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Water quality

Water quality is provided by maintaining the chemical condition of freshwaters, including rivers, streams, lakes, and ground water sources, and salt waters to ensure favourable living conditions for biota.

Benefits:

Clean water

Ecosystem service:

Water quality

Natural capital assets:

Species
Water

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Draught animals are rarely kept in herds, often kept apart from other animals, and are often in remote areas but may travel considerable distances and congregate in local markets. When an animal dies in the middle of a cultivation season it is difficult to borrow or hire another, because animal power is in demand. Ultimately reduced work output can be reflected in reduced farm productivity.	Service provision will decline in infected animals, e.g. cost of working oxen affected by bovine dermatophilosis in Zambia was USD 193 per affected ox.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Contamination of manure. Degree of risk influenced by animal species, dietary sources, health status and age of the animals, physical and chemical characteristics of the manure as well as the storage facilities of the manure	Service quality degraded due to contaminated manure creating a health risk to livestock and humans	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Mortality or severe weakening of the animal	Service provision impacted by the reduction in livestock, e.g. in 1997, foot and mouth disease caused the destruction of 8 million pigs in Taiwan, costing the economy more than $25 billion.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Pathogens spread in favourable climatic conditions, e.g. high humidity and rainfall.	Yield significantly decreased and/or quality of yield compromised due to damage to cereal grain.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
A vast number of naturally-occurring fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens, and pests affect pollinator species. Reduction in pollinator species’ survival.	Decreased pollination services	Natural variation	Short-Mid-term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Habitat degradation and loss of plant species, thus reducing the number of plants available to perform phyto-remediation.	Decreased ability of plants to perform phyto-remediation.	Human action	Short term	Local
Alters freshwater supply and resources.	Changed habitat dynamics, reduction in stability of blue carbon habitats.	Human action	Short term	Coastal ecosystems
Forests converted to cultivated land causes removal of above ground biomass.	Increase in carbon emissions.	Human action	Short term	Tropical forests
Policies on human population movements lead to increase in contact between humans and disease hosts	Transmission capacity of disease vectors unregulated by natural habitat and competition therefore disease transmission increased to humans	Human action	Short term	Global
The transition from natural to artificial coastal habitat dramatically changes species diversity while overall species abundance remains the same	Changes in species diversity will alter habitat composition and could introduce unwanted effects for marine algae such as increase in predators or diseases	Human action	Medium term	Global
The transition from natural to artificial coastal habitat dramatically changes species diversity while overall species abundance remains the same	Changes in species diversity will alter habitat composition and could introduce unwanted effects for marine algae such as increase in predators or diseases. This will reduce the quantity and quality of quality of algal-based agricultural materials.	Human action	Medium term	Global
The supply of wood for pulp and wood ash is decreasing as a result of deforestation and unsustainable logging.	Timber plantations expand into natural forests. Models suggest deforestation over degradation in response to market demands resulting in eventual exhaustion of the supply.	Human action	Short term	Global
There is a strong impact of land use on species composition. For example human land uses and secondary vegetation in an early stage of recovery are poor at retaining the species that characterise pristine (untouched) vegetation.	This loss can impact on fibre production (e.g., cotton) and other wild sourced fibres as land is consumed for other uses.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Global
There is a strong impact of land use on species composition. For example human land uses and secondary vegetation in an early stage of recovery are poor at retaining the species that characterise pristine (untouched) vegetation.	This loss can impact on animal material production and as agricultural land is consumed for other uses.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Global
Reduction in the number of plants available to perform filtration and sequestration.	Decreased filtration and sequestration of pollutants by plants.	Human action	Short 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
Changes in intensity and extension.	Type of land use determine types of disturbance (tillage, agrochemicals, fertilizers, excrements, etc.) and changes soil properties and water flow rates.	Human action	Short term	Local
Increase in non-native species	Changes in habitat characteristics facilitate non-native species which can outcompete native species creating more opportunities for pests.	Human action	Long term	Global
Deforestation, loss of biological community.	Alters biological, mechanical and chemical weathering processes. Type of land use determines type of disturbance (tillage, agrochemicals, fertilizers, excrements, etc.) changes soil properties.	Human action	Long term	Local
Terrestrial vegetation lost and transpiration decreases.	Cooling and ventilation effect is lost and regional climate permanently altered.	Human action	Long term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Spills of cultured algae (from aquaculture farms) into natural ecosystems introduces genetic mutations and destroys native algal species in aquatic systems.	The service will be compromised in the long term by introduction of genetic uniformity and mutations.	Human action	Long-term	Aquatic environments
Breeding programmes focused on a subset of crops/genetic material reduces overall diversity of plant genetic material.	Genetic uniformity causes defective genetic material and poorer quality of plant, animal or algal resources.	Human action	Long term	Global
The consumption of GM foods containing antibiotic resistance can facilitate gene transfer to microbes in the gut and to pathogens in the environment.	Evolution of resistance to animal and human antibiotics over time.	Human action	Long term	Global
Reduction in pollinator species’ survival. Genetically modified herbicide tolerant crops are associated with a reduction in the number of surrounding weeds beneficial for pollinators, resulting in loss of pollinator habitat.	Decreased pollination services.	Human action	Short term	Local

