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.
