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Ground water

Groundwater is water stored underground in aquifers made of permeable rocks, soil and sand. The water that contributes to groundwater sources originates from rainfall, snow melts and water flow from natural freshwater resources.

Benefits:

Clean water

Ecosystem service:

Ground water

Natural capital assets:

Water

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Increased evaporation rates and reduced freshwater flow resulting in deterioration of the water quality.	Reduction of the dilution capacity of point source effluents. Decline in water quality is primarily caused by favourable conditions for the development of algae blooms (high water temperatures, long residence times, high nutrient concentrations). Changes in water temperature, eutrophication, major elements, and some heavy metals and metalloids.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Decrease in the amount of water available to disperse seeds	Decreased seed dispersal by water bodies	Natural variation	Short term	Local
Drought displaces or reduces populations of biota. Also reduces thickness of soil water films and inhibits enzymes.	Disturbance of biotic and abiotic factors poses environmental constraints that can temporarily or indefinitely affect decomposition sensitivity.	Human action	Short-Long term	Local-Global
Increases in nutrients and changes in chemical composition of freshwater bodies. Physical alterations of turbidity and water flow.	Increased nutrients and/or chemicals can upset chemical condition of freshwater.	Human action	Short term	Regional
Anthropogenic climate change is leading to more frequent and severe droughts. Severe decreases in water flows and alterations to the geological characteristics of water bodies (e.g. desiccation of entire rivers).	Decrease in surface water provision.	Human action	Long term	Local-Regional-Global

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Decreases in the number of plants along a water course. Physical alteration of water bodies.	Reduced number of seed dispersing plants. Changes to the distance and direction of seed dispersal through water bodies, resulting in decreased seed dispersal in the case of long term flooding, or increased seed dispersal in the case of short term flooding.	Natural variation	Short term	Local
Alters biological soil community, structural properties of parent material by exposure to water.	Changes soil’s environment and modifies processes.	Human action	Long term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Natural changes in local geo-morphological characteristics of water bodies lead to increase or decrease in volumes of water flow and alter flow direction.	Increase or decrease in surface water provision.	Natural variation	Short-Long term	Local-Global
Increased or decreased water flows through landscapes	Increased or decreased water balances within landscapes	Natural variation	Short term	Local-Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Alters freshwater supply and resources.	Changed habitat dynamics, reduction in stability of blue carbon habitats.	Human action	Short term	Coastal ecosystems
Conversion of wetlands for commercial purposes and resource extraction leads to loss of regional climate regulating function.	Conversion of wetlands causes the average temperature to increase by 0.77?C in all four seasons.	Human action	Medium term	Global
Certain non-fossil aquifers are no longer being replenished due to alterations made to land cover, meaning that if groundwater is abstracted aquifers will be depleted.	Loss of groundwater provision on a local basis.	Human action	Medium term	Local
Freshwater diversion from estuarine areas	Habitat loss leads to disruption of connectivity between spawning, nursery and adult stage habitats.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Local-Regional
Lower species mobility, thus decreased ability to disperse seeds. Altered wind and hydrological processes within a given area will affect how far seeds are dispersed.	Decreased seed dispersal by animals	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Global
Declines in pollinator populations due to reduced access to food and nesting resources (16.5 % of vertebrate pollinator species are threatened with global extinction; in Europe, 9% of bee and butterfly species are threatened, and populations of 37% of bees and 31% of butterflies are declining)	Decreased pollination services during the peak period of pollination (i.e. spring for most crops in temperate zones). 5-8 % of global crop production would be lost if pollination services ceased.	Human action	Short term	Regional
Changes in intensity and extension.	Vegetation alteration can degrade or cause loss of service.	Human action	Short term	Local
Alters water flow, rock structure, topographic characteristics which alter soil composition	Changing decomposition and fixation processes.	Human action	Long term	Local
Alters water flow and availability, and rock structure and topographic characteristics which alter soil composition.	Changing decomposition and fixation processes	Human action	Short term	Local
Disturbance of natural water flows and sedimentation in catchments leading to geophysical alterations of water bodies Water flow will increase or decrease depending on local conditions.	Increase or decrease in provision of surface water. If a certain volume of water is removed for industrial use and is not returned afterwards, then the total volume of surface water in will be decreased by that volume. Increased sedimentation cuts light to animals, leads to nutrient blooms and loss of oxygen.	Human action	Short term	Local
Anthropogenic climate change is leading to severe decreases in water flows and alterations to the geological characteristics of water bodies (e.g. desiccation of entire rivers).	Decrease in surface water provision.	Human action	Long term	Local-Regional-Global
Changes to the way water flows through landscapes	Increased or decreased availability of water at the local and landscape level.	Human action	Short term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Alters freshwater supply and resources.	Changed habitat dynamics, reduction in stability of blue carbon habitats.	Human action	Short term	Coastal ecosystems
Increased vulnerability to change and pollution.	Streams and rivers near newly drilled natural gas wells are vulnerable to: sediment runoff, reduced streamflow and possible contamination from introduced chemicals and the resulting wastewater.	Human action	Short term	Global
Water quality, depth, turbidity, salinity and nutrient changes will lead to changes in plant community structure and health, and decreases or disappearance of biotic communities and habitat health and complexity.	Habitat loss leads to disruption of connectivity between spawning, nursery and adult stage habitats. Displacement or local extinction of adult populations, disrupting spawning patterns. Sedimentation due to shipping activity reduces light penetration, settlement success, survival, and diversity of habitats such as coral.	Human action	Short term	Local
Over use by humans for agriculture, energy generation, other non-drinking purposes, and other industries leads to decrease in water flow and volume.	Decrease in surface water provision. Unless water is returned in equal volumes to water bodies after abstraction, then the volume of surface water provided through water bodies will be reduced by the amount that is not returned.	Human action	Short term	Local

