Perceptions of ecosystem health, stress and human well-being

1996 ◽  
pp. 211-226
Author(s):  
Mary K. O’keeffe ◽  
Andrew Baum
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Well Being

scholarly journals Perspective: a healthy planet for healthy people

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Ekins ◽  
Joyeeta Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthy People ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Direct And Indirect Impacts ◽  
Indirect Impacts ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Nations Environment

Non-technical abstract This perspective article from the co-chairs of the United Nations Environment Programme's Sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) uses the assessment of the literature in the GEO-6 to show how a healthy planet and healthy people are linked together. It argues that the health of the planet is deteriorating and that this deteriorating ecosystem health has major direct and indirect impacts on human health and well-being. Direct impacts include the impacts of polluted air on the lungs of people, while indirect impacts include the impacts of land degradation on food security. Therefore, protecting the environment will also have major benefits for human health and well-being.

Service Ecosystem Health: A Transformative Approach to Elevating Service Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond P. Fisk ◽  
Linda Alkire
Keyword(s):  
Human Service ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Service Science ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Service Ecosystem

Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the metaphor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and planetary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broadens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service science to uplift human well-being.

scholarly journals Fungal communities decline with urbanization—more in air than in soil

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2806-2815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nerea Abrego ◽  
Brittni Crosier ◽  
Panu Somervuo ◽  
Natalia Ivanova ◽  
Arusyak Abrahamyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecosystem Processes ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Fungal Dna ◽  
Methodological Difficulties

Abstract Increasing evidence suggests that degradation of biodiversity in human populated areas is a threat for the ecosystem processes that are relevant for human well-being. Fungi are a megadiverse kingdom that plays a key role in ecosystem processes and affects human well-being. How urbanization influences fungi has remained poorly understood, partially due to the methodological difficulties in comprehensively surveying fungi. Here we show that both aerial and soil fungal communities are greatly poorer in urban than in natural areas. Strikingly, a fivefold reduction in fungal DNA abundance took place in both air and soil samples already at 1 km scale when crossing the edge from natural to urban habitats. Furthermore, in the air, fungal diversity decreased with urbanization even more than in the soil. This result is counterintuitive as fungal spores are known to disperse over large distances. A large proportion of the fungi detectable in the air are specialized to natural habitats, whereas soil fungal communities comprise a large proportion of habitat generalists. The sensitivity of the aerial fungal community to anthropogenic disturbance makes this method a reliable and efficient bioindicator of ecosystem health in urban areas.

scholarly journals Can people be sentinels of sustainability? Identifying the linkages among ecosystem health and human well-being

FACETS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. Loring ◽  
Megan S. Hinzman ◽  
Hanna Neufeld
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Social Epidemiology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Constitutive Relationship ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Negative Impacts

Human well-being depends on the health of ecosystems, but can human well-being also be an indicator of ecosystem health, and perhaps even sustainability? Research shows that ecosystem health and human well-being are often mutually reinforcing, whether in the direction of wellness and sustainability or poverty and degradation. However, while well-being is increasingly recognized as an important consideration when managing ecosystems, human needs and activities are often still thought of only in terms of their negative impacts on ecosystems. In this essay, we explore the proposition that there can be a mutually constitutive relationship between people’s well-being and the health of ecosystems, and discuss what such a relationship would mean for expanding the use of human well-being indicators in ecosystem-based management. Specifically, we discuss two areas of theory: ecosocial theory from social epidemiology and the marginalization–degradation thesis in political ecology; collectively, these provide a justification, in certain circumstances at least, for thinking of well-being as not just an add-on in natural resource management but as an indicator of ecosystem health and a prerequisite of social-ecological sustainability. We conclude with a discussion of future research needs to further explore how human well-being and ecosystem health interact.

The Oceans and Human Health

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lora Fleming ◽  
Michael Depledge ◽  
Niall McDonough ◽  
Mathew White ◽  
Sabine Pahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Interdisciplinary Study ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Health And Well Being

The interdisciplinary study of oceans and human health is an area of increasing global importance. There is a growing body of evidence that the health of the oceans and that of humans are inextricably linked and that how we interact with and affect our oceans and seas will significantly influence our future on earth. Since the emergence of modern humans, the oceans have served as a source of culture, livelihood, expansion, trade, food, and other resources. However, the rapidly rising global population and the continuing alterations of the coastal environment are placing greater pressure on coastal seas and oceans. Negative human impacts, including pollution (chemical, microbial, material), habitat destruction (e.g., bottom trawling, dredging), and overfishing, affect not only ecosystem health, but also human health. Conversely, there is potential to promote human health and well-being through sustainable interactions with the coasts and oceans, such as the restoration and preservation of coastal and marine ecosystems. The study of oceans and human health is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together the natural and social sciences as well as diverse stakeholder communities (including fishers, recreational users, private enterprise, and policymakers). Reviewing history and policy with regard to oceans and human health, in addition to known and potential risks and benefits, provides insights into new areas and avenues of global cooperation, with the possibility for collaboratively addressing the local and global challenges of our interactions with the oceans, both now and in the future.

scholarly journals Biologia Futura: integrating freshwater ecosystem health in water resources management

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janos J. Bogardi ◽  
Jan Leentvaar ◽  
Zita Sebesvári
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
Water Quality Guidelines ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Quality Guidelines ◽  
Physico Chemical

AbstractSustainable water use implies the simultaneous protection of water quality and quantity. Beyond their function to support human needs such as drinking water provision, transportation and recreation freshwater bodies are also habitats. Conceiving them as water users on their own with respective biological, physico-chemical and morphological requirements could help maintaining their healthy state. Healthy freshwater ecosystems are also attractive for high-value human uses. Dwindling per capita availability of water, increasing demands, human well-being and climate change lead to competition for, and pressures on freshwater ecosystems. This has been conceptualized through the modification of the drivers–pressures–state–impacts–responses framework. This distinguishes between pressures, associated with the achievement of human well-being, and stressors, which are defined as the negative effect of excessive pressures or combination thereof on aquatic ecosystems. Guidelines usually specify threshold values to classify water bodies as appropriate for certain utilitarian uses. However, only few guidelines focus on freshwater ecosystem health. Eight guidelines for monitoring of freshwater ecosystem health were analysed in the UNEP-funded project “International Water Quality Guidelines for Ecosystems”. Based on this review, general benchmark values are proposed for key physico-chemical indicators. Furthermore, adaptive pathways towards improved monitoring and protection of the health of freshwater ecosystems are recommended. In this paper, we review the main findings of the report and also review its recent uptake. Water quality guidelines for freshwater ecosystems cannot be conceived without societal consensus and vision. Different climatic, geographical and socioeconomic contexts are to be considered too. Their development is embedded in an adaptive cycle. Its multiple phases and steps indicate a long-term approach including reassessment and potential revisions.

Community well-being as a critical component of urban lake ecosystem health

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Walker ◽  
Jane-Louise Lampard ◽  
Anne Roiko ◽  
Neil Tindale ◽  
Aaron Wiegand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lake Ecosystem ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Urban Lake
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