Ecosystem functions describe the processes (operations and reactions) of the ecosystem and are defined as either complex interactions among biotic and abiotic elements of ecosystems that lead to a definite result (Tirri et al. 1998) or, in a broad term, as a transfer of energy and materials (Lyons et. al. 2005, Belwood et al. 2018). Ecosystem functions are usually intermediate to the production of final services (de Groot 1992; Costanza and Folke 1997; Daily et al. 2000; Nedkov and Burkhard 2011), they can be viewed as capacity of ecosystems to provide goods and services that satisfy human needs (de Groot 2002; Jax 2005).
The example of ecosystem functions: primary productivity, atmospheric deposition, water cycling.
Ecosystem services was originally described as benefits human populations derive, directly or indirectly, from ecosystem functions (Costanza et al 1997) or simply as the benefits people obtain from ecosystems (MA 2005). Recently - for reasons of applicability to economic evaluation - the definition has been narrowed and services that are not used directly (supporting services) were excluded.
Ecosystem services are components of nature that are directly enjoyed, consumed or used to produce human wellbeing (Boyd and Banzhaf, 2007), specifically to produce measurable human benefits (Escobedo et al. 2011). Brown et al. (2007) define ecosystem services as “the specific results of ecosystem functions that directly sustain or enhance human life.”
The examples of ecosystem services: food or timber production, air quality regulation, water provision, water quality regulation, flood regulation.
Boyd (2007) and Fisher et al. (2007) pointed out that services and benefits (contribution to aspects of well-being) are not identical. For example, water provision as a service brings a benefit of drinking water or water for domestic use, flood protection (service) has a benefit of property protection, air quality regulation(serivece) bring a benefit of healthy environment/decrease of respiration diseases…).
| Model / tool | Use of model / tool | Units | Time step | Ecosystem functions | Categories of Ecosystem services | Ecosystem services | ES according to TEEB | ES according to CICES | Financial valuation | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EFISCEN | Growth and production of wood in the forest | m3 | current and optional | Production | Provisioning | Wood production | Raw materials | Cultivated terrestrial plants for nutrition, materials and energy | Market price of wood | |
| InVEST - Carbon Storage and Seq. | Carbon reserves in the landscape (carbon sequestration in a broader concept) | tC/year | average per year | Production/ Carbon sequestration | Regulating | Plant biomass production / Carbon sequestration | Carbon sequestration and storage | Global climate regulation by reduction of greenhouse gas concentrations | Market price of food and fodder/ value of CO2 (e.g. Stern 2010) | |
| Carbon Data from Remote sensing | Amount of carbon in aboveground biomass | tC | current and optional | |||||||
| EFISCEN / YASSO | Amount of carbon in forest | tC/timestep | current and optional | |||||||
| ESAI | The risk of reducing the potential for performing the ecosystem functions and services | relative scale 1-2 | long-term | Production / Retention of water and substances | Provisioning / Regulating | Plant biomass production / Food production / Soil protection from erosion / Regulation of extreme flows | Food / Carbon sequestration and storage / Erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility / Moderation of extreme events | Cultivated terrestrial plants for nutrition, materials and energy / Hydrological cycle and water flow maintenance / Soil formation and composition | Economic quantification of soil fertility loss | Overlap of layers of factors contributing to the risk of land degradation, which delimits areas with the risk of a significant reduction in the performance of ecosystem services |
| Knowledge database for 22 Function groups of habitats according to HVM | Biomass production (carbon sequestration in a narrower concept) | kg.m-2.year-1 | maximum per year | Production / Carbon sequestration | Provisioning | Production of food / Carbon sequestration | Food / Carbon sequestration and storage | Cultivated terrestrial plants for nutrition, materials and energy / Global climate regulation by reduction of greenhouse gas concentrations | Market price of food and fodder | Method of creating a knowledge base for EF performance |
| Production of oxygen (O2) | Production (Photosynthesis) | Provisioning | Production of oxygen | Local climate and air quality | Ventilation and transpiration | Replacement cost method | The cost of artificially producing one liter of oxygen for technical purposes (Seják et al. 2010) | |||
| Evapotranspiration (EVAP) | l.m-2.year-1 | Evapotranspiration | Regulating | Air-conditioning | Local climate and air quality | Micro and regional climate regulation / Ventilation and transpiration | Replacement cost method | The price of energy consumed to cool by the same amount of kW (Seják et al. 2010) | ||
| Support of a small water cycle the amount of water that is recycled in the ecosystem by condensation during life functions |
Condensation | Regulating | Air-conditioning (Basis for calculation of air conditioning service) | Local climate and air quality | Micro and regional climate regulation / Ventilation and transpiration | Replacement cost method | Price required for artificial production of distilled water (Seják et al. 2010) Calculated as the volume of water from the photosynthetic equation |
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| Method of Remote sensing | Cooling effect of vegetation | oC | current and optional | Evapotranspiration | Regulation | Air-conditioning | Local climate and air quality | Micro and regional climate regulation / Ventilation and transpiration | Replacement cost method | |
| InVEST- SDR | Soil retention on the land / control of erosion rates by vegetation | t/ha/year | episodic, annual or optional | Erosion prevention / Sedimantation | Regulation | Erosion prevention (Sediment Delivery Ratio) | Erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility | Mass stabilisation and control of erosion rates / Buffering and attenuation of mass flows | Official price of land | |
| LOREP | Water retention in the landscape / retention function | mm | current, annual or optional | Water-retention | Regulating | Regulation of maximum and minimum flows / Flood protection | Regulation - moderation of extreme events / Production of fresh water | Hydrological cycle and water flow maintenance / Flood protection | Flood service - Avoidance cost method and Cost method | |
| HVM | Biodiversity assessment (degree of naturalness) | point and financial value of the habitat | current | Biodiversity functions | Habitat (Habitat services according to TEEB) | Providing an environment for species | Habitat for species, maintanance of genetic diversity | Lifecycle maintenance, habitat and gene pool protection | Financial quantification of the point value of the habitat | |
| MARXAN | Support for territorial protection of biodiversity | ha | Financial quantification of conservation elements or planning units | Selection of valuable areas for habitat protection and ensuring the provision of ES | ||||||
| CZ-GLOBIO | Threats to biodiversity - reducing the ability of fulfillment of EF | ha | Habitat for species | Financial calculation of the value of the MSA_LU indicator | Threats to biodiversity due to: intensity of land use, proximity to infrastructure, influence by fragmentation and nitrogen deposition | |||||
| EFISCEN | Creating and maintaining a suitable habitat | tC/ha (dead wood) | This function is fulfilled only if more tree species are included in the model | |||||||
| Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) | Carbon efficiency | Mg C / emit. Mg C-CO2-eq. | current and optional | Carbon sequestration | Regulating | Global climate regulation | Food and Raw materials / Carbon sequestration and storage | Global climate regulation by reduction of greenhouse gas concentrations | Life Cycle Costing - Economic efficiency | The approach is based on the comparison of amount of Mg carbon or GJ energy in product or ecosystem or landscape storage with emit. Mg C-CO2 eq. or used GJ energy. |
| Energy efficiency | GJ energy / GJ use energy | Production (energy efficiency of production process) | Provisioning | Food and Raw materials production |