Why is EPA studying ecosystem services?
Currently, resource managers and policy makers have few if any scientific tools or information they need to consider the full value of ecosystems (e.g., urban forests, coastal wetlands, desert landscapes), before they make decisions that will permanently impair or destroy these valuable systems. ESRP and its partners are generating scientific knowledge, tools, and decision support to clarify and measure the full value of ecosystem services and their enhancement or loss through landscape alteration and other resource management choices. Our hope is that this knowledge will influence management decisions in ways that enhance the type, quality, and quantity of services we receive from ecosystems even as we continue to respond to human needs within an expanding world population.
