Review: Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems By Gretchen C. Daily Reviewed by Sean T. O'Brien Florida Department of Environmental Protection Daily, Gretchen C. Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1997. 392 p. US$24.95 paper ISBN: 1-55963-475-8. Recycled, acid-free paper. Recently, I commented on the response made by the New Jersey chapter of a national conservation group to a state forestry plan. Fortunately, I had just finished reading Nature's Services and had a broadened understanding of the value of natural ecosystems to our state, and human society in general. Edited by Gretchen Daily, the Bing Interdisciplinary Research Scientist in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University, Nature's Services includes 20 chapters by well-known scientists on a range of topics organized around the theme of the value of services provided by natural ecosystems to humanity. Understandably, and usefully, contributors to Nature's Services make economic arguments for conservation and tend to downplay moral and aesthetic arguments. In general, the value of ecosystems can be divided into consumptive and nonconsumptive uses. For example, consumptive uses for forests include logging and hunting; nonconsumptive uses include bird watching, appreciation of the existence of an ecosystem, flood control, and soil conservation. While consumptive uses can be valued directly based on market prices, it is harder to assign value to nonconsumptive uses. It is difficult to present nonconsumptive uses objectively in arguments about conservation of ecosystems. It is this difficulty that led to the contributors' lament [of] the near total lack of public appreciation of societal dependence upon natural ecosystems (p. xv). Given this, I was surprised that Nature's Services misses the mark, though not too widely, in its self-stated goal ...to characterize the ways in which earth's natural ecosystems confer benefits on humanity, to make a preliminary assessment of their value, and to report this in a manner widely accessible to an educated audience (p. 2) Although the first two goals are admirably addressed, they are

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Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems

Weather and climate influence multiple aspects of infectious disease ecology. Creating and applying early warning systems based on temperature, precipitation, and other environmental data can identify where and when outbreaks of climate-sensitive infectious diseases could occur and can be used by decision makers to allocate resources. Whether an outbreak actually occurs depends heavily on other social, political, and institutional factors. Improving the timing and confidence of seasonal climate forecasting, coupled with knowledge of exposure-response relationships, can identify prior conditions conducive to disease outbreaks weeks to months in advance of outbreaks. This information could then be used by public health professionals to improve surveillance in the most likely areas for threats. Early warning systems are well established for drought and famine. And while weather- and climate-driven early warning systems for certain diseases, such as dengue fever and cholera, are employed in some regions, this area of research is underdeveloped. Early warning systems based on temperature, precipitation, and other environmental data provide an opportunity for early detection leading to early action and response to potential pathogen threats, thereby reducing the burden of disease when compared with passive health indicator-based surveillance systems.

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Unexplored Opportunities: Use of Climate- and Weather-Driven Early Warning Systems to Reduce the Burden of Infectious Diseases

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1016/j.mambio.2019.09.002.pdf

Research trends on bats in China: A twenty-first century review.

The need to adopt planetary health approach in understanding the potential influence of climate change and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases outbreaks

Rapid deforestation and unprecedented wildlife trafficking are important factors triggering the rate of zoonotic spillover from animals to humans. Consequently, this leads to the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases among the human population. Deforestation is an important ecological disruption that leads to the loss of biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity results in the persistence of highest-quality hosts of zoonotic pathogens dominating the low-diversity communities, a process termed the dilution effect. Activities like intensive farming and logging that resulted in deforestation bring vulnerable people in close contact with these highest-quality reservoir hosts (wildlife). As a result of this vulnerability, there is an increased risk of spillover, leading to zoonotic infection in humans and eventually disease outbreaks during human–human transmission. One prominent example of a disease of wildlife origin is the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2), even though the original source has not been found. Another important factor facilitating the risk of spillover and emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases is wildlife trafficking. This involves illegal hunting and trading of wildlife and their products, which increases the risk of spillover as a result of exchange of bodily fluids and bloodmeals between humans and wildlife during the hunting and butchering of animals’ carcasses. Consequently, little or no hygiene protocol and poor handling practices during the wildlife-trade chain expose poachers, consumers, and local market sellers to the risk of zoonotic diseases. Despite the interventions on deforestation-induced spillover and wildlife trafficking-associated spillover, there are still knowledge and research gaps that need to be addressed towards preventing the outbreaks of future zoonotic infectious diseases. In response to this, there is a need for interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations among researchers from various fields as well as sectors in minimizing the risk of zoonotic spillover driven by deforestation and wildlife trafficking at the human–animal–environmental nexus. In addition, there is a need for integrated and unified evidence-based policy formulation that puts an end to deforestation and wildlife trafficking, especially in tropical areas such as Africa and Asia.

