Agriculture is facing new challenges in research needed to meet the goals of sustainable food systems. In particular, the degradation of regulating ecosystem services associated with water, soil, air and biological resources are linked to future declines in provisioning and cultural ecosystem services (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Challenges to the agricultural research community include synthesizing scientific inquiry and practical application to assess, project and manage ecosystem services to meet sustainability goals under unprecedented current and future conditions. In fact, the difficulties associated with defining and measuring ecosystem services often contributes to their continued degradation. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to identify and pursue trans-disciplinary scientific inquiry that contributes to our understanding of the complexities inherent in the science of managing ecosystem services. This symposium will provide a forum for agricultural and environmental scientists to share research and ideas leading to the identification of knowledge gaps associated with understanding regulating ecosystem services. Included will be presentations on ecosystem services related to climate stability, hydrologic services, soil generation and productivity and biodiversity conservation; tools to assess ecosystem services and a concluding panel discussion.