Ground water

Benefits:

Ecosystem service:

Natural capital assets:

Natural capital assets:

Drivers of environmental change:

Droughts

Flooding

Landslides

Habitat modification

Industrial or domestic activities

Industrial or domestic construction

Intensive agriculture and aquaculture

Invasive species

Ocean acidification

Pollution

Sea surface temperature

Storms

Water abstraction

Weather conditions

Sea level rise

Ocean current and circulation

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Changes in sediment regime.	Sedimentation causes reservoir infill and a reduction in sediment supply downstream to create wetland features	Human action	Long term	Aquatic environments
The sealing of soils by urban construction in urban areas modifies the local climate.	Vegetation no longer regulates climate, leading to even higher temperatures.	Human action	Short term	Urban areas

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Overfertilization and nutrient enrichment lead to algal overgrowth and loss in cover and diversity of habitats.	Habitat loss leads to disruption of connectivity between spawning, nursery and adult stage habitats.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Local-Regional
Intensive agriculture (i.e. large homogenous fields with regular and intensive tillage, grazing, and/or mowing) and associated chemical use (e.g. pesticides such as neonicotinoids) has abroad range of lethal and sub-lethal effects on pollinator species. Pollinator habitat loss and disruption of daily activities. Higher rates of species mortality and reduced species survival. More specialised pollinator species (i.e. those that are highly dependent on a specific feature and are not adaptable) are more heavily affected by this impact.	Decreased pollination services. The magnitude of loss of pollination will depend on the presence of other more robust and adaptable species.	Human action	Short term	Local-Global
Addition of organic or inorganic matter results in changes in diversity in the soil and the microbial composition.	Alters matter composition and microbial community structure which in turn affects decomposition rate.	Human action	Short-Long term	Local-Global

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Displacement or local extinction of biotic communities.	Alien species altering ecology of system, e.g. displacing relevant species to maintain services.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Local
Invasive species can deviate pollinators from the plants they normally pollinate (in the case of invasive plants) or can outcompete native pollinators (in the case of invasive pollinators)	Decreased pollination services from native pollinators to native plants.	Human action	Short term	Local
Reduced species survival and reduced ability of native species to disperse seeds. Reduced ability of water bodies to effectively disperse seeds.	Decreased seed dispersal by native species, and possibly less efficient seed dispersal where invasive species replace native species. Reduced water mobility due to invasive plants, leading to reduction in seed dispersal distance by water bodies.	Human action	Short term	Local
Alteration of chemical properties of salt water bodies.	Decreased chemical quality of salt water.	Human action	Short term	Local
Altered chemical balances of freshwater bodies and competition with native species	Decreased chemical condition of freshwaters resulting from lower species diversity, loss of native species, and changes in nutrient and chemical balances.	Human action	Short term	Local-Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Affects health of ecosystems, alters ocean currents and changes biotic communities.	Warming and acidification ocean creates thermal stress (e.g. coral bleaching), sea level rise, sedimentation, Altered ocean currents lead to changes in connectivity and temperature regimes. Ocean acidification leads to a reduction in pH levels and decreases growth rates.	Human action or Natural variation	Short-Long term	Local-Regional-Global
Decreased ability of species to uptake nutrients.	Decreased chemical quality of salt water.	Human action	Short term	Global

