ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews six main categories of provisioning services: the supply of food, water, timber, fibre, fuel, and medicine. It describes each service, provide examples along a spectrum from wild to highly managed supply, highlight interactions with other types of ecosystems services, and flag sustainability concerns. Provisioning services are often managed at the expense of others. Provisioning services fared better than other ecosystems services, although often at the expense of other services. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment examined changes in global ecosystems services due to human activities. Low-intensity systems may use lower rates of fertilizer additions but still have an impact on other ecosystems services. Positive interactions are common, for example, between provisioning and cultural ecosystems services. Fuels and their extraction, such as firewood collection, shape environmental conditions with further impacts for ecosystems services. Food comes from a wide diversity of provisioning ecosystems.
