Preface

**Section 2 Social and Humanecological Aspects of Ecosystem**

Chapter 7 **Ecosystem Service Mapping: A Management-Oriented**

Lisa Pinto de Sousa, Ana I. Lillebø and Fátima L. Alves

Chapter 8 **The Role of Ecosystem Services in Community Well-Being 145**

Chapter 9 **Urban and Industrial Habitats: How Important They Are for**

Gabriela Woźniak, Edyta Sierka and Anne Wheeler

Chapter 10 **Integrating Ecosystem Services in Historically Polluted Areas: Bioremediation Techniques for Soils Contaminated by**

Mirela Nedelescu, Daniela Baconi, Miriana Stan, Ana-Maria

**Approach to Support Environmental Planning Process 127**

James Kevin Summers, Lisa M. Smith, Richard S. Fulford and Rebeca

**Services 125**

**VI** Contents

de Jesus Crespo

**Ecosystem Services 169**

**Heavy Metals 195**

Vlasceanu and Anne-Marie Ciobanu

Our book, *Ecosystem Services and Global Ecology*, provides a very stimulating report and over‐ view of the frontiers of natural and social aspects of ecosystem services throughout the world.

It consists of two sections: the first section looks at natural and the second section at societal and human ecological aspects of ecosystems and their services. The first section has five chapters concerning collapsing ecosystems, invasive species, benthic macroinvertebrate communities, watersheds, and plant anatomical patterns from a worldwide viewpoint.

In the second section we can read about the mapping of ecosystem services, community well-being, urban ecology, and some historical aspects.

In my opinion every chapter is very useful and original.

I am sure that this book will be very interesting to everybody—researchers, teachers, stu‐ dents, or others interested in the field—who would like to gain insight into the area of eco‐ logical research.

> **Levente Hufnagel, PhD habil** Szent István University, Hungary

**Section 1**

**Natural Aspects of Ecosystem Services**

**Natural Aspects of Ecosystem Services**

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Evaluation Methods of**

**Introductory Chapter: Evaluation Methods of** 

Levente Hufnagel, Ferenc Mics and Réka Homoródi

Levente Hufnagel, Ferenc Mics and Réka Homoródi

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80227

**of the Humankind**

**1. Introduction**

**of the Humankind**

**Ecosystem Services and Their Scientific and Societal**

**Ecosystem Services and Their Scientific and Societal** 

**Importance in Service of Solving the Global Problems**

**Importance in Service of Solving the Global Problems** 

Reduction of ecosystem services plays a key role in the group of phenomena that is called global ecological crisis. Population explosion has resulted in overpopulation of our planet. Energy source of this overpopulation has been fossil fuels (coal, mineral oil and natural gas) produced by the biosphere over millions of years during the history of the Earth. Exploiting and burning of these natural resources have decreased living conditions of subsequent generations and have started a global climate change at the same time. However, it is more important that urban areas and agricultural land have extended in place of natural ecosystems, causing them to decrease drastically and malfunction, which has resulted in a biodiversity crisis, mass species extinction. Besides these, the global ecological crisis includes industrial, agricultural, traffic and residential pollution, which have damaged abiotic components of habitats, that is, air, soil and water. Deteriorating ecological conditions have caused social problems directly and indirectly, such as epidemics, poverty and humanitarian crises. Besides these, pollutant and nature-destroying economic activities increase wealth and income inequality among people, which results in further social tensions (crime, terrorism, riots and wars). At the same time, problems are aggravated by favorable processes whose disadvantages are not considered at first. Increasing scientific research has led to an information explosion. Due to this, experts have been forced back to a more and more narrow intellectual space; our excellent scientific specialists are less and less able to have an overview of their own wider discipline

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.80227

**Introductory Chapter: Evaluation Methods of Ecosystem Services and Their Scientific and Societal Importance in Service of Solving the Global Problems of the Humankind Introductory Chapter: Evaluation Methods of Ecosystem Services and Their Scientific and Societal Importance in Service of Solving the Global Problems of the Humankind**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.80227

Levente Hufnagel, Ferenc Mics and Réka Homoródi Levente Hufnagel, Ferenc Mics and Réka Homoródi

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80227
