Biodiversity Change and Human Health brings together leading experts from the natural science and social science realms as well as the medical community to explore the explicit linkages between human-driven alterations of biodiversity and documented impacts of those changes on human health. The book utilizes multidisciplinary approaches to explore and address the complex interplay between natural biodiversity and human health and well-being. The five parts examine
health trade-offs between competing uses of biodiversity (highlighting synergistic situations in which conservation of natural biodiversity actually promotes human health and well-being); relationships between biodiversity and quality of life that have developed over ecological and evolutionary time; the effects of changing biodiversity on provisioning of ecosystem services, and how they have affected human health; the role of biodiversity in the spread of infectious disease; native biodiversity as a resource for traditional and modern medicine
Biodiversity Change and Human Health synthesizes our current understanding and identifies major gaps in knowledge as it places all aspects of biodiversity and health interactions within a common framework. Contributors explore potential points of crossover among disciplines (both in ways of thinking and of specific methodologies) that could ultimately expand opportunities for humans to both live sustainably and enjoy a desirable quality of life.
Chapter 1: Changes in Biodiversity and Their Consequences for Human Health Osvaldo E. Sala, Laura A. Meyerson, and Camille Parmesan Part One: Biodiversity and human health: from tradeoffs to synergisms Chapter 2: Biodiversity, Food Provision and Human Health Andrew Wilby, Charles Mitchell, Dana Blumenthal, Peter Daszak, Carolyn Friedman, Peter Jutro, Asit Mazumder, Anne-Helene Prieur-Richard, Marie-Laure Desprez-Loustau, Manju Sharma, and Matthew B. Thomas Chapter 3: The Impact of Anthropogenic Stress at Global and Regional Scales on Biodiversity and Human Health David J. Rapport, Peter Daszak, Alain Froment, Jean-Francois Guegan, Kevin D. Lafferty, Anne Larigauderie, Asit Mazumder, and Anne Winding Ch. 4: Biodiversity and Human Health: The Decision Making Process Camille Parmesan, Suzanne M. Skevington, Jean-Francois Guegan, Peter Jutro, Stephen R. Kellert, Asit Mazumder, Marie Roue, Manju Sharma Chapter 5: Sustainable Allocation of Biodiversity to Improve Human Health and Well-Being Laura A. Meyerson, Osvaldo E. Sala, Alain Froment, Carolyn Friedman, Kerstin Hund-Rinke, Pim Martens, Asit Mazumder, Aditya N. Purohit, Matthew B. Thomas, and Andrew Wilby Part Two: Biodiversity effects on quality of life: beyond physical health Chapter 6: Biodiversity, Quality of Life, and Evolutionary Psychology Stephen R. Kellert Chapter 7: Quality of Life, Biodiversity and Health: Observations and Applications Suzanne M. Skevington Part Three: Biodiversity effects on ecosystem services and their impacts on human health Chapter 8: Consequences of Aquatic Biodiversity for Water Quality and Health Asit Mazumder Chapter 9: The Global Nitrogen Cycle, Biodiversity and Human Health Alan R. Townsend, Luiz A. Martinelli, and Robert W. Howarth Chapter 10: Links between Microbial Diversity, Stressors and Detoxification Capacity Kerstin Hund-Rinke and Anne Winding Part Four: Biodiversity effects on the spread of infectious diseases
Chapter 11: Microbial Communities: Patterns and Processes Jean-Francois Guegan and Helene Broutin Chapter 12: Biodiversity and Health: the Place of Parasitic and Infectious Diseases Alain Froment Chapter 13: Biodiversity and disease Matthew B. Thomas, Kevin D. Lafferty, and Carolyn S. Friedman Chapter 14: Climate Change, Wildlife and Human Health Camille Parmesan and Pim Martens Part Five: Biodiversity as a resource for medicine Chapter 15: Biodiversity and the Search for New Medicines Paul Alan Cox Chapter 16: Traditional Medicines and Practices Aditya N. Purohit