【9】Ecosystem regulating services

These are the benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes. They are closely linked to many fundamental biogeochemical processes, which are the biological and chemical processes that cycle and transform carbon, nutrients, water, and other materials in the environment. Regulating services include:

• Air quality maintenance. Ecosystems both contribute chemicals to and extract chemicals from the atmosphere, influencing many aspects of air quality.

• Climate regulation. Ecosystems influence climate both locally and globally. For example, at a local scale, changes in land cover can affect both temperature and precipitation. At the global scale, ecosystems play an important role in climate by either sequestering or emitting greenhouse gases.

• Water regulation. The timing and magnitude of runoff, flooding, and aquifer recharge can be strongly influenced by changes in land cover, including, in particular, alterations that change the water storage potential of the system, such as the conversion of wetlands or the replacement of forests with croplands or croplands with urban areas.

• Erosion control. Vegetative cover plays an important role in soil retention and the prevention of landslides.

• Water purification and waste treatment. Ecosystems can be a source of impurities in fresh water but also can help to filter out and decompose organic wastes introduced into inland waters and coastal and marine ecosystems.

• Regulation of human diseases. Changes in ecosystems can directly change the abundance of human pathogens, such as cholera, and can alter the abundance of disease vectors, such as mosquitoes.

• Biological control. Ecosystem changes affect the prevalence of crop and livestock pests and diseases.

• Storm protection. The presence of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and coral reefs can dramatically reduce the damage caused by hurricanes or large waves.