Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Human Health as an Ecosystem Service: A Conceptual Framework

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Integrating Ecology and Poverty Reduction

Abstract

To live in good health and, in many ways, to live at all, people need a wide array of life-support benefits that derive from ecosystems. Collectively these are called ecosystem services, a term referring to the conditions and processes through which ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life (Ehrlich and Ehrlich 1981; Daily 1997; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). These processes underpin the production of goods (such as seafood and timber), life-support functions (water purification and flood control), and life-fulfilling conditions (beauty and inspiration), as well as the preservation of options (such as genetic diversity for future use).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adger, W. N., T. P. Hughes, C. Folke, S. R. Carpenter, and J. Rockstrom. 2005. Social-Ecological Resilience to Coastal Disasters. Science 309:1036–1039.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ahern, M., R. S. Kovats, P. Wilkinson, R. Few, and F. Matthies. 2005. Global Health Impacts of Floods: Epidemiologic Evidence. Epidemiologic Reviews 27:36–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexandratos, N. 1999. World food and agriculture: Outlook for the medium and longer term. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 96:5908–5914.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borgstrom, G. 1965. The hungry planet: the modern world at the edge of famine. Collier-MacMillan, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, C. J. A., N. S. Sodhi, K. S.-H. Peh, and B. W. Brook. 2007. Global evidence that deforestation amplifies flood risk and severity in the developing world. Global Change Biology 13: 2379–2395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brauman, K. A., G. C. Daily, T. K. e. Duarte, and H. A. Mooney. 2007. The Nature and Value of Ecosystem Services: An Overview Highlighting Hydrologic Services. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 32:67–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chichilnisky, G. and G. Heal. 1998. Economic returns from the biosphere. Nature 391:629–630.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn, A., J. St Clair, and K. Silverstein. 1999. The Politics of “Natural” Disaster: Who Made Mitch So Bad? International Journal of Health Services 29:459–462.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Corvalán, C., S. Hales, and A. J. McMichael. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being : health synthesis. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Curriero, F. C., J. A. Patz, J. B. Rose, and S. Lele. 2001. The Association Between Extreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, 1948–1994. American Journal of Public Health 91(8):1194–1199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahdouh-Guebas, F., L. P. Jayatissa, D. Di Nitto, J. O. Bosire, D. Lo Seen, and N. Koedam. 2005. How effective were mangroves as a defence against the recent tsunami? Current Biology 15:R443–R447.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Daily, G. C., editor. 1997. Nature’s Services. Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danielsen, F., M. K. Sorensen, M. F. Olwig, V. Selvam, F. Parish, N. D. Burgess, T. Hiraishi, V. M. Karunagaran, M. S. Rasmussen, L. B. Hansen, A. Quarto, and N. Suryadiputra. 2005. The Asian Tsunami: A Protective Role for Coastal Vegetation. Science 310:643.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Das, S. and J. R. Vincent. 2009. Mangroves protected villages and reduced death toll during Indian super cyclone. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106:7357–7360.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dasmann, R. F. 1988. Towards a biosphere consciousness. Pages 177–188 in D. Worster, editor. The Ends of the Earth: Perspective on Modern Environmental History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P. and A. Ehrlich. 1981. Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species. Ballantine Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J. N., M. A. Desai, K. Levy, S. J. Bates, S. Liang, K. Naumoff, and J. C. Scott. 2007. Environmental determinants of infectious disease: a framework for tracking causal links and guiding public health research. Environ Health Perspect 115:1216–1223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Englande, A. J., Jr. 2008. Katrina and the Thai Tsunami - Water Quality and Public Health Aspects Mitigation and Research Needs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 5:384–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fewtrell, L., R. B. Kaufmann, D. Kay, W. Enanoria, L. Haller, and J. M. Colford, Jr. 2005. Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Infectious Diseases 5:42–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). 2008. Assessment of the World Food Security and Nutrition Situation. Page 20 Committee on World Food Security, 34th Session. FAO, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadgil, M. 1998. Prudence and profligacy: a human ecological perspective. Pages 99–110 in T. M. Swanson, editor. The Economics and Ecology of Biodiversity Decline. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humboldt State University. 2009. Arcata’s Wastewater Treatment Plant & The Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. http://www.humboldt.edu/~ere_dept/marsh/. Accessed on: April 5, 2009.

