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related to physical activity and obesity remain inconclusive, possibly because of
study design and confounding variables such as socio-economic factors, which need
to be considered carefully when designing studies (Kabisch Chap. 5, this volume).
Some specific biodiversity-health associations are negative, especially with regard
to allergies and vector-borne diseases (Damialis et al. Chap. 3, MĂŒller et al. Chap.
4, this volume), whereas effective spatial planning and management actions can
mitigate these effects (Elmqvist et al. Chap. 18, Heiland et al. Chap. 19, this vol-
ume). There is also some evidence of the positive effects of biodiversity on mental
health and well-being (Marselle et al. Chap. 9, this volume). Importantly, this vol-
ume also considers spiritual well-being (Irvine et al. Chap. 10, this volume), which
to date has been subject to little attention. Management of biodiversity could there-
fore form a globally important natural health service.
By reviewing and synthesising the available literature and recent findings, the
authors in this volume develop an evidence base for how biodiversity can contribute
to physical, mental and spiritual aspects of health and well-being. Importantly, the
volume starts to further develop the theory of biodiversity-health relationships
(Marselle Chap. 7, this volume), a necessary component for future studies. The
authors identify the different mechanisms for biodiversity-health pathways by
building on existing work (e.g. Hartig et al. 2014; Markevych et al. 2017; Potschin
and Haines-Young 2011; van den Bosch and Ode Sang 2017). As this is an emerg-
ing research area, it was at times challenging for some chapters to relate to primary
data and analyses where all three topics â biodiversity, health and climate changeÂ
â
were assessed together. Similarly, while the contributions draw on expertise from
different disciplines, an additional challenge encountered was moving beyond anal-
yses of green space in general to focus on the specific contribution of biodiversity in
particular, for which few studies exist to date, although research has grown in the
past decade (e.g. Aerts et al. 2018; Fuller et al. 2007; Dallimer et al. 2012; Lovell
et al. 2014). To foster further research, the chapters identify knowledge gaps and
areas for new research avenues as well as improvement through enhanced or better
aligned indicators and metrics (de Vries & Snep, Chap. 8, this volume). These met-
rics should also link to existing policy targets in public health and nature conserva-
tion (Davies et al. Chap. 12, Korn et al. Chap.14, MacKinnon et al. Chap. 16, this
volume). We need to move further in our research efforts to quantify the benefits and
risks that biodiversity provides for human health, and how interaction with plants
and animals shapes our physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being as well
as societal and cultural practices. Studies have started to explore dose-response rela-
tionships of nature and health (e.g. Cox et al. 2017; Shananhan et al. 2015), which
need to be further expanded in order to foster our understanding of the impact of
duration and exposure of contact with biodiversity on health. This knowledge is
required to aid development of âhealth treatmentsâ, both through natural resource
management interventions via configuration of green and blue spaces and through
active social interventions, such as health walks (Marselle et al. 2014; Cook et al.
Chap. 11, MacKinnon et al. Chap. 16, Hunter et al. Chap. 17, all this volume).
Importantly, unravelling the different mechanisms requires a targeted and innova-
tive study design and consideration of confounding factors to account for different
20 Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change: Perspectives for ScienceâŠ
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change
- Titel
- Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change
- Autoren
- Melissa Marselle
- Jutta Stadler
- Horst Korn
- Katherine Irvine
- Aletta Bonn
- Verlag
- Springer Open
- Datum
- 2019
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-030-02318-8
- Abmessungen
- 15.5 x 24.0 cm
- Seiten
- 508
- Schlagwörter
- Environment, Environmental health, Applied ecology, Climate change, Biodiversity, Public health, Regional planning, Urban planning
- Kategorien
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima