Conservation medicine is an emerging discipline, focussing on the intersection of ecosystem health, animal health, and human health. Work in the biomedical and veterinary sciences is now being folded into conservation biology; to explore the connections between animal and human health; trace the environmental sources of pathogens and pollutants; develop an understanding of the ecological causes of changes in human and animal health; and understand the consequences of diseases to populations and ecological communities. Conservation Medicine defines this new discipline. It examines ecological health issues from various standpoints, including the emergence and resurgence of infectious disease agents; the increasing impacts of toxic chemicals and hazardous substances; and the health implications of habitat fragmentation and degradation and loss of biodiversity. It will provide a framework to examine the connections between the health of the planet and the health of all species and challenge practitioners and students in the health sciences and natural sciences to think about new, collaborative ways to address ecological health concerns.
This work focuses on the cross-over between ecosystem, animal and human health. It traces environmental sources of pathogens and pollutants to create an understanding of the causes of disease and changes in human and animal health.
Foreword
Contributors
Part I: Ecological Health and Change
1. Introduction, James G. Else and Mark A. Pokras
2. Defining Conservation Medicine, Gary M. Tabor
3. Conservation Medicine: The Birth of Another Crisis Discipline, Richard S. Ostfeld, Gary K. Meffe and Mary C. Pearl
4. Biodiversity, Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Paul R. Epstein
5. Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Key Role for Conservation Medicine, Peter Daszak and Andrew A. Cunningham
6. Effects of Endocrine Disruptors on Human and Wildlife Health, Theo Colborn
Part II: Monitoring Ecological Health
7. Monitoring the Health and Conservation of Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, and Their Ecosystems, A. Alonso Aguirre, Todd M. O'Hara, Terry R. Spraker and David A. Jessup
8. Disease Monitoring for the Conservation of Terrestrial Animals, Linda Munson and William B. Karesh
9. Emergence of Infectious Diseases in Marine Animals, Carol House, A. Alonso Aguirre and James A. House
10. Viruses as Evolutionary Tools to Monitor Population Dynamics, Mary Poss, Roman Biek and Allen Rodrigo
11. Assessing Stress and Population Genetics Through Noninvasive Means, Samuel K. Wasser, Kathleen E. Hunt and Christine M. Clarke
12. Animal Behavior as a Tool in Conservation Biology, J. Michael Reed
Part III: Ecological Health and Humans
13. Global Ecological Change and Human Health, Jonathan A. Patz and Nathan D. Wolfe
14. Biodiversity and Human Health, Eric Chivian and Sara Sullivan
15. Vector-Borne Infections and Health Related to Landscape Changes, David H. Molyneux
16. Ecological Context of Lyme Disease: Biodiversity, Habitat Fragmentation, and Risk of Infection, Richard S. Ostfeld, Felicia Keesing, Eric M. Schauber and Kenneth A. Schmidt
17. Zoonotic Infections and Conservation, Thaddeus K. Graczyk
18. Chronic Effects of Toxic Microalgae on Finfish, Shellfish and Human Health, JoAnn M. Burkholder
Part IV: Implementing Conservation Medicine
19. Ecological Health and Wildlife Disease Management in National Parks, Colin M. Gillin, Gary M. Tabor and A. Alonso Aguirre
20. Wildlife Health, Ecosystems and Rural Livelihoods in Botswana, Michael D. Kock, Gary R. Mullins and Jeremy S. Perkins
21. Zoological Parks in Endangered Species Recovery and Conservation, Anthony Allchurch
22. The Mountain Gorilla and Conservation Medicine, Michael Cranfield, Lynne Gaffikin, Jonathan Sleeman and Matthew Rooney
23. Linking Human and Ecosystem Health on the Amazon Frontier, Tamsyn P. Murray, James J. Kay, David Waltner-Toews and Ernesto Ráez-Luna
24. Deer Tick-Transmitted Zoonoses in the Eastern United States, Sam R. Telford III
Part V: Conservation Medicine and Challenges for the Future
25. Biodiversity in Biomedical Research, Joshua P. Rosenthal and Trent Preszler
26. Introducing Ecosystem Health Into Undergraduate Medical Education, David J. Rapport, John Howard, Robert Lannigan, Robert McMurtry, Douglas L. Jones, Christopher M. Anjema and John R. Bend
27. Ecotourism: Unforseen Effects on Health, Mary E. Wilson
28. Global Ecological Integrity, Global Change and Public Health, Colin L. Soskolne and Roberto Bertollini
29. Wildlife Health and Environmental Security: New Challenges and Opportunities, Jamie K. Reaser, Edward J. Gentz and Edward E. Clark, Jr.