A Renewed Understanding of Ecosystem Services

Research in the field of ecosystem services has developed rapidly in the last three decades and has become a hot spot in ecology. This paper clarifies the relationship among natural resources, natural assets, natural capital, ecological processes, and ecological functions by sorting out and redefining the terms ecosystem services. It expands the connotation of services by proposing three types of ecosystem services: beneficial, harmful and useless, centered on human beings. It also focuses on the ecosystem service valuation, proposing a combination of monetary and non-monetary approaches to break through the perception of the scientific nature of valuation, and suggests further strengthening the integration of research findings with practical land management to adequately convey the original intent of ecosystem services to enhance human well-being. Finally, by constructing a improved cascade framework for ecosystem services without the intermediate services, it is hoped that a research paradigm can be developed to unify the understanding of ecosystem services.