Abstract
Reyers, B., P. J. O’Farrell, R. M. Cowling, B. N. Egoh, D. C. Le Maitre and J. H. J. Vlok 2009. Ecosystem services, land-cover change, and stakeholders: finding a sustainable foothold for a semiarid biodiversity hotspot. Ecology and Society 14(1): 38. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02867-140138
Highlights
The last few centuries have seen significant changes in the world’s ecosystems, tracking our efforts to: enhance the production of food, fiber, and fuel; control water supplies; and reduce our exposure to natural dangers like predators and storms (Kareiva et al 2007, Swinton et al 2007)
It is clear that high levels of supply of ecosystem services are limited to a few areas; service hotspots occupy only 10%–38% of the region
Carbon storage shares no hotspots with erosion control and very little (0.04%) with water-flow regulation
Summary
The last few centuries have seen significant changes in the world’s ecosystems, tracking our efforts to: enhance the production of food, fiber, and fuel; control water supplies; and reduce our exposure to natural dangers like predators and storms (Kareiva et al 2007, Swinton et al 2007). The immediate benefits for humans are clear, the ecosystem changes wrought have far-reaching consequences for current and future human well-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) 2005) Understanding these consequences requires an awareness and assessment of the links between ecosystems, their biodiversity, and human well-being. These are mediated through ecosystem services, i.e., the benefits humans obtain from ecosystems (MA 2003).
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