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Resistance to biological control measures	Loss of efficiency of biological control agents against plant pathogens, e.g. fungicide resistance in fungal plant pathogens.	Natural variation	Long term	Global
Higher water turbidity (from sediment loading) leads to decreased light availability for photosynthesis.	There has been a loss of canopy-forming algae (up to 70 %) on parts of the Adelaide metropolitan coast since major urbanisation.	Human action	Long term	Coastal ecosystems
Lower and poorer quality yields of commercial plant species as soils become exhausted of organic and mineral content.	The provision of vegetable fibres is diminished	Human action	Medium term	Local
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
Eradication of predator populations by use of insecticides, different crop rotation practices or removal by other means, e.g. hunting	Explosion in pest (prey) populations due to predator absence	Human action	Short term	Global
Management of pollinators for commercial purposes, mass breeding, and trade have exacerbated the impacts of pathogens and pests on pollinator species. Further reductions in species survival.	Decreased pollination services	Human action	Short term	Local
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
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
Caused an annual 1% decline in phytoplankton in worlds’ oceans.	Less carbon absorbed by phytoplankton for photosynthesis.	Human action	Short term	Global
Cyclic and fatally bleached sponge tissues had lower chlorophyll a concentrations than non-bleached tissues.	Sponge pieces incubated at 30°C in a lab show mortality after less than 15 hours with impacts on medicinal compound provision.	Human action	Medium term	Warm water coral reef ecosystems

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Change in service demand based on climate change impacts on water availability.	The adaptability of the animals to climatic changes will determine the availability of the provision of the service. Animals which adapt faster to climate extremes, e.g. to aridity will maintain provision of the service. are most suited to particular areas. Already drought resistant animals (notably donkeys) are becoming increasingly appreciated in the drought affected areas of southern, eastern and western Africa. Over time though, animals adapt to grazing and consuming different types of grasses and plant species dependent upon on location, climate and availability.	Human action	Long term	Global
Climate change driven rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and an increase in extreme weather events threatens fodder crop production.	Models suggest substantial risks to the volume, volatility, and quality of animal feed supply chains despite some gains in productivity.	Human action	Long-term	Global
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns creates the risk of crop failure, e.g. the 2010 Russian heatwave and the 2012 US Midwest drought.	Decreasing yields of cereals, contributing to higher food prices and a greater demand than supply.	Human action	Long-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

