Can human health outcomes be used as bioindicators of ecosystem function?
Bioindicators of ecosystem health, such as ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) diversity, reflect the ultimate (evolutionary) drivers of ecosystem function. Surveillance data on human population health, such as the frequency of ant stings, also provide a useful bioindicator of ecosystem health in so far as the presence of imported, stinging, pest species reflects the proximate (mechanistic) drivers of ecosystem function. The relationship between human health surveillance data and the ultimate drivers of ecosystem function has however not been studied at a research level. The possible integrated use of such apparently disparate data may offer a new tool to help manage our environment sustainably for the concurrent benefit of both ecosystem health and human health. Productive directions for research in this field are likely to lie in areas where disease outcomes are dependent on environmental intermediaries, such as vector borne or water borne infectious diseases, and the paper provides one worked example using allergy to ant stings as a case study.
School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia. p.weinstein@uq.edu.au
Philip
P
Weinstein
D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D013223:Statistics as Topic