In response to Malcolm and the other respondents on this issue, I think the point of speaking of "services" is not some philosophical argument about the place of man in the universe, but simply a way of getting across the idea that there is a real quantifiable benefit to having healthy environments. Ecologists may respect ecosystems for their own sake, but economists take the view that this is not enough for some people and for political effect we need to convince them that protecting the environment is of real value.
For example, once homeowners realise that the forests above their houses protect them from mudslides they may begin to see something in common with tree huggers. >From this point of view, ecological services are just a subset of environmental services. Tree roots that stablise the soil provide an ecological service, while glaciers that release water in time for the spring planting season provide a non-ecological environmental service. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Malcolm McCallum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 12:08 AM Subject: Re: Ecosystem and Environmental Services > Ecosystem services are things organisms in the environment do. > Environmental services are things cleaning professionals do (ranging from > house cleaning to disinfection for mold). > > Hope that helps. > > Malcolm McCallum > > On Tue, October 2, 2007 4:38 pm, Fabrice De Clerck wrote: >> A quick question for the group - is there a distinction between >> ecosystem services and environmental services, or are both terms >> synonymous? >> >> Cheers, >> Fabrice
