Along with the research at the organismal level and below, that aimed at the level of social-ecological (coupled humannatural systems) is critical to the development of the comprehensive scientific framework necessary for understanding zoonotic infectious disease emergence in particular. Not only does this new area address the dynamic behavior of complex, large scale systems, but also bridges theory from the traditionally separate biological and social science disciplines, thus contributing to the interdisciplinary research agenda also called for in the above reports. The purpose of this paper is to consider how regional and global zoonotic disease emergence trends might be explained on the basis of current thought in biological ecology including the very recent developments new to the field of infectious disease ecology. Here we draw on ecological science as broadly defined as a basis for identifying causal mechanisms of zoonotic disease emergence, the ultimate goal being to enhance disease prevention and control programs.