All humans have a dependence on the natural world and its systems in order for us to be able to survive and thrive. Agriculture is no different and requires thriving ecosystems to provide a strong foundation to support a thriving food and fibre sector. Ecosystem services are a key piece of the wider farming picture and provide a great way to think about how ecosystems serve your business but also to reflect on how your business is serving your ecosystems on farm.
What are ecosystem services?
What is an ecosystem? Ecosystems are dynamic and complex systems. We can think about them as a community of living things and how they interact with the physical environment. Living things might include plants, microbes and animals (including humans), whereas the physical environment includes factors like sunlight, soil, freshwater, oxygen and more. The aim of the ecosystem is to provide conditions where the living components are able to thrive. However, these conditions are a balancing act that the ecosystem is constantly trying to manage.
Humans are a living species so are dependent on the interconnections between the living world, physical environment and its associated systems. We are therefore reliant on ecosystems for our sustenance, ability to survive and to thrive. This is where ecosystem services come in. Ecosystem services can be defined as the benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. Another way to think about that is that ecosystem services are about why ecosystems are important for us as humans. The benefits that people obtain from ecosystems can be either direct or indirect. For example, a direct benefit from an ecosystem could be providing food for people to eat, whereas an indirect benefit could be the nutrient cycling that occurs in the soil which supports the ability of the land to produce food.
We can best describe ecosystem services using four key categories, as shown in Figure 1.
- Provisioning services are the products that ecosystems provide humans. Examples include sources of food and fibre, wood for providing heat or fuel, and freshwater for drinking.
- Regulating services are the benefits that come from the regulation of ecosystem processes. One example is climate regulation which is important for managing the influence an ecosystem has on local climate, such as the likelihood of exacerbating extreme temperatures or rainfall. Another example is water purification and how ecosystems can help to filter out impurities in water.
- Cultural services are the non-material benefits associated with ecosystems. These services have a key impact on many aspects of human wellbeing and are strongly linked to human values. Examples include things like recreation as a way for people to engage in activities they enjoy, cultural/spiritual connection related to indigenous culture, or providing areas where people have a sense of place.
- Supporting services underpin all other ecosystem services. These are the services that are essential for the functioning of provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Without supporting services, ecosystems will struggle to provide benefits to humans and ecosystems themselves can suffer.
Note: In some cases an ecosystem service can be described using more than one category, e.g. freshwater.
As ecosystem services are the benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems, there is a direct linkage between ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Without the benefits of ecosystem services, as mentioned above, humans can struggle to access the necessary components that support a good and healthy life.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment identifies the key determinants and components of human wellbeing, as shown in Figure 2. Changes to ecosystem services, either positive or negative, will have a flow-on effect to the wellbeing of humans and what is needed to have a good and healthy life. The components and determinants of human wellbeing (security, basic material for a good life, health and good social relations) have a direct influence on the freedoms and choices available to people. If we have strong components of human wellbeing and can fulfill the needs of humans, then we can thrive with more freedom and choice. However, if these components of wellbeing aren’t met, are less resilient, or fluctuate, this also has an impact on our ability to have freedoms and choices as to how we approach our lives.
We’ve reiterated the connection between ecosystem services and what they can provide for humans, however, it is important to note that humans have a direct impact on ecosystems and environments. This means that how we use provisioning services, what we do that has an impact on any ecosystem services, and the wider environment, can either have positive or negative impacts on the resilience and sustainability of these services into the future. Often when humans seek to enhance one service there can be a negative trade-off for another service. Understanding how humans interact with ecosystem services is therefore really important for everyone.
Why are ecosystem services important for agriculture?
Ecosystem services are really important for agriculture as our production systems are interconnected with the ability of our environment to provide the resources needed to produce quality food and fibre. While agriculture earns profit through selling products which are largely related to provisioning services, the ability for our environment to sustain agriculture, maintain environmental health and also ensure social licence to operate, is also deeply linked to regulating, supporting and cultural services. Humans can have positive and/or negative impacts on ecosystem services and the agricultural sector has it in its best interest to ensure that ecosystems can thrive for our benefit, but also for the benefit of the environment itself, now and into the future.
The ability to obtain the benefits of growing food and fibre is obviously of key importance for the agricultural sector. Farming businesses and the wider sector are not able to function, let alone thrive, without provisioning ecosystem services.
In the context of agriculture or any land-/resource-based industry, there is a critical responsibility that while we seek to benefit from what ecosystems can provide we must also ensure that we are doing all we can to enhance the resilience and sustainability of the other ecosystem services that influence the function of provisioning services. Regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services are therefore a huge piece of the puzzle that is essential to support a thriving farming business, and the wider food and fibre sector.
Climate, water, pollination, erosion control, water purification, pest resistance and much more are all examples of key factors that can have either positive or negative impacts on a farming business. The ability for such systems to be balanced and less susceptible to fluctuations in their state is really important.
Actions that we undertake on farm can have a direct impact on whether our activities are having positive or negative effects on regulating services. For example, planting riparian buffer zones near waterways or having proper management of critical source areas are two examples of how best practice can help to mitigate the amount of nutrient load that enters waterways or groundwater. Reducing the nutrient load means that our actions have supported the ability for the water purification process in our water sources to occur in a way that isn’t having to contend with trying to filter more contaminants than it can handle.
The actions we take on farm can have an impact on the ability for regulating services to provide us with the benefits and/or conditions that best support our farming systems. It is therefore important to remember that we also need to support these systems to thrive. We are part of the ecosystem so we have our part to play. Best management practices are a key tool in the farmers toolbox to achieve this.
We touched on the idea that supporting services are what underpin all ecosystem services – nothing thrives if supporting services are not able to function how they need to. Nutrient cycling, photosynthesis, soil formation and primary production are the critical supporting services that influence all others. We don’t need to tell those involved in agriculture how important these services are as we are well aware they drive our ability to produce product and sustain an income and business.
Supporting services are so important yet they can be forgotten about, partly because they largely occur in a non-visible way or because the benefits that they provide humans can be largely indirect rather than direct. Agriculture is nothing without these services and by farming in a way that supports and enhances nutrient cycling, photosynthesis, soil formation and primary production, not only are these services able to thrive but our businesses are able to be more efficient, effective and profitable. It’s a win for ecosystems and environment, for business and bottom line, and for a sustainable future.
What’s the key takeaway?
We have the power to make decisions on farm that not only enhance what benefits ecosystem services can provide our farming businesses, but that also ensure we are supporting the ecosystems back. We are all part of the ecosystem. It’s about community and how we can benefit each other.
How can we do this?
- Strategic farm management – are your systems working for you and the ecosystems you depend on?
- Farm planning – making plans for managing different parts of the farm system and collecting key data to reflect on and guide decisions into the future.
- Thinking about relationship – the ecosystem and environment serves me but I also need to serve it. If we both do our best then we know we’re on a good path.
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