Existing Natural Ecosystems - Essay Example

The preservation of biodiversity and the production of ecosystem goods largely depend on these services. In particular, ecosystems services not only help in the regeneration of soil fertility, balancing the impacts of extreme weather, cycling and movement of nutrients, detoxification, and decomposition of wastes, shielding man from the harmful ultraviolet rays emanating from the sun, but also provide humans with a range of services that are often unrecognized, yet vital (Wilson, 243-45).

While the importance of the fundamental life-support services provided by the ecosystem may seem obvious from the definition above, the nature and value of placed on these systems have largely been ignored by the human race until their loss highlights the ultimate danger to the living populations. Intuitively, society undervalues ecosystem services. Given the non-traceability of these services in economic markets, warning signals that would hitherto regulate their supply are non-existent. As such, a huge chunk of the human population is neither conscious of the vital role of natural ecosystem services nor attentive to the consequential effects of their actions on the ecosystem (Wilson, 244). It is now more obvious that the mismatch between the immediate needs and long-term societal well-being driven by the modern scale of human enterprises aided by advanced technology is not only a threat to the natural biodiversity but touches on the very existence of the human race in years to come.

The large-scale alteration of natural ecosystems has informed several competing perspectives toward ecological restoration. Scientists contend that biodiversity is a product of the ecosystem's services and that the loss of biodiversity is an effectual indicator of changing service provision in an ecosystem. As such, ecological restoration should target ecosystem service provision and not particular species. On the flip side, economists are of the view that the traditionally hidden costs must be accounted for; and so the remedy lies in the introduction of price tags on the service-providing functions of the ecosystem (Wilson, 304). Notwithstanding the above views, the ethical perspective places the ultimate responsibility on the source; the restoration and conservation of ecosystem services begin with taking concrete within immediate surroundings such as gardens (Johansson, 430).