Ecological goods and services (EG&S) are the benefits arising from the ecological functions of ecosystems. Such benefits accrue to all living organisms, including animals and plants, rather than to humans alone. However, there is a growing recognition of the importance to society that ecological goods and services provide for health, social, cultural, and economic needs.
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Examples of ecological goods include clean air, and abundant fresh water. Examples of ecological services include purification of air and water, maintenance of biodiversity, decomposition of wastes, soil and vegetation generation and renewal, pollination of crops and natural vegetation, groundwater recharge through wetlands, seed dispersal, greenhouse gas mitigation, and aesthetically pleasing landscapes. The products and processes of ecological goods and services are complex and occur over long periods of time. 
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The concern over ecological goods and services arises because we are losing them at an unsustainable rate, and therefore land use managers must devise a host of tools to encourage the provision of more ecological goods and services. Rural and suburban settings are especially important, as lands that are developed and converted from their natural state lose their ecological functions.
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The nutrient cycle describes how nutrients move from the physical environment into living organisms, and subsequently are recycled back to the physical environment. This movement of nutrients, essential for life, from the environment into plants and animals and back again, is a vital function of the ecology of any region. In any particular environment, the nutrient cycle must be balanced and stable if the organisms that live in that environment are to flourish and be maintained in a constant population (MARTIN 2010). Currently, large parts of humankind influence the nutrient cycle in such a way that we remove nutrients from the land and discharge them into aquatic environments. On the one hand, this leads to soil depletion on the land, and on the other hand, an overabundance of nutrients and pollution of water sources.
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It is estimated that 95% of our food is directly or indirectly produced on our soils. Healthy soils are the foundation of the food system. Our soils are the basis for agriculture and the medium in which nearly all food-producing plants grow. Healthy soils produce healthy crops that in turn nourish people and animals. Indeed, soil quality is directly linked to food quality and quantity. Soils supply the essential nutrients, water, oxygen and root support that our food-producing plants need to grow and flourish. They also serve as a buffer to protect delicate plant roots from drastic fluctuations in temperature.

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A healthy soil is a living, dynamic ecosystem, teeming with microscopic and larger organisms that perform many vital functions including converting dead and decaying matter as well as minerals to plant nutrients (nutrient cycling); controlling plant disease, insect and weed pests; improving soil structure with positive effects for soil water and nutrient holding capacity, and ultimately improving crop production. A healthy soil also contributes to mitigating climate change by maintaining or increasing its carbon content.

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