The functions performed by ecosystems that ensure natural cycles (e.g. water, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen), processes and energy flows continue to provide an environment that supports life, including human life. Ecosystem services such as fresh water from catchments and wastewater assimilation by wetlands represent the benefits that people derive, directly or indirectly, from ecosystem functions.

Contributions of the ecosystems, generally taken for granted and assumed to be free, for instance clean air and water, natural filtering provided by wetlands etc.

the beneficial outcomes, for the natural environment, or for people, that result from ecosystem functions. Some examples of ecosystem services are support of the food chain, harvesting of animals or plants, clean water, or scenic views. In order for an ecosystem to provide services to humans, some interaction with, or at least some appreciation by, humans is required.

The multifold ways the natural environment contributes to the human economy. These include air and water purification, agricultural pollination, nutrient cycling, soil enrichment, climate stabilization, medicinal products and drought mitigation; collectively, their global value has been estimated at some $33 trillion a year. See http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf for more information.

The conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfil human life. Examples include provision of clean water, maintenance of liveable climates (carbon sequestration), pollination of crops and native vegetation, and fulfilment of people's cultural, spiritual, intellectual needs

the fundamental life-support processes necessary for life, including human, to thrive. Ecosystems provide "services" that: • moderate weather extremes and their impacts • disperse seeds • mitigate drought and floods • protect people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays • cycle and move nutrients • protect stream and river channels and coastal shores from erosion • detoxify and decompose wastes • control agricultural pests • maintain biodiversity • generate and preserve soils and renew their fertility • contribute to climate stability • purify the air and water • regulate disease carrying organisms • pollinate crops and natural vegetation(back)

The name given to the benefits we derive from natural ecosystems. This could be water filtration, flood mitigation, clean air, reduced silting or soil erosion. We're getting better at measuring the benefits and even putting a price on them, which may seem sacriligious (particularly when we don't have alternatives lined up to replace the natural variety), but it is a useful way of encouraging nature conservation by those who might not see its intrinsic value.

The benefits people obtain from ecosystems including regulating, cultural and supporting services.

organisms and environmental processes interacting to create a healthy environment for human beings, from production of oxygen to soil formation and maintenance of water quality

The benefits to socitey of well-functioning ecosystems that provide clean air and water, flood control and recreation and amenity value.

Are defined as those processes that are provided by natural systems that produce resources that we consume. Some of these resources are clean water and air, recreation opportunities, fish and wildlife, timber, and even things like pollination of agricultural plants. These services often are considered free and are not valued in the same way as economic goods and services, but they are tremendously valuable and without them it would cost billions to reproduce

Natural services or natural capital that support life on the earth and are essential to the quality of human life and the functioning of the world's economies. See natural resources.

Valuable functions ecosystems provide free of charge to human societies, including maintenance of atmospheric gases; regulation of the hydrologic cycle; provision of potable water, fertile soil, wood, fish, and other consumable products; processing of wastes; pollination of crops; and the genetic library from which people have domesticated crops and are now designing new foodstuffs.

n: Services, vital to the support of human life, provided by intact natual ecosystems. These include the purification of air and water, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, regulation of climate, regeneration of soil fertility, and production and maintenance of biodiversity, from which key ingredients of our agricultural, pharmaceutical, and industrial enterprises are derived. Historically, the nature and value of Earth’s life support systems have largely been ignored until their disruption or loss highlighted their importance. Read more about the value of ecosystem services and how they are measured.

Although it is widely recognized that humanity depends critically upon Earth’s biota for our existence and material wellbeing, many of these benefits—ecosystem services—are “externalities” not traded in the market and are consequently degraded without consideration. As the human population continues to grow and our fundamental reliance upon natural resources (including food production) continues unabated, it becomes increasingly important that we incorporate ecosystem services into conservation and land-use planning. Various environmental laws and regulations require cost-benefit analyses, but without accepted measures of social benefits of conservation there has been asymmetric attention to the social costs of conservation and the benefits of ecosystem transformation.