Article history: Received 10 May 2007 Received in revised form 20 September 2008 Accepted 23 September 2008 Available online 28 October 2008 The concept of ecosystems services has become an important model for linking the functioning of ecosystems to human welfare. Understanding this link is critical for a widerange of decision-making contexts.While there have been several attempts to come upwi...

Risk-based regulation and risk governance gain momentum in most sectorial ecosystems, should they be the finance, the healthcare or the telecommunications ecosystems. Although there is a profusion of tools to address this issue at the corporate level, worth is to note that no solution fulfils this function at the ecosystem level yet. Therefore, in this article, the Business Service Ecosystem (B...

1. The Biosphere at Risk 2. Characterization of Biodiversity 3. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function 4. Global Change: Magnitude, Distribution, and Characteristics of Biodiversity Dynamics 5. The Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Structure 6. The Biodiversity of Marine Ecosystems 7. Perspectives for Biodiversity Utilization, Protection, and Research Acknowledgments Glos...