short note on ecosystem services
plz answer it related to NCERT syllabus
Answers
Ecosystems are communities formed by the interaction between living (plants, animals, microbes) and non-living organisms (air, water, mineral soil).
Human beings are both part of ecosystems and benefit from ecosystems in many ways. The benefits are known as ECOSYSTEM SERVICES.
Acoording to NCERT:
Healthy ecosystems 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 ecosystems purify air and water, mitigate droughts and
floods, cycle nutrients, generate fertile soils, provide wildlife habitat,
maintain biodiversity, pollinate crops, provide storage site for carbon
and also provide aesthetic, cultural and spiritual values. Though value
of such services of biodiversity is difficult to determine, it seems
reasonable to think that biodiversity should carry a hefty price tag.
Robert Constanza and his colleagues have very recently tried to
put price tags on nature’s life-support services. Researchers have put
an average price tag of US $ 33 trillion a year on these fundamental
ecosystems 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 trillion).
Out of the total cost of various ecosystem services, the soil
formation accounts for about 50 per cent, and contributions of other
services like recreation and nutrient cycling, are less than 10 per
cent each. The cost of climate regulation and habitat for wildlife are
about 6 per cent each.