Valuing ecosystem services from Maryland forests using environmental accounting

Abstract Forests provide a multitude of benefits vital to the ecosystems, economies and people of Maryland. While markets exist to set the price for an economic good like timber, ecosystem services are viewed as free externalities. This research enumerates the biophysical value of forest ecosystem services in Maryland and provides a connection between biophysical and economic methods for valuing the environment. The hydrology, soil, carbon, air pollution, pollination and biodiversity of a forest are measured from a biophysical standpoint with emergy and converted to dollars using new emergy-to-dollar ratios, termed eco-prices. The functioning of the forest is compared to the most likely alternative land-use in Maryland (suburbia) and biophysical value is assigned based on this difference. The research seeks to value ecosystem services provided by forests in Maryland and proposes that society should invest commensurate value in the production and perpetuation of ecosystem services. To help ensure that Maryland forests continue to produce ecosystem services at the current rate, investment should total between $273 and $744 million per year in the State of Maryland, $270–$736 per year for a typical hectare of forest.