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Increased populations of sea urchins lead to overgrazing of kelp	Decreased bio-remediation by kelp	Human action	Mid-Long term	Global
Species, e.g. sea urchins, which predate or act as pests for the kelp components increase in numbers.	The service provision does not stop but slows down due to reduction in quality and quantity of the asset.	Natural variation	Long term	Global
Burrs (seeds that have hooks or teeth) from burr-bearing plants, in wool contaminate fleeces, requiring more complex and expensive removal operations. Leather is also at risk from blowflies.	Service slowed down and more costly at the fleece or leather processing stage.	Natural variation	Short term	Global
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
Marine resources (fishmeal and fish oil in the use of aqua feeds) potentially exhausted by over use and under supply	Poorly nourished fish in aquaculture farms.	Human action	Long-term	Global
Physical destruction and alteration of the habitat.	Habitat loss leads to disruption of connectivity between spawning, nursery and adult stage habitats. Dynamite destroys and kills habitats/organisms. Hydraulic dredging damages fauna and kills animals by heat. Seabed trawling creates turbidity, which kills larvae, eliminates coral and destroys nurseries.	Human action	Short-Mid-term	Local-Regional
Reduction in the population numbers of seed dispersing species.	Decreased seed dispersal by animals.	Human action	Short term	Local-Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Timber and wood harvesting leads to a reduction in standing timber biomass and exposes upper soil layer.	Soil organic carbon declines rapidly under cultivation, e.g. woodland conversion results in soil degradation, erosion and loss of organic matter, diminishing the soil potential to sequester carbon.	Human action	Long term	Global
Stump and root harvesting as a source of woody biomass for bioenergy generation leads to soil disturbance.	Stump harvesting causes existing soil organic carbon to become mineralised, leading to carbon loss as carbon dioxide, e.g. 1 tonne carbon per hectare per year might be lost compared with sites undisturbed by stump harvesting operations.	Human action	Short term	Global
Illegal overexploitation causes population declines in wild animal species, e.g. 95% of respondents to a survey in Madagascar have eaten at least one protected forest animal species (and nearly 45% have eaten more than 10). Legal overexploitationbelow causes population declines in wild animal species but regulated trade cause less extreme changes in wild species populations.	Reduced species abundance and diversity	Human action	Short term	Global
General unsustainable use for many reasons. Including illegal trade in plant materials / fibre (high value timber for example)	The provision of vegetable fibres is diminished	Human action	Short term	Local
Reduced species survival and population declines due to lower food availability	Decreased seed dispersal by animals	Human action	Short term	Local-Regional

