Sustaining life : how human health depends on biodiversity / edited by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein ; foreword by Edward O. Wilson ; prologue by Kofi Annan.

"Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Environment Programme; IUCN--The World Conservation Union."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 445-514) and index.

Foreword / Edward O Wilson -- Prologue / Kofi Annan -- 1: What Is Biodiversity? / Stuart L Pimm, Maria Alice S Alves, Eric Chivian, Aaron Bernstein -- Determining rates of species extinction -- Secondary extinctions -- Loss of populations and genes -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 2: How Is Biodiversity Threatened By Human Activity? / Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein -- Habitat loss: on land -- Habitat loss: in the oceans -- Habitat loss: fresh water -- Overexploitation -- Introduced species -- Infectious diseases -- Pollution -- Ultraviolet radiation -- War and conflict -- Global climate change -- Suggested readings -- 3: Ecosystem Services / Jerry Melillo and Osvaldo Sala -- Character of ecosystem services -- Economic value of ecosystem services -- Threats to ecosystem services -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 4: Medicines From Nature / David J Newman, John Kilama, Aaron Bernstein and Eric Chivian -- Why natural medicines? -- History of natural products as medicines -- Role of traditional medicine in drug discovery -- South American indigenous medicines -- Review of some medicines derived from nature -- Herbal medicines in industrialized countries -- Potential medicines in food -- Natural products as insecticides and fungicides -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 5: Biodiversity And Biomedical Research / Eric Chivian, Aaron Bernstein, and Joshua P Rosenthal -- Brief history of biomedical research -- Role of animals and microbes in biomedical research -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 6: Threatened Groups Of Organisms Valuable To Medicine / Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein -- Amphibians -- Bears -- Primates -- Gymnosperms -- Cone snails -- Sharks -- Horseshoe crabs -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 7: Ecosystem Disturbance, Biodiversity Loss, And Human Infectious Disease / David H Molyneux, Richard S Ostfeld, Aaron Bernstein and Eric Chivian -- Ecosystem disturbances and their effects on infectious diseases -- Vector, pathogen, and host diversity and human infectious disease -- Biological controls -- Species exploitation and the consumption of bushmeat -- Climate change and its effects on infectious diseases -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 8: Biodiversity And Food Production / Daniel Hillel and Cynthia Rosenzweig -- Historical background -- Agriculture -- Livestock production -- Food from aquatic systems -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 9: Genetically Modified Foods And Organic Farming / Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein -- Genetically modified foods -- Organic farming -- Integrated farming -- Conclusion -- Suggested readings -- 10: What Individuals Can Do To Help Conserve Biodiversity / Jeffrey A McNeely, Eleanor Sterling and Kalemani Jo Mulongoy -- What are we doing to our planet? -- Why do we consume so much? -- How can we conserve biodiversity? -- Some collective actions that have made a difference -- Individuals who have made a difference -- Ten things we all can do that can help conserve biodiversity -- Suggested readings -- Appendix A: Co-sponsors of sustaining life: how human health depends on biodiversity -- Appendix B: Treaties, conventions, and intergovernmental organizations for the conservation of biodiversity -- Appendix C: Nongovernmental organizations working to conserve biodiversity -- References -- Chapter authors -- Contributing authors -- Reviewers -- Index.

From the Publisher: The Earth's biodiversity-the rich variety of life on our planet-is disappearing at an alarming rate. And while many books have focused on the expected ecological consequences, or on the aesthetic, ethical, sociological, or economic dimensions of this loss, Sustaining Life is the first book to examine the full range of potential threats that diminishing biodiversity poses to human health. Edited and written by Harvard Medical School physicians Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, along with more than 100 leading scientists who contributed to writing and reviewing the book, Sustaining Life presents a comprehensive-and sobering-view of how human medicines, biomedical research, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and the production of food, both on land and in the oceans, depend on biodiversity. The book's ten chapters cover everything from what biodiversity is and how human activity threatens it to how we as individuals can help conserve the world's richly varied biota. Seven groups of organisms, some of the most endangered on Earth, provide detailed case studies to illustrate the contributions they have already made to human medicine, and those they are expected to make if we do not drive them to extinction. Drawing on the latest research, but written in language a general reader can easily follow, Sustaining Life argues that we can no longer see ourselves as separate from the natural world, nor assume that we will not be harmed by its alteration. Our health, as the authors so vividly show, depends on the health of other species and on the vitality of natural ecosystems. With a foreword by E.O. Wilson and a prologue by Kofi Annan, and more than 200 poignant color illustrations, Sustaining Life contributes essential perspective to the debate over how humans affect biodiversity and a compelling demonstration of the human health costs.

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