3.2.1 - VALUE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ECOSYSTEMS
supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services
Ecosystem - community made of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components such as air, water and mineral soil.
Biome - large scale ecosystems such as desert, tropical rainforest and temperate deciduous forest.
Ecosystem service Example of service Example of where it takes place Evaluate
Supporting services - Soil formation is a supporting A study in Southeast Queensland, Overall, this shows the extent of the positive
ecosystems supporting service because it is Australia investigated the extent to which outcomes of supporting services that are key
natural life. fundamental to the production of other ecosystem services depend on soil to the survival of natural life on a global scale
other services. Soil is formation. and helping to reduce the costs and efforts for
heterogeneous and varies in its It found all services in all categories humans.
characteristics between places. depend on soil to at least some extent,
Soil is formed from parent showing the interference between soil and However, the effectiveness could be reduced
material, which are rocks all other factors. For example, food as soil formation is dependent on conditions
weathered physically, chemically products and arable land are a direct such as climate, organisms and relief of the
or biologically. This is then relationship with soil formation. These are land. This means soil formed in the tundra will
combined with dead organic interdependent with each other because if be less productive than soil in the rainforest.
matter, microorganisms, plants quality soil forms within an area, the This means soil formation’s positive aspects
and animals to form soil. productive nature of soil will be high and may not be applicable to all ecosystems and
this creates ideal conditions for growing provide benefits for hotter areas of the world.
crops. Additionally, other services that
don’t have a direct relationship still derive
from the presence of soil. For example,
abundant arable land is productive and the
soil found there has ideal water-storing
capabilities, deep drainage and
groundwater in good condition.
Following this, arable land creates a wider
diversity of food products able to grow with
minimal input. Food products provide
humans with crucial sources for survival
with vitamins and nutrients.
Provisioning services - Medicine is a provisioning Unlike supporting services, medicines can On one hand, this is positive as it is found in
ecosystems provide service because natural be found in many regions and many areas. A lot of material can be gathered
products we can use to ecosystems have been found to ecosystems. In the ocean, coral reefs at once and be produced at a mass to cure
ensure survival and provide a variety of effective alone have been used to course many health issues, some vital for curing
well-being of humans. cures for many health problems medicines to treat cancer, arthritis, popular diseases.
and are commonly used in the bacterial infections, Alzheimers and heart However, the collection of medicinal
creation of pharmaceutical disease. Aspirin comes from willow trees, resources may reach its capacity due to
medicine. found in deciduous forests, and treats pollution, deforestation and overfishing
, fever, pain and inflammation and threatening these plants and animals. Without
Kawasaki disease. Quinine is extracted sustainable management and intervention,
from the bark of cinchona trees in the medicinal plants and animals will die out or be
rainforest and can treat illnesses from unable to get ahold of and the curation of
headaches to diseases like malaria. disease will be out at a halt.
It could be said the abundance of medicine
Another example of this is through gene derived from nature can provide education,
pools. There are 75,000 edible plants in linking to cultural services, and help deter
nature, 150 in commercial production, people from these environmental threats and
society is dependent on 20 to not have find more sustainable ways of gathering
global starvation. This makes humans resources.
susceptible to impacts of disease, pests
and climate change. Ecosystems help to
fortify against this vulnerability.
Regulating services - Carbon sequestration is the The ocean is a key driver in carbon sequestration as it holds around ⅓ of excess CO2 and
ecosystems regulate removal of carbon dioxide from 93% of all earth’s CO2. This can be positive as it prevents it from being released into the
global systems and keep the atmosphere. This prevents a atmosphere. However, related global warming from sea level rise, coral bleaching and
them in balance. rapid increase in greenhouse extreme weather events means more carbon needs to be absorbed, creating issues for the
gases being trapped in the interdependence and biodiversity of marine life, which has a global, knock-on effect. This
atmosphere and is therefore, a means it is becoming increasingly vital that other carbon sinks, such as peatlands,
regulating service as the mangrove forests and seagrass beds are dependable to sequester this carbon, which
composition of the earth’s gases cannot be ensured with the rise of climate change and it likely reaching its threshold within
in balance. the next 30 years.
Overall, it can be seen that carbon sequestration as a regulating service is effective to a
point but it can reach a maximum threshold before it cannot sequester any more carbon
and cause global systems to become unbalanced.
Cultural services - Tourism is a cultural service and Ecotourism is tourism directed to This means ecotourism doesn't impact the
ecosystems provide it brings people together to be a threatened environments to ensure their earth on a global scale and doesn’t reflect the
locations and inspiration part of cultural experiences and conservation. It aims to not exploit extent to which tourism can be an issue in
for a number of different encounter ecosystems in the environments, support local communities other areas of the world, such as ruining
cultural experiences. world, different to their own. and protect resources and wildlife. This is natural environments and not maintaining
backed by the UN Nations but mostly natural ecosystems for economic advantage.
occurs in remote locations, where tourism To resolve this, other strategies have been put
can be easily controlled. in place to counteract these effects and act as
a middle ground. For example, wildlife
corridors is a strip of natural habitat that
connects populations of wildlife if their habitat
has been disrupted by human activity or
structures.This allows urbanisation and the
natural rainforest environment to be allied and
solves two opposing issues, creating
opportunities for tourism without the
sometimes detrimental effects it can bring.
, This shows tourism as a cultural service can
have its negative and although small scale,
there have been efforts to implement
strategies to reverse these changes and
ensure tourism is used in a positive way that
conserves the surrounding environment.
3.2.1 - VALUE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ECOSYSTEMS
temperature and precipitation on the functioning and distribution of ecosystems
Biome Characteristics and Influence of temperature Influence of precipitation Evaluate / compare
distribution
Temperate grassland Most closely involved Fluctuates with the season Low average rainfall (less Plants: short perennial grasses due to
in sustaining human (-5 to 22 degrees celsius). than 500 mm) is a limiting precipitation falling at a steady rate,
life. This means plants grow factor in the growth of presenting leahing (100 t/h). Buffalo grass
Edges of mid-latitude seasonally, varying the forests in these areas. has long roots to access water deep in the
deserts at 30-50 amount of carbon stored. Rainfall is higher in growing soil in dry seasons and quickly regrow after
degrees north of the Temperatures drop in seasons, which vary fires.
equator in North and Autumn, humidity depending on the place. In Animals: seasonal variations impact
South America, Europe increases and North America, this is May migration patterns. Grazing herbivores like
and Asia. decomposition transfers to September. bison graze on grasses, an abundant food
carbon back to the soil. source in the growing season. The open
spaces are beneficial for coyotes that rely
on small mammals and grasshoppers.
Soil: moderate precipitation contributes to
fertile mollisols. Decomposition and
extensive root system of grasses contribute
to the organic matter.
Tropical rainforests These are located near High annual temperatures Heavy rainfall (3,000 Plants: combination of trees and rainfall
the equator in South (25-30 degrees celsius) mm/year). This is constant provides optimum conditions for growth.
America, Central with little variation. This throughout the year with no Light plays a key factor in plant growth.
America, Africa, means there is a year specific dry season. The Competition for light has led to 5 layers of
SouthEast Asia and round growing season with Amazon rainforest receives vegetation: field, shrub, under-canopy,
Pacific Islands. high levels of biomass and 2000 mm/year. continuous canopy and emergent trees to
The largest is Amazon, carbon sequestration. hold 180 t/h of carbon. The Kapok tree can
⅔ the size of the USA. grow up to 60 metres.orchids can attach
