Forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems do far more than store carbon. Nature shapes the conditions that make human life possible — regulating our climate, purifying our water, sustaining food systems, supporting human health, and underpinning entire economies.

At the heart of this research program is a deceptively simple question: how does the state of nature determine the quality of these services? We argue that to answer it, we must understand nature on three interacting levels — its biodiversity (the variety of species and genetic lineages), its structure (how organisms are organized in space and time), and its function (the ecological processes that emerge from that organization). Changes at any of these levels propagate outward, with consequences that ripple across climate, food, water, health, and economic systems simultaneously.

This framing moves beyond single-service accounting. A forest managed only for timber loses structural complexity; that loss reduces water retention, alters local climate, and diminishes the diversity of organisms that buffer against pest outbreaks and disease. No impact pathway operates in isolation.

Our work develops the conceptual and quantitative tools needed to trace these connections — from changes in species composition or canopy structure all the way to measurable consequences for people and societies. The goal is not just to document what nature provides, but to understand the mechanisms well enough to predict what is at risk, and where protection or restoration can deliver the greatest benefit.