Disease Burden Links Ecology to Economic Growth

Figure 1. (Left) Per capita DALYs lost to VBPDs along a latitudinal gradient.
(Right) Per capita income across latitude is inversely correlated with the burden of VBPDs 

 

 

From the 27 December 2012 article at Science Daily

 A new study, published Dec. 27 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, finds that vector-borne and parasitic diseases have substantial effects on economic development across the globe, and are major drivers of differences in income between tropical and temperate countries. The burden of these diseases is, in turn, determined by underlying ecological factors: it is predicted to rise as biodiversity falls. This has significant implications for the economics of health care policy in developing countries, and advances our understanding of how ecological conditions can affect economic growth.

According to conventional economic wisdom, the foundation of economic growth is in political and economic institutions. “This is largely Cold War Economics about how to allocate property rights — with the government or with the private sector,” says Dr Matthew Bonds, an economist at Harvard Medical School, and the lead author of the new study. However, Dr Bonds and colleagues were interested instead in biological processes that transcend such institutions, and which might form a more fundamental economic foundation…

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The results of the analysis suggest that infectious disease has as powerful an effect on a nation’s economic health as governance, say the authors. “The main asset of the poor is their own labor,” says Dr Bonds. “Infectious diseases, which are regulated by the environment, systematically steal human resources. Economically speaking, the effect is similar to that of crime or government corruption on undermining economic growth.”

This result has important significance for international aid organizations, as it suggests that money spent on combating disease would also stimulate economic growth….

Read the entire article here

Loss Of Biodiversity May Lead To Increase In Allergies And Asthma

Biodiversity (Photo credit: Dom Dada)

From the 9 May 2012 article at Medical News Today

Declining biodiversity may be contributing to the rise of asthma, allergies, and other chronic inflammatory diseases among people living in cities worldwide, a Finnish study suggests. Emerging evidence indicates that commensal microbes inhabiting the skin, airway, and gut protect against inflammatory disorders. However, little is known about the environmental determinants of the microbiome.

Ilkka Hanski et al. from the Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, investigated whether reduced human contact with nature and biodiversity influences the composition of commensal skin bacteria and allergen sensitivity in a random sample of 118 teenagers living in eastern Finland. The authors found that subjects living on farms or near forests had more diverse bacteria on their skin and lower allergen sensitivity than individuals living in areas with less environmental biodiversity, such as urban areas or near bodies of water. …

Related articles

• Biodiversity loss may cause increase in allergies and asthma (eurekalert.org)
• Conservation Is Important — For The Sake Of Our Health (huffingtonpost.com)
• Backyard Biodiversity May Stem Allergies (sott.net)
• The Great Outdoors Is Good for Allergies (news.sciencemag.org)
• Biodiversity loss may cause increase in allergies and asthma (medicalxpress.com)
• Rural living may prevent allergies – biodiversity aids immune system (examiner.com)
• Rural life may boost allergy resistance (sciencenews.org)
• Exposure to Wide Variety of Microbes May Reduce Allergies (science.slashdot.org)
• Lack of Contact With Natural World Means More City-Dwellers Developing Allergies, Asthma (treehugger.com)

15 new conservation concerns

 

Image via Wikipedia

From the 12 December 2011 Eureka News Alert

A review carried out by a group of international specialists has identified several emerging issues that are likely to damage biodiversity in the coming years.

The review was conducted by 22 specialists from 20 institutions, including the University of Cambridge and the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, and aims to provide a ‘critical list’ of issues that need investigating in the near future.

The analysis focused on changes in climate, technology and human behaviour, with particular attention on the way developments in these areas could impact on the conservation of biodiversity. The authors hope that by identifying these issues, which are often at the very edge of our current understanding, researchers and policy-makers can be given early warning of what tomorrow’s problems are likely to be – allowing them to take appropriate preventative action now.

A total of 15 issues have been highlighted by the review, each focusing on a specific development. One of the issues is the potentially damaging impact of pharmaceuticals that are released into the environment after human use. As populations age and our use of drugs increases, these chemicals are beginning to affect fish, birds and other organisms, but the larger scale impact on our ecosystems is mostly unknown. Another area identified by the study highlights the increasing use of nuclear batteries and the safe disposal of their waste. These novel power sources could provide electricity to remote and deprived communities but the implications for the environment are yet to be determined….

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This review has highlighted a number of issues that are likely to be of great importance throughout the 21st century. From the warming of the deep sea to placing hydro-electric turbines in rivers, it is clear that our potential to damage the natural environment will continue to be a crucial area in which we should conduct research. By identifying these issues at an early stage we hope to gain an understanding that can drive changes in policy and behaviour, ultimately helping to preserve biodiversity and increase the adoption of sustainable ways of living.”

 

Related articles

• Is green certification good for biodiversity? (forbes.com)
• Get ready for ecosystem collapse in the years ahead [Environment] (io9.com)
• Protecting the Himalayas (thehindu.com)
• Creatures found and lost before scientists can record them (smh.com.au)
• Are Western Conservation Efforts Causing Famine In Africa? (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Ongoing global biodiversity loss unstoppable with protected areas alone: Study (eurekalert.org)

Biodiversity loss correlates with increases in infectious disease

From the December 1, 2010 Eureka news alert

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Habitat destruction and species extinction may lead to an increase in diseases that infect humans and other species, according to a paper in the journal Nature co-authored by a University of Florida ecologist.

In the paper to be published Thursday, UF biology professor Robert D. Holt and his colleagues reported that by reviewing studies from a wide range of systems, including data from plants, animals and bacteria, they were able to relate dimensions of environmental loss, and in particular species loss, with incidence of infectious disease. The study –- which was led by biologist Felicia Keesing of Bard College –- focused on diseases on the rise, such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease and Hantavirus.

“The general degradation of biodiversity because of land use transformation, combined with climate change, overharvesting, and so forth, is likely to have many perverse consequences for emerging pathogens,” said Holt, a UF Eminent Scholar associated with the Emerging Pathogens Institute. “You have to think both as an ecologist and an infectious disease specialist to grapple with questions like this.”

Some pathogens can flourish under less biologically diverse conditions, such as in areas where top predators or other key species become extinct…