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The Value Of New Jersey's Ecosystem Services And Natural Capital, Robert Costanza, Matthew A. Wilson, Austin Troy, Alexey Voinov, Shang Liu, John D'Agostino

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes the results of a two-year study of the economic value of New Jersey's natural capital. Natural capital consists of those components of the natural environment that provide a long-term stream of benefits to individual people and to society as a whole; the value of natural capital is defined in this report as the present value of that benefit stream. Many of the benefits provided by natural capital come from ecological systems ('ecosystems'); an ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities and their nonliving environment, all interacting as a functional unit. The benefits provided …