Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems

by John Harte and Gretchen Daily

Book Overview

Life itself as well as the entire human economy depends on goods and services provided by earth's natural systems. The processes of cleansing, recycling, and renewal, along with goods such as seafood, forage, and timber, are worth many trillions of dollars annually, and nothing could live without them. Yet growing human impacts on the environment are profoundly disrupting the functioning of natural systems and imperiling the delivery of these services.

Nature's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1559634766
• ISBN13: 9781559634762
• Release Date: February 1997
• Publisher: Island Press
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A classic and a must-read

Are you interested in environmental issues, natural resource policy, or understanding how ecosystems silently enable our society to function? If so you must read this book. Almost 10 years has passed since this edited volume was published (edited by Gretchen Daily), and there has been considerable progress on some fronts. Accordingly and expectedly, some of the estimates of the values of services are out-dated, but there are crucial contributions here in the framework for understanding and characterizing such ecosystem services (the flow of benefits from ecosystems to people). This book sparked an immense scholarly and public interest in ecosystem services that has not even begun to peak. In order to enable our society to persist sustainably, we *must* understand our dependence on ecosystem services and incorporate this understanding into societal decision-making. Top-notch scholars contributed to this excellent volume, which continues to be cited frequently in first-rate academic papers and to cause ripples in broader society.

Francisco gets badly translated.

I haven't read this book. But I think that maybe it would be good if the only review --which is in spanish-- were translated. I'm supposed to be a native speaker, but I'm more like Tarzan...be that as it may, here's Francisco's review:This edition is important on the themes of environmental economy and the underestimation of the health of ecosystems, for humanity surges to break the little known of the ecosystems, of the synergies, and the diverse benefits they bring, much of which we don't know. So, this book approaches the important elements, for the process of optimizing the utilization of the ecosystems, from philosophic, environmental, and economic perspectives.I made it sound like stereo instrucions, sigh.

un aporte a la valoracion de los servicios ambientales

Es bien importante que se editen textos en estos temas de economía ambiental pues la subestimación del valor de los ecosistemas para la humanidad surge a partir del poco conocimiento de los ecosistemas, de sus sinergias y los diversos beneficios que brindan, muchos de ellos no reconocidos. Así, este libro aporta elementos importantes, para el proceso de optimización de la utilización de los ecosistemas, desde la perpectiva ambiental, filosófica y económica.