Ecosystem Services are defined as those functions of ecosystems that support (directly or indirectly) human welfare. They occur at multiple scales, from climate regulation and carbon sequestration at the global scale, to flood protection, soil formation, and nutrient cycling at the local and regional scales.

In 1997, Costanza et al. published a ground-breaking paper in Nature titled "The Value of the World's Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital." Almost 10 years after this paper was published, the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics continues innovative and transdisciplinary research in this field.

This project integrates participatory modeling, data collection, valuation, and outreach that will take the study of ecosystem services to the next level and allow the results to be effectively used in a number of critical environmental management contexts. Ecosystem services are defined as those functions of ecosystems that support, directly or indirectly, human welfare. This research project has three major objectives:

• A suite of dynamic ecological economic computer models specifically aimed at integrating our understanding of ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human well-being across a range of spatial scales.
• Development and application of new valuation techniques adapted to the public goods nature of most ecosystem services and integrated with the modeling work.
• Delivery of the integrated models and their results to a broad range of potential users.