Uploaded on 2015-11-22 by jhudyma

***Compulsory Exercise - Week 8. Ecosystem services in your living area*** **What ecosystem services do you have in and around your living area?** **Provisioning Services** **Food:** Located around Calgary are well over one hundred community gardens. These vary in size and shape, and are tended to by residents nearby the various locations. Additionally, new gardens may receive one-time monetary support from the city itself to encourage this sort of development. These gardens provide an inexpensive local food source for city residents, but can also provide such things as additional tree cover and habitats for pollinating species. ![Local community garden in the off-season][1] **Fresh Water:** Situated centrally within the city limits is the Glenmore Water Reservoir, which provides fresh water to the City’s population. ![Glenmore Reservoir][2] **Regulating Services** **Local climate and air quality:** Large parks within the city’s boundaries abound with trees, which play an important role in improving air quality by removing pollutants. Smaller, treed parks are also found closer to the downtown core, aiding not only with air quality but also by providing shade and thereby assisting in lessening the UHI effect. ![Local park.][3] ![Local park.][4] ![Local park.][5] **Habitat or Supporting Services** **Habitats for species:** Along the Bow River, which runs through the middle of the city, is situated the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre. This valuable ecosystem was designated as a Federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary in 1929. To date, 270 species of birds, 21 species of mammals, and 347 species of plants have been recorded there (Source: City of Calgary Parks website). This protected habitat is providing an essential service to the dozens, even hundreds, of migratory bird species which pass through this area each year. ![Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre.][6] ![Even in winter conditions, a variety of birds can be observed within the sanctuary limits, including an eagle at the top centre of the photo.][7] **Cultural Services** **Recreation and mental and physical health:** The city contains a great number of parks. Many of these parks are multi-use, providing not only a place to walk and relax, but which also contain various sport facilities, such as tennis courts, swimming pools, and soccer fields, to name a few. These parks and sporting facilities provide an important avenue to continued mental and physical health for the city’s residents. ![A new athletic park in southeast Calgary.][8] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481555549347931.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481557336589683.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481558077947615.jpg [4]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481558907277718.jpg [5]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481563225418918.jpg [6]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481559515075935.jpg [7]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481560109758896.jpg [8]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14481561956129388.jpg