Approaches to the accounting of ecosystem services in the economic assessment of land degradation

Degradation of soils causes degradation of the entire landscape and decreases the quality of human life. Economic evaluation of causes and consequences of soil degradation is very important for the creation of an optimal land management algorithm. Nowadays, we should include loss of a wide range of ecosystem (soil and land) services in the assessment of land degradation damage cost. Within the conducted research the scheme, allowing us to determine the entire possible range of soil services was proposed. Also the criteria for the selection of a sufficient set of services in each evaluation case were developed. It was suggested that there are 3 generalized criteria for economic interpretation of ecosystem services. It was shown that the damage calculated only on the basis of a recultivation budget is much lower than damage, which includes the valuation of lost ecosystem services.