Lesson 10: Ecosystem Services

California Education Standards : Kindergarten Earth Sciences3. Earth is composed of land, air, and water. As a basis for understanding this concept:

c. Students know how to identify resources from Earth that are used in everyday life and understand that many resources can be conserved.

Grade 2, Earth Sciences3. Earth is made of materials that have distinct properties and provide resources for human activities. As a basis for understanding this concept:

e. Students know rock, water, plants, and soil provide many resources, including food, fuel, and building materials, that humans use.

Grade 6, Resources6. Sources of energy and materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and the time required for their formation. As a basis for understanding this concept:

b. Students know different natural energy and material resources, including air, soil, rocks, minerals, petroleum, fresh water, wildlife, and forests, and know how to classify them as renewable or nonrenewable.c. Students know the natural origin of the materials used to make common objects.

Objective : Students understand the wide variety of services provided by our natural ecosystems, how they benefit us, and the importance of preserving ecosystems.

Vocabulary :

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Ecosystem Services – the benefits that people get from natural ecosystemsRenewable resource – any resource that is replenished naturally over timeProvisioning Services – a material benefit that humans take from ecosystemsRegulating Services – the benefits that people get from the regulation of natural ecosystem processesCultural Services – the non-material benefits that people gain from natural ecosystemsSupporting Services – the underlying processes that support the production of all other ecosystem services

Lesson : Ecosystem services are processes and resources that healthy ecosystems provide, and are very beneficial to humans. Some examples of ecosystem services are water purification, aesthetic value, and supply of materials. When ecosystems are degraded, they may no longer be able to provide these services, many of which would be impossible or too expensive for humans to create for themselves. There are four types of ecosystem services, as described by the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, which more than 1300 scientists from all over the world collaborated to make. The four types are provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services.

Provisioning services are those that provide products that humans take and use. An example is ocean fisheries that, when they are fished responsibly so that the population is stable, can provide fish for us to eat. If we overfish our fisheries, they will not be renewable and eventually we will run out of those fish.

Other provisioning services are timber, drinking water, and plants that we use to make clothing, medicine, or food. We also get fuel from ecosystems, such as the oil that powers our cars, the coal that gives us electricity, and wood for fuel. Oil and coal, however, are not renewable, which means there is a finite, or limited amount, that exists on earth. As we are starting to run out of these fuels, we are starting to use more and more renewable alternative sources of energy, such as solar power, hydroelectric power, and wind power. These fuel sources are also much better for

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the planet because they do not emit harmful and toxic pollutants into the air as coal and oil do when burned to make energy.

Regulating services are the benefits that we get from the regulation of natural ecosystem processes. Some examples are pollination, air quality regulation – plants remove carbon dioxide and contribute oxygen to the air, decomposition – healthy soil ecosystems break down and detoxify waste materials into reusable nutrients, water filtration, and flood and erosion control.

Cultural services are the non-material benefits that people gain from natural ecosystems. Humans have always interacted with nature, which has contributed to our cultural, spiritual, and intellectual development. Examples of cultural services are learning and building of knowledge, creative and spiritual inspiration, and recreational and aesthetic value. People love going camping to be in the great outdoors, and America’s beautiful National Parks, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon attract millions of visitors from around the world every year.

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Supporting services are those that support all ecosystems, and though they may not affect humans directly or do so over a long time, they are extremely important; without them, the other ecosystem services would not be possible. Some examples are photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, the creation of soil, and water cycling.

It is important to understand that these ecosystems are not indestructible, and we cannot take them for granted. Human activities have already degraded so many ecosystems that we need to be mindful of the effects we have on the environment. The resources and services that ecosystems supply to us will not be renewable if we degrade them too much. We all need to do our part such as recycling, carpooling, walking or riding a bike when possible, and eating locally, to protect our planet and its ecosystems.

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Activity 1: Types of Ecosystem Services Docents lead the students into the garden in groups of five and ask them to try to identify some of the ecosystem services taking place. They can write down ideas in their journals. Ask them to raise their hands and share their ideas, taking the students around the garden to show them the examples as they are shared. Also ask students which of the four types of ecosystem services they think each example would be. If there are any that were not brought up, do so. Some good examples in the garden are pollination, the creation of soil (compost pile), air quality regulation, nutrient cycles (talk briefly about the carbon and nitrogen cycle happening in the plants), photosynthesis, and erosion control (point out plants growing on a slope and explain how this prevents erosion). The food we get from the garden is a provisioning service.

Activity 2: How Would We Make This ? Docents lead the students around the garden pointing out the different ecosystem services as mentioned before. Discuss what each of these services means to us. Then ask students to pretend that this service did not exist in nature and ask them to think of ways that humans could recreate this service. The lesson to take out of this exercise is that many of these services are improbable, impossible, or much too expensive for us to recreate, and students should learn to appreciate that nature is able to do this for us for free, when ecosystems are preserved.

Sources and Links : Ecosystem services explained by National Wildlife Federation: http :// www . nwf . org / Wildlife / Wildlife - Conservation / Understanding - Wildlife - Conservation / Ecosystem - Services . aspx

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