Progress in Ecosystem Services Research

Abstract

The definition of ecosystem services has evolved and developed as the purpose and target audience of research has changed. The earliest analogue of 'ecosystem services', the concept of 'environmental service functions', appeared in the 1970 SCEP report published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The concept of "ecosystem services" was formally introduced by Ehrlich in 1981, when Daily proposed that ecosystem services are "the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems and their constituent species satisfy and sustain human life activities", which was the first definition of ecosystem services. Daily proposed that ecosystem services are "natural ecosystems and their constituent species that satisfy and sustain human life activities through ecosystem conditions and processes", which was the first time the concept of "ecosystem services" was defined, and further elaborated on the difference between ecosystem service products and ecosystem goods. However, Costanza added ecosystem products to the definition of ecosystem services, and Daily and Costanza launched studies on the valuation of ecosystem services, which accelerated the progress of ecosystem services research. At the beginning of the 21st century, the MA report defined the concept of "ecosystem services" as "the benefits that humans derive from ecosystems", which was recognised by the majority of the population and widely used, and it is also the most widely accepted definition up to the present time, which has ushered in the development of research on ecosystem services. This definition was recognised and widely used by most people, and is the most widely accepted definition to date, leading to a boom in research on ecosystem services.