The economic valuation of ecosystem services derived from Earth's critical zone has primarily concentrated on vegetation and surface waters or on a few selected aboveground services; however, the economic value of ecosystem services provided by the atmosphere and shallow lithosphere has not yet been considered substantially. In order to address this research gap, we propose a more explicit and rigorous definition of critical zone services as the human benefits provided by Earth's critical zone. This concept brings a more complete inventory of stocks and flows upon which critical zone valuation methods are based. By considering the 5 interconnected components (atmosphere, vegetation, soil, surface water, groundwater) of Earth's critical zone, we identify from literature review a wide range of critical zone services and classify them into three categories (provisioning, regulating and cultural) defined in the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services. We do not consider supporting services, whose influence is intrinsic to the values of the other classes, specifically to avoid double accounting. Based on the defined critical zone services, we present a methodology enabling economic valuation of Earth's critical zone that is consistent with partial equilibrium theory and accounts for biophysical and economic input to the analysis. This approach achieves two significant aims that 1) incorporate recent new natural sciences concepts and knowledge in evaluating the structure and function of the critical zone into methods of applied economics and 2) provide natural environmental scientists with access to simplified theory and practice of applied economics that is relevant to valuation methods at the location-specific physical scale of the critical zone. The proposed methodology can be used as a quantitative management tool for economists and policy makers to more transparently enumerate the provision of services arising from the biophysical functioning of the whole of Earth's critical zone in the face of increased pressures of increased population, land use intensification, and climate change.

来自地球临界区的生态系统服务的经济价值主要集中在植被和地表水或少数选定的地上服务；然而，大气和浅层岩石圈提供的生态系统服务的经济价值尚未得到充分考虑。为了弥补这一研究空白，我们提出了一个更明确、更严格的临界区服务定义，即地球临界区提供的人类福利。这个概念带来了更完整的存量和流量清单，关键区域估值方法基于这些清单。通过考虑地球临界区的 5 个相互关联的组成部分（大气、植被、土壤、地表水、地下水），我们从文献综述中确定了范围广泛的关键区域服务，并将它们分为三类（供应、调节和文化），这些类别在生态系统服务的国际通用分类中定义。我们不考虑支持服务，其影响是其他类价值的内在影响，特别是为了避免双重核算。基于定义的临界区服务，我们提出了一种能够对地球临界区进行经济估值的方法，该方法与部分平衡理论一致，并考虑了分析的生物物理和经济投入。这种方法实现了两个重要目标：1) 将评估临界区结构和功能的最新自然科学概念和知识融入应用经济学方法中，2) 为自然环境科学家提供应用经济学的简化理论和实践。与关键区域特定位置物理尺度的估价方法相关。提议的方法可用作经济学家和决策者的定量管理工具，以便在面临人口增加、土地利用集约化、和气候变化。