Contents: 1. Environmental Assessment and Ecological Evaluation: Concepts, Methods and Arguments [Environmental Assessment and Ecological Evaluation Methods, a Review; Environmental Function Evaluation, the Method Used in This Book] 2. Functions of the Natural Environment [Regulation Functions; Carrier Functions; Production Functions; Information Functions] 3. Socio-Economic Evaluation of Environmental Functions [Types of Values Which Can Be Attributed to Environmental Functions; Methods to Assess the Monetary Value of Environmental Functions; Some Examples of the Socio-Economic Value of Environmental Functions] 4. Functions and Values of Natural Ecosystems: Some Case Studies [Functions and Values of Tropical Moist Forests; Functions and Values of the Dutch Wadden Sea (a Tidal Wetland); Functions and Values of the Galapagos National Park] 5. Function Evaluation as a Tool in Environmental Planning, Management and Decision Making [Role of Function-Evaluation in Land Use Planning and Decision-Making; Environmental Functions and (Environmental) Economics]; Bibliography; Appendix I: Evaluation Parameters (1. Bedrock Characteristics and Geological Processes, 2. Atmospheric Properties and Climatological Processes, 3. Geomorphologiçal Processes and Properties, 4. Hydrological Processes and Properties, 5. Soil Processes and Properties, 6. Vegetation Characteristics, 7. Flora and Fauna (Species Properties), 8. Life-Community Properties and Food Chain Dynamics, 9. Ecosystem Parameters); Appendix II: Ecosystem Classification; Glossary; List of Tables; List of Abbreviations and Acronyms.