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Reduction in dilution service potential.	Both point and non-point source pollutants results in eutrophication and coastal economic damage, e.g. beach closures.	Human action	Short term	Coastal ecosystems
Habitat loss due to overfertilization and toxics contamination	Habitat loss due to clouding of coastal waters by sediment from run-off and toxics which leads to contamination.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Local-Regional
Lower quality of groundwater.	Lower quality of groundwater.	Human action	Medium term	Local
Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall	Pollution may alter presence and conditions of urban and suburban vegetation, may diminish plants’ capacity of gas absorption.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Global
Altered wind dynamics and the ability of wind to disperse seeds	Decreased dispersal distance of seeds by wind	Human action	Short term	Local
Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites.	Acid rain and pollution, acidity in air, etc. alters weathering agents in the environment (water, soil, air).	Human action	Long term	Local-Global
Microbiota are sensitive to metal pollution. Toxicity of heavy metals displaces exchangeable nutrients from binding sites.	Pollution inhibits litter decomposition. Decomposition is sensitive to pollution and metals contaminants at the microbial level. Metal pollution also makes plant matter difficult to decompose. May lead to algal blooms.	Human action	Short-Long term	Local-Global
Alterations to nutrient cycles and balances resulting from pollution due to human activities.	Reduced quality of water resources.	Human action	Short term	Global
Suppressed rainfall in highly polluted areas due to reduced efficiency of clouds at releasing precipitation.	Decreased water balance and disrupted hydrological cycle in polluted areas	Human action	Short term	Local
Alteration of chemical composition of salt water bodies and decreased pH of salt water.	Decreased quality of salt water.	Human action	Short term	Global
Alteration of nutrient cycles (e.g. leading to algal blooms and eutrophication), pH level, and changes to chemical composition of salt waters. Algal blooms smother sea grass. Eutrophication leads to creation of “dead zones” in the ocean, which are areas that are entirely deprived of oxygen.	Decreased chemical quality of salt water.	Human action	Short term	Local
Increases in nutrients, sediments and changes in chemical composition of freshwater bodies, decreased species survival.	Decreased chemical condition of freshwaters.	Human action	Short term	Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Mixed layers of water.	Well mixed layers increase dilution potential of seawater.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Affects health of ecosystems, leads to altered ocean current and water runoff changes.	Changes in storm patterns leads to destruction of structures. Changes in precipitation create increases in runoff of freshwater, and land based pollutants.	Human action or Natural variation	Short-Long term	Local-Regional-Global
Increases or decreases in wind velocity on a local basis	Increased or decreased quality of seed dispersal through wind	Human action	Short term	Global
Increases in nutrients and changes in chemical composition of freshwater bodies. Physical alterations of turbidity and water flow.	Increased nutrients and/or chemicals can upset chemical condition of freshwater.	Human action	Short term	Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Fragmentation of the river system.	Reduced dilution ability as river flow is disrupted. Increased human presence creates more effluent flow exacerbating the problem.	Human action	Short term	Global
Depletion of groundwater contained in aquifers. Groundwater in some areas is being used at rates exceeding the rate at which natural processes can replenish stocks. Groundwater represents 18% of water used for agricultural purposes and 13% of that used for energy production and industry purposes.	Decreased provision of groundwater. Unsustainable water abstraction from aquifers for human use is leading to drastic water shortages.	Human action	Medium term	Local
Reduction in the amount of water in natural resources (e.g. surface and groundwater)	Changes in when and where water returns to the atmosphere, affects local or regional water balances and precipitation patterns.	Human action	Medium term	Local-Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Surface area of coastal habitats reduced by rising sea level.	Removal of organic component of coastal sediments and their burial. Loss of carbon sink.	Human action	Long term	Coastal ecosystems
Affects health of ecosystems, alters ocean currents and changes biotic communities.	Warming and acidification ocean creates thermal stress (e.g. coral bleaching), sea level rise, sedimentation, Altered ocean currents lead to changes in connectivity and temperature regimes. Ocean acidification leads to a reduction in pH levels and decreases growth rates.	Human action or Natural variation	Short-Long term	Local-Regional-Global
Contamination of coastal aquifers with salt water.	Lower quality of groundwater. Higher salinity might affect whether or not groundwater can be used for certain industrial or agricultural processes.	Human action	Long term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Concentration of marine litter, especially plastics.	Micro plastics tend to accumulate on certain coastal areas depending on winds and currents as well as at major oceanic fronts known as gyres.	Natural variation	Long term	Coastal ecosystems
Increase in freshwater due to melting of ice caps linked to climate change leads to weakening or collapse of the ocean thermohaline circulation.	Air-sea carbon uptake substantially reduced.	Human action	Long term	Global
Breakdown in thermohaline circulation caused by rapid glacial melting and influx of freshwater to oceans.	Rapid climate cooling and loss of regional climate regulating function.	Human action	Long-term	Regional seas and smaller regions of ocean
Affects health of ecosystems, alters ocean currents and changes biotic communities.	Warming and acidification ocean creates thermal stress (e.g. coral bleaching), sea level rise, sedimentation, Altered ocean currents lead to changes in connectivity and temperature regimes. Ocean acidification leads to a reduction in pH levels and decreases growth rates.	Human action or Natural variation	Short-Long term	Local-Regional-Global
Sudden changes in chemical balances and pH.	Variations in chemical condition of salt water. The magnitude of the effect of this variation is minor as systems are adapted to tolerate them.	Natural variation	Short term	Global