits humans actually and potentially receive from ecosystems. These criteria link ESs with conservation of life-supporting and culturally important ecosystems, recognize use, option, and non-use values of ESs, and highlight ESs' sustainability.
生态系统服务是人类从生态系统中获得的物质或非物质利益。生态系统服务的定义、分类和类型可以因研究和政策目的的不同而有所差异。然而，为了避免将生态系统服务用作涵盖任何利益的包罗万象的隐喻的风险，需要有一个区分生态系统服务与其他与生态系统相关的利益（例如，消耗原材料的工业产品、曾经是生态系统一部分的化石燃料）的界限。该界限还为跨研究的生态系统服务的沟通和比较提供了共同基础。为了指导生态系统服务概念的未来发展和应用，我们建议了五个标准。生态系统服务是：（1）生态系统的主要贡献；（2）在一段时间内或每一时间单位评估的流量（不是在某一时间点存在的存量）；（3）可再生（具有在与人类使用相关的可想象时间框架内被复制的潜力）；（4）受生态系统生物部分的影响而发生；（5）包括人类实际和潜在从生态系统中获得的利益。这些标准将生态系统服务与维持生命支持和具有文化重要性的生态系统联系起来，承认生态系统服务的使用、选择和非使用价值，并突出生态系统的可持续性。
