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
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Farmland Biodiversity and the Footprint of Agriculture
TL;DR: This work presents a generic risk assessment framework that accurately predicts each species' current conservation status and population growth rate associated with past changes in agriculture and demonstrates its value by assessing the potential impact on biodiversity of two controversial land uses, genetically modified herbicide-tolerant crops and agri-environment schemes.
Journal ArticleDOI
Offshore renewable energy - ecological implications of generating electricity in the coastal zone.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review demonstrates that offshore renewable energy developments will have direct and, potentially, indirect consequences for coastal ecology, with these effects occurring at different scales, with the significance of any effects is likely to depend on the natural disturbance regime and the stability and resilience of the communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
Maximizing ecosystem services from conservation biological control: the role of habitat management.
TL;DR: It is concluded that addressing ‘stacked’ ecosystem services with multiple ecosystem service goals can decrease agriculture’s dependence on ‘substitution’ methods such as the current reliance on oil-based agro-chemical inputs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global estimates of market and non-market values derived from nighttime satellite imagery, land cover, and ecosystem service valuation
Paul C. Sutton,Robert Costanza +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors estimated global marketed and non-marketed economic value from two classified satellite images with global coverage at 1 km2 resolution, which is the first global map of estimated economic activity produced at this high spatial resolution (1 km2).
Journal ArticleDOI
Mangroves in the Gulf of California increase fishery yields
Octavio Aburto-Oropeza,Exequiel Ezcurra,Gustavo Danemann,VÃctor Valdez,Jason D. Murray,Enric Sala +5 more
TL;DR: It is shown that, in the Gulf of California, fisheries landings are positively related to the local abundance of mangroves and, in particular, to the productive area in the mangrove–water fringe that is used as nursery and/or feeding grounds by many commercial species.
References
More filters
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.
Journal ArticleDOI
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.