https://www.mdpi.com/2078-1547/13/2/41/pdf?version=1661770109

Zoonotic Spillover in an Era of Rapid Deforestation of Tropical Areas and Unprecedented Wildlife Trafficking: Into the Wild

Background: Biodiversity and human health are intimately linked to each other, human beings are an integral and inseparable part of the natural ecosystem as human health depends ultimately on the health of its species. Human interference with biodiversity affects ecosystem both structurally and functionally, consequently biodiversity is continuously declining globally. Objective: The objective of this study is to understand the effect of biodiversity loss on dynamics of infectious disease transmission and its impact on the magnitude and impact of epidemics. Methods: This is a literature review. Discussion: Correlation has been observed between decrease in disease frequency with increase in biodiversity. A region rich in diversity of species of vertebrates has protective effect against vulnerability of Infectious diseases especially Vector-borne zoonotic diseases. This phenomenon in nature is known as Dilution effect. Biodiversity in host can either lead to amplification or buffering of epidemics. Dilution effect lowers the incidence of the disease among humans while the richness of biodiversity reduces the prevalence of directly transmitted diseases leading to buffering effect. Fragmentation of natural habitat leads to lowered biodiversity leads to higher risk of exposure to diseases. Conclusion: While some human health effects due to biodiversity loss may be direct and easily perceptible while others are indirect may not be appreciated currently. According to the World Health Organization, the adverse health effects brought in by loss of biodiversity far exceeds dangers of implication of climate change to human health. Health professionals should advocate for the preservation of biodiversity as it has a powerful impact on frequency of disease transmission in the community.

Biodiversity loss: Public health risk of disease spread and epidemics

BACKGROUND Children 0-14 years constitute about 31.4% of Indian population, among whom the magnitude and risk factors of childhood injuries have not been adequately studied. OBJECTIVE To study the prevalence of and assess the factors associated with unintentional injuries among children aged 6 month - 18 years in various regions. METHODOLOGY This multi-centric, cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted at 11 sites across India. States included were Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal between March, 2018 and September, 2020. A total of 2341 urban and rural households from each site were selected based on probability proportionate to size. The World Health Organization (WHO) child injury questionnaire adapted to the Indian settings was used after validation. Information on injuries was collected for previous 12 months. Definitions for types (road traffic accidents, falls, burns, poisoning, drowning, animal-related injuries) and severity of injuries was adapted from the WHO study. Information was elicited from parents/primary caregivers. Data were collected electronically, and handled with a management information system. RESULTS In the 25751 households studied, there were 31020 children aged 6 months-18 years. A total of 1452 children (66.1% males) had 1535 unintentional injuries (excluding minor injuries) had occurred in the preceding one year. The overall prevalence of unintentional injuries excluding minor injuries was 4.7% (95% CI: 4.4-4.9). The commonest type of injury was fall-related (842, 54.8%) and the least common was drowning (3, 0.2%). Injuries in the home environment accounted for more than 50% of cases. CONCLUSIONS The findings of the study provide inputs for developing a comprehensive child injury prevention policy in the country. Child safe school with age-appropriate measures, a safe home environment, and road safety measures for children should be a three-pronged approach in minimizing the number and the severity of child injuries both in urban and rural areas.

Descriptive Epidemiology of Unintentional Childhood Injuries in India: An ICMR Taskforce Multisite Study.

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy are a major public health concern in both developed and developing countries. Early detection and treatment of maternal health issues reduce the severity of these issues. This study set out to identify possible risk factors of these conditions and evaluate current methods of treatment. Throughout the research (6 months), 80 PIH women who met the inclusion criteria were studied in an observational study. Women in their twenties and thirties are more likely to have pregnancy-induced hypertension. Preeclampsia and gestational hypertension in pregnancy are the most common types. Hypertension issues are more common among pregnant women who are more likely to be obese, have had previous pregnancies, and reside in rural areas. Medication for the treatment of pregnancyinduced hypertension is prescribed and administered regarding drugs used for primary hypertension. Methyldopa and labetalol are examples of first-line treatments. Patients with PIH who are about to give birth are given hydralazine intravenously (IV) or nifedipine orally (P.O.) as a second-line treatment. When providing antihypertensive medicines or any other medications, the wellbeing of both maternal and fetal is taken into consideration. The risks to both mother and child may be reduced with prompt treatment with additional, safe medications. Article info Received: 14 Jan 2023 Revised: 06 Mar 2023 Accepted: 12 Apr 2023 Use your device to scan and read the article online

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Ch. Satish Kumar

Papers

Biodiversity loss: Public health risk of disease spread and epidemics

Descriptive Epidemiology of Unintentional Childhood Injuries in India: An ICMR Taskforce Multisite Study.

Pregnancy-induced hypertension: risk factors and current treatment strategies