Likely response	Effect of variability on services provision	Human action or natural variation	Timescale	Spatial Characteristics
Habitat degradation and reduction or interruption of algal species’ ability to perform bio-remediation.	Decreased bio-remediation due to decreased ability of algae to perform bio-remediation.	Human action	Short term	Local
Excess nutrient loads and sunlight cause imbalances in micro algae concentrations. Harmful toxins produced by the bloom kill beneficial cyanobacteria.	Any services arising from the algae will be diminished or stopped.	Human action	Short term	Global
Reduction or interruption in the ability of micro-organisms to filter, sequester, store or accumulate pollutants.	Decreased filtration, adsorption, or accumulation of pollutants by micro-organisms.	Human action	Mid-Long term	Local
Lower species survival (or local extinctions) and reduction or interruption of their ability to perform filtration, sequestration, storage, and accumulation of pollutants.	Decreased filtration, sequestration, storage, and accumulation of pollutants by animals.	Human action	Mid-Long term	Local
Reduction of algae’s capacity to filter or capture pollutants	Decrease capture or filtration of pollutants by algae.	Human action	Mid-Long term	Local
Plant death and a resulting reduction in their ability to perform filtration and sequestration	Decreased filtration and sequestration of pollutants by plants.	Human action	Short term	Local
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
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
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
Detrital material produced by storms caused annual erosion of two species of kelp of between 0.5 and 1.7 kg dry weight per m2. Erosion rate was positively related to water temperature and site exposure.	Increased erosion of kelp blades by storms. Increased storm frequency will lead to removal of the kelp component and reduction in overall standing biomass.	Human action	Long-term	Marine kelp forests in mid-latitude systems
Increased erosion of kelp blades due to increased storm frequency, linked to global climate change	Greater destruction through mechanical breakup of the kelp component and reduction in overall standing biomass. Detrital material produced by storms caused annual erosion of two species of kelp of between 0.5 and 1.7 kg dry weight per m2 . Erosion positively related to water temperature and site exposure.	Human action	Long-term	Marine kelp forests in mid-latitude systems
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
Increased or decreased availability of solar energy for algae, which affects how well species are able to grow, survive, and perform their bio-remediation function.	Increased or decreased bio-remediation performed by algae. This variation occurs on seasonal or annual basis (e.g. solar radiance is lower in winter or when cloud cover is dense)	Natural variation	Short term	Global
Species (of pathogens or their hosts) range shifts due to change in climate conditions	Usual predator-prey relationships change and harmful species can spread into areas where they are not predated on	Human action	Long term	Global
Permafrost (frozen soil layer) melting due to higher average annual temperatures	Methane gas bubbles trapped in soil released as it melts, increasing emissions to the atmosphere, exacerbating the warming effect in the short term and causing a positive feedback in the long term as warming continues to melt permafrost releasing more methane.	Human action	Long term	High latitudes
Climate change driven rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns and an increase in extreme weather events threatens fodder crop production.	Models suggest substantial risks to the volume, volatility, and quality of animal feed supply chains despite some gains in productivity.	Human action	Long-term	Global
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns creates the risk of crop failure, e.g. the 2010 Russian heatwave and the 2012 US Midwest drought.	Decreasing yields of cereals, contributing to higher food prices and a greater demand than supply.	Human action	Long-term	Global
Climate anomalies cause changes to the photosynthetic cycle and global greening patterns.	There is a quantitative link between climate anomalies such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation and weather events. There is evidence of reduced vegetation greenness during ENSO events in sub-tropical parts of the southern hemisphere impacting fibre provision.	Natural variation	Medium term	Semi-arid vegetation in the southern hemisphere
Decreased ability of plants to perform filtration and sequestration of pollutants.	Decreased filtration and sequestration of pollutants by plants.	Natural variation	Short term	Regional
Alters conditions: temperature, humidity, rainfall.	Climatic conditions affect air pollution levels and absorption by vegetation. Climate changes may alter vegetation. Droughts may cause disruption of water for sound attenuation.	Human action or Natural variation	Short-Mid-term	Global
Increases or decreases in wind velocity.	Increases or decreases in dispersal distance through wind.	Natural variation	Short term	Local
Increases or decreases in wind velocity on a local basis	Increased or decreased quality of seed dispersal through wind	Natural variation	Short term	Local
Alteration of biochemical and chemical reactions.	Biochemical reactions involved in decomposition and fixation processes are temperature dependent and have high temperature sensitivity. Low temperatures cause slow rates of chemical weathering and rely on physical processes. Warmth favours chemical weathering over physical, leading to deeper weathering.	Human action	Long term	Global
Alteration of biochemical and chemical reactions.	Biochemical and chemical reactions involved in decomposition and fixation processes are temperature dependent and have high temperature sensitivity.	Human action	Short-Long term	Global
Can lead to changes in a plant’s ability to keep cool.	Plants can dry out in excessive transpiration induced by aridity.	Natural variation	Short term	Local
Changes in nutrient cycles	Decreased chemical condition of freshwaters	Human action	Long term	Global
Changes in salinity and temperature.	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
Minor changes in nutrient cycles, chemical balances, shape of water bodies, and species function.	No major changes in chemical condition of freshwaters as each of the components have adapted to this natural variation.	Natural variation	Short term	Global

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
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
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

Natural capital assets:

Drivers of environmental change:

Diseases

Habitat modification

Human modification of genetic material

Intensive agriculture and aquaculture

Ocean acidification

Sea surface temperature

Droughts

Earthquakes

Flooding

Invasive species

Overfishing

Overharvesting

Overhunting

Pests

Pollution

Population changes

Storms

Volcanoes

Weather conditions

Drivers of environmental change:

Droughts

Flooding

Landslides

Habitat modification

Industrial or domestic activities

Industrial or domestic construction