Journal ArticleDOI
The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital
Robert Costanza,Rudolf de Groot,Stephen Farberk,Monica Grasso,Bruce Hannon,Karin E. Limburg,Shahid Naeem,José M. Paruelo,Robert Raskin,Paul Suttonkk,Marjan van den Belt +10 more
TLDR
In this paper, the authors have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem services for 16 biomes, based on published studies and a few original calculations, for the entire biosphere, the value (most of which is outside the market) is estimated to be in the range of US$16-54 trillion (10^(12)) per year, with an average of US $33 trillion per year.Abstract:
The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocks that produce them are critical to the functioning of the Earth's life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent part of the total economic value of the planet. We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem services for 16 biomes, based on published studies and a few original calculations. For the entire biosphere, the value (most of which is outside the market) is estimated to be in the range of US$16-54 trillion (10^(12)) per year, with an average of US$33 trillion per year. Because of the nature of the uncertainties, this must be considered a minimum estimate. Global gross national product total is around US$18 trillion per year.read more
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Urban forests, ecosystem services, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions: Nexus or evolving metaphors?
Francisco J. Escobedo,Vincenzo Giannico,Chi Yung Jim,Giovanni Sanesi,Raffaele Lafortezza,Raffaele Lafortezza +5 more
TL;DR: This paper conducted a review of the literature to better understand the origin, trends, and evolution of these metaphors and their institutional and contextual interpretations, and found that ecosystem services appeared in 2006, green infrastructure in 2007 and nature-based solutions (NBS) in 2015.
Journal ArticleDOI
Using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model ecosystem services: A systematic review
TL;DR: An overview of efforts using SWAT to quantify ecosystem services is provided, to determine the model’s capability examining various types of services, and to describe the approach used by various researchers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Coral reef ecosystems and anthropogenic climate change
TL;DR: A recent study as mentioned in this paper suggests that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 450 ppm will lead to the loss of coral-dominated reef systems, with the prospect that dangerous levels of atmospheric CO 2 for coral reefs were exceeded in 1979 when mass coral bleaching was reported for the first time.
Journal ArticleDOI
The influence of sociality on the conservation biology of social insects
TL;DR: Recent studies show or strongly suggest that, in some of the most notoriously invasive populations of ants, bees and wasps, novel social traits have arisen that greatly enhance the rate of spread and ecological competitiveness of these populations.
References
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Book
Using surveys to value public goods : the contingent valuation method
TL;DR: Mitchell and Carson as discussed by the authors argue that at this time the contingent valuation (CV) method offers the most promising approach for determining public willingness to pay for many public goods, an approach likely to succeed, if used carefully, where other methods may fail.
Journal ArticleDOI
Nature's services: societal dependence on natural ecosystems.
TL;DR: Nature's Services brings together world-renowned scientists from a variety of disciplines to examine the character and value of ecosystem services, the damage that has been done to them, and the consequent implications for human society.
Book
For The Common Good: Redirecting The Economy Towards Community, The Environment And A Sustainable Future
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the scale of human activity in the biosphere has grown too large and that change is needed in the approach to economic activity: "correction and expansion a more empirical and historical attitude less pretense on being science and willingness to subordinate the market to purposes that it is not geared to determine."
Journal ArticleDOI
Primary production required to sustain global fisheries
Daniel Pauly,Villy Christensen +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the mean of reported annual world fisheries catches for 1988-1991 (94.3 million t) was split into 39 species groups, to which fractional trophic levels, ranging from 1.0 (edible algae) to 4.2 (tunas), were assigned, based on 48 published Trophic models, providing a global coverage of six major aquatic ecosystem types.
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Natural Capital and Sustainable Development
Robert Costanza,Herman E. Daly +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a minimum necessary condition for sustainability is the maintenance of the total natural capital stock at or above the current level, to be relaxed only when solid evidence can be offered that it is safe to do so.