Why are ecosystems important to our economy?

Answer 1

http://www.ew.govt.nz/enviroinfo/profile/economy/ecoservices.htm

Answer 2

I think the conceptual separation between ecosystem and economy is an artificial one. We should be able to speak simply of the 'economy of an ecosystem'.

An ecosystem is simply the dynamic interrelationship between the Earth's fertility and a particular economic structure among human beings, whether it be based on money, trade, barter, etc. The real question might be: "Why are HEALTHY ecosystems important to the economy?". The answers are manifold. For personal and collective health and sanity a BALANCE between a fertile ecosystem and a particular (historical) economy is preferable. It benefits all the members of the ecosystem, including plants and animals created over long periods of time by Nature. It permits the resilience and longevity of harmony which, in the end, seems to be most responsible for a general sense of happiness. But no one said it is easy to achieve this balance if exploitation for personal gain has become the rule. An "Economic Ecosystem" requires as much conservation as exploitation. This is the balance. When studied carefully we can readily learn the difference between a real need and a perceived need. When the balance is maintained many excessive needs tend to dissolve into a sense of well-being where one frequently feels at one with the ecosystem itself. This lessens the compulsion to exploit.

B. Lyons

Answer 3

Ecosystems provide the raw material inputs to our economy, including land, food, and water, as well as recreation and amenities. Our economy and well being is fundamentally tied to ecosystems.

Economists often overlook these connections, not becuase they believe them to be unimportant, but to simplify more human centric problems on which they focus.

There is, however, a whole branch of economics called 'ecological economics,' including its own journal, that focuses specifically on these links. But this is really just a branch of natural resource/agricultural economics, which also studies links between environment and the economy. Major academic journals include the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (JEEM) and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE).

Answer 4

can't eat money will mean nothing cause soon you die...

living things=growth
growth=energy
energy= needs to be consumed
consumption=can work another day
work another day=getting money
getting money=getting better stuff that people are willing to sale
people selling=giving you stuff to live for
and repeat

Answer 5

They're not. They are important for the quality of life.

Answer 6

to our economy?

no, to our environment.....it is called biodiversity