Glossary:Ecosystems and their services
Ecosystem, as defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity, is 'a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit'.
Ecosystem services are the range of benefits provided to humans by healthy ecosystems. Services include provisioning (such as food and wood), regulating (for example climate, flood and water regulation) and cultural services (for example, spiritual, recreation, educational).