Many authors use "Ecosystem Services" in the titles or in the texts of their articles. However, some authors use "Ecological Services". We know that Ecosystem (dynamic relationships between biotic and abiotic factors of a place) is a topic under the broad subject, "Ecology". So, the term "Ecological Services" is able to address everything that deals "Ecosystem". Sometimes, it is very difficult to keep some services under "Ecosystem Services". For example, the coastal mangrove acts as biotic shield against cyclones or water surges. I would be happy if I get some comments on it.
The term Ecosystem Services was invented during President Reagan's Administration to put a dollar value on mitigation and other costs associated environmental projects and legislation. The term seems to have taken on more than an economic value today relating more to ecological systems than the economic cost of protecting ecological systems.
Bidhan:
Ecosystem Services would be more appropriate and has a distinct definition (Kindly see link):
Best
Syed
Without doubt , ecosystem services have far deeper and far wider consequences than ecological services...
Thanks to Dr. Timothy Cass, Dr. Syed Abbas Jafar and Dr. Anoop Kumar Srivastava for their nice comments. Special thanks to Dr. Syed Abbas Jafar for giving a link on the issue.
Thank you for raising this question. The meaning of ecological services and ecosystem services seems to be understood differently by different scholarly and development communities. Those that are strongly influenced by the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment - https://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html - tend to define ecosystem services as services to humans: an anthropocentric view. This makes it possible to include non-market ecosystem functions, like climate regulation and soil formation, in decision making by governments and organizations like the World Bank. However, it risks, in some contexts, weighing ecosystem values that have no clear benefit to humans as zero - such as expensive restoration of damage to a mangrove forest that is distant from any human habitation. Also, where it is used as part of a valuation process, the methodologies are far from perfect. I'm interested in more comments on how others understand "ecological services". I find Dr. Das's definition the most convincing so far.
I am still confused! I am trying to evaluate the services of mussel aquaculture to the environment in which the mussels are grown: e.g. habitat provision, biodiversity maintenance, C and N sequestration, - the latter can be seen as ES for humans (climate change and addressing eutrophication) but the former are services to the overall health of the marine ecosystems and as such are 'ecological services' i.e the ecosystem benefits but no direct benefit to humans?
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