In this paper we respond to the challenge that a classification of ecosystem services should be based on understanding of the characteristics of ecosystems of interest and the decision context (Fisher et al. (2009) Defining and classifying ecosystem services for decision making, Ecological Economics 68 (3): 643-653). We show that the uncertain, novel and dynamic changes to ecosystems under climate change warrant transformational responses and demand adaptive approaches to research and decision-making. Concepts can be enabling or disabling of adaptability, innovation and transformation depending on the features of ecosystems and decision contexts they reveal or conceal. We propose adaptation services as a complementary perspective on ecosystem services to help reveal the aspects of ecosystems that provide options and insurance values to people that enable them to adapt to climate change. We define adaptation services as the net benefits to people from the capacity of ecosystems to moderate and adapt to climate variability and change. We provide analytical examples of adaptation services and explore the implications of the concept for research and decision-making when used as a classification, metaphor and boundary object. Early experiences of its use have shown it to be effective at raising awareness of neglected aspects of social-ecological systems, providing the conceptual framework for trans-disciplinary research in climate adaptation, facilitating debates between divergent political and economic perspectives, and creating novel outlooks that influence the framing of problems and which solutions are proposed.