Biodiversity and Respiratory Health

On Tuesday it was International Biodiversity day. Biological diversity is often understood in terms of a wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms, but it also includes genetic differences within each species — for example, between varieties of crops — and the variety of ecosystems (lakes, forest, deserts, fields) that host multiple kind of interactions among their members (humans, plants, animals).

Loss of biodiversity threatens all life on earth, including our health. It has been proven that biodiversity loss causes zoonotic infections - diseases transmitted from animals to humans- while, on the other hand, if we keep biodiversity intact, it offers excellent tools to fight against pandemics like those caused by coronaviruses.

While there is a growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to future generations, the number of species is being significantly reduced by human activities.

Read more about emerging evidence on biodiversity and human health here, including positive associations between species diversity and well-being (psychological and physical) and between ecosystem diversity and immune system regulation: 

Biodiversity and human health: mechanisms and evidence of the positive health effects of diversity in nature and green spaces - PubMed (nih.gov) 

And read about urban biodiversity and children's respiratory health, soecifically the association of access to green space and childhood wheezing, asthma, and bronchitis:  

Urban biodiversity affects children's respiratory health - The Lancet Respiratory Medicine