Ökosystemleistungen - strapaziertes Modewort oder neues Naturverständnis?

Through the goods and services it provides, nature contributes crucially to human well-being. Nature has undergone steadily increasing transformations as a result of humankind's efforts to enhance such well-being. These transformations impair the provision of services. In response, ever greater efforts are being made to both protect and make use of nature as human environment. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005) elevated the concept of 'ecosystem services' to a new ecological paradigm for these efforts. This article discusses from an ecological-evolutionary perspective whether and to what extent the concept may contribute to a transformation of human-environment interrelations.