Question

Identify the regulatory services among the following:
A) Providing food
B) Soil formation by lichens
C) Water purification by microbes
D) Flood protection by mangroves
E) Conserving the biodiversity
F) Creating natural beauty

• A. A and D
• B. E and F
• C. C and D
• D. A and B

Hint:

Regulating services act as "nature's shock absorbers".
They regulate natural processes like climate, water quality, and natural disasters without yielding direct physical products.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Recall the four buckets ecosystem services fall into.
Provisioning services give us tangible products, supporting services build the foundation for everything else, cultural services give non material value, and regulating services keep natural processes in balance.
Step 2: Sort the easy ones first.
Providing food (A) is a provisioning service, soil formation by lichens (B) is a supporting service, conserving biodiversity (E) and creating natural beauty (F) are cultural services, none of these count as regulating.
Step 3: Confirm the regulating pair.
Water purification by microbes actively regulates water quality, and flood protection by mangroves actively regulates how floodwater moves through a coastline, both are natural regulatory processes, which makes C and D the true regulating services.
Final answer: Option 3, C and D, water purification and flood protection, are the regulating services.