Synthesis of Marine Ecosystem Services

We published a synthetic review on costal and estuarine ecosystem services that appears in the May (2011) issue of Ecological Monographs. Our working group includes experts that range over a variety of different ecosystems (Edward B. Barbier, Sally D. Hacker, Chris Kennedy, Evamaria W. Koch, Adrian C. Stier (me), and Brian R. Silliman). We review the main ecological services across systems including marshes, mangroves, nearshore coral reefs, seagrass beds, sand beaches, and sand dunes. Where possible, we indicate estimates of the key economic values arising from these services, and discuss how the natural variability of estuary and coastal ecosystems (ECEs) impacts their benefits, the synergistic relationships of ECEs across seascapes, and management implications.

See the full abstract and download the paper here or e-mail me (adrian.stier@gmail.com) for a copy of the manuscript