These invaluable services to agriculture and humanity can be separated into three major
categories: supporting, provisioning and regulating functions. Supporting services can be
defined as the processes necessary to sustain agricultural endeavors: nutrient cycling, soil
formation and primary production. Provisioning services include food, water, wood, fiber
and fuel for human communities. Regulating services are composed of climate control,
disease regulation, flood abatement and water purification [5]. These supporting,
provisioning, and regulating functions drive the world’s food production.