  • Huynen, M., P. Martens, and R. S. De Groot. 2004. Linkages between biodiversity loss and human health: a global indicator analysis. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 14:13–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, A., B. E. Vaissiere, J. H. Cane, I. Steffan-Dewenter, S. A. Cunningham, C. Kremen, and T. Tscharntke. 2007. Importance of pollinators in changing landscapes for world crops. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274:303–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krieger, N. 2001. Theories for social epidemiology in the 21st century: an ecosocial perspective. Int J Epidemiol 30:668–677.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kunkel, C. M., R. W. Hallberg, and M. Oppenheimer. 2006. Coral reefs reduce tsunami impact in model simulations. Geophysical Research Letters 33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laurance, W. F. 2007. Forests and floods. Nature 449:409–410.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luck, G. W., G. C. Daily, and P. R. Ehrlich. 2003. Population diversity and ecosystem services. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18:331–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luck, G. W., R. Harrington, P. A. Harrison, C. Kremen, P. M. Berry, R. Bugter, T. R. Dawson, F. d. Bello, S. Díaz, C. K. Feld, J. R. Haslett, D. Hering, A. Kontogianni, S. Lavorel, M. Rounsevell, M. J. Samways, L. Sandin, J. Settele, M. T. Sykes, S. V. D. Hove, M. Vandewalle, and M. Zobel. 2009. Quantifying the contribution of organisms to the provision of ecosystem services. BioScience 59:223–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, A. G., C. C. Tam, C. D. Higgins, and L. C. Rodrigues. 2007. The association between drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal illness: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marris, E. 2005. Tsunami damage was enhanced by coral theft. Nature 436:1071.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMichael, A. J. 1999. Prisoners of the proximate: loosening the constraints on epidemiology in an age of change. American Journal of Epidemiology 149:1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being : Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H. A. and P. R. Ehrlich. 1997. Ecosystem services: a fragmentary history.in G. C. Daily, editor. Nature’s Services. Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, C. J. L. and A. D. Lopez. 1997. Global mortality, disability, and the contribution of risk factors: Global Burden of Disease Study. The Lancet 349:1436–1442.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, S. S. and J. Patz. 2009. Emerging threats to human health from global environmental change. Annual Review of Environment & Resources 34:223–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pekkanen, J. and N. Pearce. 2001. Environmental epidemiology: challenges and opportunities. Environ Health Perspect 109:1–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Plowright, R. K., S. H. Sokolow, M. E. Gorman, P. Daszak, and J. E. Foley. 2008. Causal inference in disease ecology: investigating ecological drivers of disease emergence. Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment 6:420–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Postel, S. L. 1998. Water for food production: Will there be enough in 2025?. BioScience 48:629–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Postel, S. L. and B. H. Thompson, Jr. 2005. Watershed protection: Capturing the benefits of nature’s water supply services. Natural Resources Forum 29:98–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prüss-Ustün, A. and C. Corvalán. 2007. How much disease burden can be prevented by environmental interventions? Epidemiology 18:167–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H., S. Semenov, and A. Patwardhan. 2007. Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change.in M. Parry, L, O. Canziani, F, J. Palutikof, P, P. Van der Linden, J, and C. Hanson, E, editors. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, J., R. Levin, and R. Goldstein. 2000. Drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal illness in the elderly of Philadelphia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 54:45–51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sieswerda, L. E., C. L. Soskolne, S. C. Newman, D. Schopflocher, and K. E. Smoyer. 2001. Toward Measuring the Impact of Ecological Disintegrity on Human Health. Epidemiology 12:28–32.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, K. R., C. F. Corvalan, and T. Kjellstrom. 1999. How much global ill health is attributable to environmental factors? Epidemiology 10:573–584.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Susser, M. and E. Susser. 1996. Choosing a future for epidemiology: II. From black box to Chinese boxes and eco-epidemiology. American Journal of Public Health 86:674–677.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tinker, S. C., C. L. Moe, M. Klein, W. D. Flanders, J. Uber, A. Amirtharajah, P. Singer, and P. E. Tolbert. In Press. Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in Atlanta, 1993–2004. Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. L., R. E. Kasperson, P. A. Matson, J. J. McCarthy, R. W. Corell, L. Christensen, N. Eckley, J. Kasperson, X, A. Luers, M. L. Martellow, C. Polsky, A. Pulsipher, and A. Schiler. 2003. A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:8074–8079.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. Millennium Development Goals 2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/. Accessed on: May 19, 2009.

  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2006. Human Development Report 2006. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2007. Global Environment Outlook: environment for development (GEO-4) Malta.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vorosmarty, C., J, C. Leveque, and C. Revenga. 2005. Fresh Water. Pages 165–207 in F. Rijsberman, R. Costanza, and P. Jacobi, editors. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (Program) Condition and Trends Working Group Ecosystems and human well-being : current state and trends : findings of the Condition and Trends Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. 1997. Health and Environment in Sustainable Development. World Health Organization, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO). 2006. Constitution of the World Health Organization- Basic Documents, Forty-fifth edition, Supplement. Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO). 2009. Global Burden of Disease. http://www.who.int/topics/global_burden_of_disease/en/. Accessed on: April 5, 2009.

Download references

Acknowledgments

Much of the content of this chapter was discussed in a workshop held at Stanford University in December, 2008. During this workshop, the authors received very constructive input from K. Arkema, B. Brosi, J. Davis, P Ehrlich, D. Ennaanay, R. Gould, A. Luers, H. Mooney, and G. Schoolnik.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Karen Levy

  2. Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

    Gretchen Daily

  3. Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Samuel S. Myers

Authors
  1. Karen Levy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gretchen Daily
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Samuel S. Myers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen Levy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society, Southern Blvd. 2300, Bronx, 10460, New York, USA

    Jane Carter Ingram

  2. CATIE, CATIE 7170, Cartago, Turrialba, Costa Rica

    Fabrice DeClerck

  3. Rockefeller Foundation, Fifth Ave. 420, New York, 10018-2702, New York, USA

    Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Levy, K., Daily, G., Myers, S.S. (2012). Human Health as an Ecosystem Service: A Conceptual Framework. In: Ingram, J., DeClerck, F., Rumbaitis del Rio, C. (eds) Integrating Ecology and Poverty Reduction. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0633-5_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation