What Does Marine Biodiversity Do for Us?

This chapter explores how marine biodiversity benefits us all both tangibly and intangibly, considering the concept of ecosystem services. Marine ecosystem services are categorized into four types: supporting services, provisioning services, regulating services, and cultural services. The chapter begins by describing the release of oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis by marine primary producers. It then considers the sequestration of carbon by marine organisms in relation to climate change; the use of marine model organisms in research to gain insights into the functioning of our own and other species; and the monetary values of goods and services provided by marine biodiversity. Medical products derived from marine organisms show how marine biodiversity benefits physical health. Finally, the chapter focuses on marine ecosystem sentinels, looking at the sperm whale as a prime example of a marine organism that can be used to indicate past and ongoing changes in the global marine ecosystem that might affect human health, before evaluating the benefits of marine biodiversity to human mental health.