This folder will provide access to publications, reports, data bases, organisations and discussion groups on guidelines for ecological valuation of services provided by natural and semi-natural ecosystems and landscapes.
Natural scientists often explain the ecological importance (value) of ecosystems by studying the causal relationships between parts of a system; for example, the value of certain vegetation species to control erosion or the value of one species to the survival of another species or of an entire ecosystem. At a global scale, different ecosystems and their species play different roles in the maintenance of essential life support processes (e.g. energy conversion, biogeochemical cycling, pollination and evolution).
The magnitude of this ecological value is often expressed through indicators such as species diversity, rarity, ecosystem integrity (health), and resilience, which mainly relate to the "supporting" and "regulating" services as identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
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