Ecosystem Services: Key Issues. 1st edition. Mark Everard. Routledge, Earthscan from Routledge, Oxford, 2017. xi + 188 pages. Price AUD $61.99 (paperback, also available as hardback and ebook). ISBN: 9781138692725

Abstract

Ecosystem services are the myriad benefits humans obtain from nature, both tangible and intangible. The conceptual framework around ecosystem services spans multiple systems, disciplines, ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies and provides a systems approach to understanding ecology, biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. This is the premise of this short book. It is not intended to be a comprehensive reference guide to methodology, practice or management. Rather, it has a simpler, but perhaps more important aim – to demonstrate why it is essential that we use systems approaches for ecosystem service discussions.