Ecosystem Service

An ecosystem service is a benefit people obtain from an ecosystem, classified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment into provisioning (fish, raw materials), regulating (carbon sequestration, coastal protection, water purification), cultural (recreation, heritage), and supporting (nutrient cycling, primary production) services. Marine examples include saltmarsh and mangrove flood buffering, seagrass and kelp carbon storage, and fisheries yield. Valuing these services in monetary or biophysical terms feeds cost-benefit analysis in marine spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, making habitat loss visible as foregone benefit. The CICES classification standardizes accounting. The concept reframes conservation as protection of measurable human value, not abstract preservation.