ecoSERVICES Project Overview
ecoSERVICES, a Core Project within DIVERSITAS, is an interdisciplinary, international network of scientists concerned with the impact of anthropogenic activity on the world’s biodiversity, and on the consequences of biodiversity loss for human well-being through changes in ecosystem functioning, ecosystem processes, and the provision of valuable goods and services. It works through a set of four core projects – bioGENESIS (in development); bioDISCOVERY; ecoSERVICES and bioSUSTAINABILITY. The core projects are supplemented by cross-cutting networks including agroBIODIVERSITY, freshwaterBIODIVERSITY and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment.
The aim of the ecoSERVICES core project is to establish a robust understanding of the ecological, economic and cultural consequences of biodiversity loss and change.
ecoSERVICES has three Foci, which serve as a link between the other DIVERSITAS Core Projects: bioDISCOVERY, which aims to improve our basic understanding of Earth’s natural resources, and bioSUSTAINABILITY, the goal of which is to encourage sustainable use of biodiversity.
- Focus 1: Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF)
As a critical first step, Focus 1 will expand science in this area to larger scales (temporal and spatial) and over a greater breadth of the biological hierarchy. - Focus 2: Linking ecosystem functioning to the provision of services
There is increasing evidence that changes in ecosystem structure and functioning (e.g. predation, productivity, carbon sequestration) lead to changes in ecosystem goods and services (e.g. soil fertility, greenhouse gas regulation), many of which are relevant to human well-being. Better understanding of these links is important on several levels. - Focus 3: Human responses to changes in ecosystem services
Humans trigger biodiversity loss and affect the quantity and quality of ecosystem services. When changes occur, humans adapt by adopting new behaviours. Better understanding of these responses, as well as the associated costs/benefits and losses of efficiency or equity, is a critical component of the ecoSERVICES portfolio and provides a logical link to the bioSUSTAINABILITY Core Project.
ecoSERVICES Science Plan
The research agenda is described in detail in the document Assessing the impacts of biodiversity changes on ecosystem functioning and services ecoSERVICES science plan and implementation strategy.
Hard copies of this document are available free of charge from the ecoSERVICES core project officer, Margherita Gioria, at ecoSERVICES Group, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA