The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment describes the following major categories of ecosystem services—provisioning, supporting, regulating, preserving and cultural. Which one of the following is supporting service?

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), ecosystem services are categorized into four types: provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services [4]. Supporting services are foundational processes necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. They include nutrient cycling, soil formation, and primary production [5]. While 'crop pollination' is often classified as a regulating service in some frameworks [5], the MA specifically identifies nutrient cycling as a core supporting service [4]. Option 1 (food and water) represents provisioning services [4]. Option 2 (climate and disease control) represents regulating services [4]. Option 4 (maintenance of diversity) is generally considered the foundation of all services rather than a specific service category itself [4]. Therefore, nutrient cycling aligns correctly with the supporting services category defined by the MA framework.

Sources

1. [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem_service
2. [5] https://www.fs.usda.gov/ecosystemservices/About_ES/
3. [3] https://iucn.org/our-union/commissions/group/iucn-cem-ecosystem-services-thematic-group
4. [1] Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 2: Functions of an Ecosystem > 2.7.1. Nutrient Cycling > p. 17