Download Decision Support Tools and Research on Ecosystems, Biodiversity

Connecting Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and
Human Health:
Decision-Support Tools and Research
HE-09-03c
Gary Foley, PhD
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
29 March 2011
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem Services
As provided by the diversity of life on earth
as provided by the diversity of life on earth
Provisioning
Services
Regulating
Services
Cultural Services
Food
Freshwater
Wood and fiber
Fuel
Clean Air
Medicines
Climate regulation
Flood regulation
Disease regulation
Water purification
Aesthetic
Cultural
Recreational
Spiritual
Supporting Services
Nutrient cycling
Primary production
Soil formation
Adapted from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005.
Biodiversity loss is accelerating
From WWF, “Living Planet Report,” 2006.
Biodiversity and Infectious Diseases:
What We Don’t Know
• What are the mechanisms by which changes in biodiversity
affect health? What are the interactions?
• How do animals (including humans) and disease vectors
involved in the disease life cycle move through the environment
as a result of land use change?
• At which taxonomic level does biodiversity affect human
health? What ecological scale?
• When do we expect ecological risk to be correlated with human
disease risk?
• What are the feedbacks between human behavior, biodiversity
change, and human disease?
• How can global drivers like climate change and migration affect
the link between the biodiversity and human health?
Biodiversity-Health Research Initiative
U.S. EPA
• Qualitative and quantitative: how do anthropogenic
drivers of changes in biodiversity affect the
transmission of emerging human infectious
diseases?
• Transdisciplinary research approach, including
decision-makers
→ Sustainability Goal: develop environmentallybased tools and strategies to prevent and reduce
disease
Why New Transdisciplinary
Science is Needed
• Root causes of disease emergence and spread should
be explored to assist in prevention and mitigation
• Lack of integrated tools and approaches that link
ecosystems to human health
• Environmental and social factors contribute to these
diseases – and environmentally-based and behavioral
approaches can help reduce the disease burden
• Reliance on the use of pesticides to manage vectorborne diseases is not sustainable
Mosquito and Tick-borne Diseases
Biodiversity in the Ecology of Hosts, Vectors And Humans in West
Nile Transmission (Rutgers)
•
Inform wetland management and restoration, as well as public outreach to reduce disease risk;
innovative use of social survey to identify behaviors/attitudes on biodiversity among people living
around urban wetland study sites
The Roles of Avian Host Dynamics and Anthropogenic Stressors on
WNV Transmission (UCLA)
•
Risk distribution model can inform land management, disease monitoring, and where to target IPM;
new technology tested for detecting virus in wild birds
Mosquito Species Diversity and Landscape Change (EPA,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gorgas Institute)
•
Inform forest management and reduce risks to health of nearby communities; test new barcoding
techniques for faster mosquito species id; add new data to global species monitoring project
Web-Based Decision Support Tool for Risk-Appropriate Tick-Bite
Protection and Disease Prevention (U. RI)
•
Risk calculator can be used by decision-makers to evaluate and implement IPM strategies to control
tick-borne diseases; 2 statewide IPM training programs will teach new practices around homes and
public areas
Predicting Areas of High
West Nile Prevalence (UCLA)
Providing better information for
decision-making tools and analysis
Environmental-health policy tools/strategies from
research Intervention Opportunities
–
–
–
–
–
Guidance on individual protection (societal)
Best practices on land use (envt)
Ecological indicators of human disease risk (envt)
Integrated pest management (envt)
Valuation of ecosystems in human health benefit terms
(econ)
A NE USA Biodiversity & Health
Community of Practice
The Public
& Public
Officials
Landscape/Biodiversity Change and Lyme Disease:
Science and Application
Science and Decision-making Needs
Scientist, Economist, Social Scientist needs
• Transdisciplinary research at appropriate public health and
ecological scales
• Increase understanding of how landcover configuration and
connectedness (landscape pattern) affect LD risk
• Better understanding of how animals (including humans) and
disease vectors involved in the LD life cycle move through the
environment as a result of land use change
• Post-implementation monitoring with scientific evaluation to
assess the effectiveness of disease mitigation research applications
Policy needs – State/Local Env Mgrs, PH Officials, Land Use
Planners, Practicing Medical Community
• Clear and consistent communication on risk prevention and
management among the various decision makers
• Effective, targeted communication pathways and products
• Co-benefits (outcomes) and resource efficiencies can be the basis of
incentives to working across disciplines and sectors
Meeting Needs & Achieving
Consistency in Risk Management
The Public
& Public
Officials
Scientist,
Economist,
Social
Scientist
needs
State/Local
Env Mgrs,
PH Officials,
Land Use
Planners,
Practicing
Medical
Community
Next Steps/Opportunities
• Advance NE USA Community of Practice “Biodiversity,
Landscape Change, and Human Health” in follow-up
international workshop (late 2011-2012)
• Connect researchers on tick- and mosquito-borne disease
projects with decision-makers in at-risk areas to share state
of the science and plan for implementation
– Share state of the science
– Generalizability of study results
• Engage land use planning and landscape architecture
communities to share disease prevention strategies at the
household, community, and regional scales and incorporate
into practice (EPA Workshop, 30-31 March, 2011)
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/biodiversity
[email protected]
This presentation was written by Montira J. Pongsiri, Environmental Health Scientist, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The views expressed are her own and do not necessarily reflect the policy positions of the EPA.