Ecosystem Services in Coastal and Marine Areas – Scientific State of the Art and Research Needs

Ecosystem services play an increasingly important role in modern coastal and marine research as they are a fundamental concept that can be used to couple natural and social sciences aspects of Environmental Sciences. Assigning a value to a functioning ecosystem is the logical connection between the given environmental conditions and the well-being of the human inhabitants of the assessed region. Ecosystem services are not only useful with regard to the provision of resources but also when it comes to the regulation of environmental quality and the evaluation of the cultural value of coastal zones. Originally applicable to any kind of ecosystem, they have become the focus of many coastal and marine researchers in recent years since many current assessments include the human-environment interaction in their considerations. Also, ecosystem services have become increasingly complex, encompassing more and more possible functions of coastal and marine areas that are of value to humans. This paper gives an overview of the development of how ecosystem services are used in coastal and marine research, looking at how the kinds of applications have evolved over time. On the basis of the current understanding of coastal ecosystem services, possible pathways for further development of this concept are outlined