Izraz “ekosistemske storitve” sta prvič uporabila Ehrlich & Ehrlich (1981) ((Ehrlich, P. R. & Ehrlich, A. H. (1981): Extinction. The causes and consequences of the disappearance of species. New York, NY: Random House.))  kot metaforo za komunikacijo o vrednosti narave in njenih delov ter pomembnosti za družbo. Kasnejšo vsesplošno definicijo je postavila Milenjska ocena ekosistemov (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)): “Koristi, ki jih ljudje dobimo iz ekosistemov” (Reid 2005) ((Reid, W. V. (Ed.) (2005): Ecosystems and human well-being. Synthesis; a report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, MEA - Millennium Ecosystem Assessment & WRI - World Resources Institute. Washington, DC.)) . Globalna iniciativa TEEB (2010) ((TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) (2010): Ecological and Economic Foundations. Chapter 5: The economics of valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity.))  jih definira kot neposredne in posredne doprinose ekosistemov v človeški blaginji. Delovna skupine EU imenovana MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) se nanaša na te definicija (Maes et al. 2014) ((Maes, J.; Teller, A.; Erhard, M.; Murphy, P.; Paracchini, M. L.; Barredo, J. I. et al. (2014): Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. Indicators for ecosystem assessments under action 5 of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 : 2nd report - final, February 2014. Luxembourg: Publications Office (Technical Report, 2014-080).)) . Burkhard et al. (2014) ((Burkhard, B.; Kandziora, M.; Hou, Y. & Müller, F. (2014): Ecosystem Service Potentials, Flows and Demands – Concepts for Spatial Localisation, Indication and Quantification. In: Landscape Online 34, p. 1–32.))  jo razširijo na “doprinosi struktur in funkcij ekosistemov – v kombinaciji z drugimi vnosi – k človeški blaginji”. Harrington et al. (2010)((Harrington, R.; Anton, C.; Dawson, T. P.; Bello, F. de; Feld, C. K.; Haslett, J. R., et al. (2010): Ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Concepts and a glossary. In: Biodiversity and Conservation 19 (10), p. 2773–2790.))  poda razširjeno MEA definicijo: “Ekosistemske storitve so koristi, ki jih ljudje prepoznajo kot take in jih dobijo iz ekosistemov, ter neposredno ali posredno vplivajo na njihovo preživetje in kvaliteto življenja”.

//V Italiji, Franciji in Nemčiji obstajajo uradne definicije ES, ki sovpadajo z MAES pristopom. Tudi na projektu AlpES se nanašamo na MAES definicijo. //

Glej tudi [[:sl:wiki:ecosystemservices|Ekosistemske storitve]]

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