Table 3.
Classification of ecosystem services outcomes in broad and specific categories
| Broad category | Specific category | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Provisioning | Energy | Biomass‐based energy sources (plant and animal) |
| Mechanical energy (animal‐based) | ||
| Materials | Biomass (e.g., fiber and other materials from plants, and animals for direct use or processing) | |
| Water (surface or groundwater for nondrinking purposes) | ||
| Nutrition | Biomass (e.g., cultivated crops, reared animals and their outputs, wild plants and animals and their outputs, etc.) | |
| Water (e.g., surface or groundwater for drinking) | ||
| Regulation and maintenance | Mediation of waste, toxics, and other nuisances | Filtration/sequestration/storage/accumulation/mediation of smell/noise/visual impacts |
| Weed and pest control | ||
| Mediation of flows | Mass stabilization and control of erosion rates | |
| Hydrological cycle and water flow maintenance | ||
| Flood and storm protection | ||
| Ventilation and transpiration | ||
| Maintenance of physical, chemical, biological conditions | Lifecycle maintenance, habitat, and gene pool protection (pollination and seed dispersal, maintaining nursery populations and habitats) | |
| Pest and disease control | ||
| Soil formation and composition | ||
| Water conditions | ||
| Atmospheric composition and climate regulation | ||
| Cultural | Physical and intellectual interactions with environmental settings | Physical and experiential interactions (use of plants and animals) |
| Intellectual and representative interactions (scientific, education, heritage/cultural, esthetic, etc.) | ||
| Spiritual, symbolic, and other interactions with environmental settings | Spiritual and/or emblematic (symbolic, sacred, and religious use of plants and animals) | |
| Other cultural outputs (existence, bequest of plants and animals) |
Note: Specific categories divide each broad ecosystem services category into main types of output or process (Haines‐Young & Potschin, 2012).