What are ecosystem services?
Ecosystem services are defined as those functions of ecosystems that support (directly or indirectly) human welfare. They occur at multiple scales, from climate regulation and carbon sequestration at the global scale, to flood protection, soil formation, and nutrient cycling at the local and regional scales. They are both directly (as in recreational opportunities) and indirectly (as in climate regulation) connected to human welfare.

The goal of MIMES is to illuminate the value of ecosystem services and to aid decision-makers in making more informed decisions about their management.

What is MIMES?
MIMES is a multi-scale, integrated suite of models that assess the true value of ecosystem services in a sophisticated and transferable system to allow ecosystem managers to quickly understand the dynamics of ecosystem services, how their services are linked to human welfare, how their function and value might change under various management scenarios. It will facilitate understanding of the context of spatial patterns of land use, they dynamics of value, and the scale at which information is available for estimating ecosystem services at various scales (e.g. watershed, national and global).

MIMES will provide economic arguments for land use managers to approach conservation of ecosystems as a form of economic development. The model facilitates quantitative measures of ecosystem service effects on human well-being.

The MIMES Framework
The MIMES models are organized into five different spheres:
-Anthroposphere
-Atmosphere
-Biosphere
-Hydrosphere
-Lithosphere

Web Diagram
View a concept map of how to access ecosystem services and MIMES information via the web with additional links.

MIMES Outcomes

Outcome 1: A suite of dynamic ecological economic computer models specifically aimed at integrating our understanding of ecosystem functioning, ecosystem services, and human well-being across a range of spatial scales.

Outcome 2: Developed and applied new valuation techniques adapted to the public goods nature of most ecosystem services and integrated with the modeling work.