What would happen if ecosystem services were degraded? Pick 2-3 particular examples and provide specific description of the long-term and short-term ecosystem impacts.. Earth & Marine Sciences

- If ecosystems were degraded, the amount of "work" that a system could do would be curtailed, putting more stress on that system and increasing the value of what remained. Losing the biological control provided by keystone species would increase prey populations, which in the short term could increase herbivory and diseases within those populations; in the long term, large prey populations could even further degrade the environment as they reproduce without a check on growth.

- If the ecosystem were degraded human welfare would be compromised. For example, if the composition of gases in the atmosphere were altered, then the integrity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems would be jeopardized. This is the short-term impact, but the long-term impact consists of a decrease in species diversity in these habitats.