02
REDUCING LOCAL ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE MAY REDUCE GLOBAL
EMERGING DISEASES
Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost
Advisor, Department of Environment (DoE), IranEmail: yazdandoost3000@gmail.com

How to cite this paper:

Yazdandoost,Mahmood
Yekeh (2022) Reducing local
anthropogenic environmental
change may reduce global
emerging diseases, Journal ofGlobal Resources, Vol. 08 (01)
DOI:

Abstract: Ecological values of landscapes, like; biodiversity,connectivity and resilience capacity provide, biological well-being
and cultural and economic development, which all needed forhuman development and health. As a result of rapid development,
unplanned urbanization went against human will and healthbeing, producing novel emerging diseases. For identifying therelationship between anthropogenic environmental changes andemerging diseases, the present study has considered the impactof ecological disconnectivity on environmental health and global
emerging diseases.

10.46587/JGR.2022.v08i01.002

Received: 22 Sep. 2021
Reviewed: 14 Oct. 2021
Revised: 03 Nov. 2021
Final Accepted: 14 Nov. 2021

Key words: Ecological Connectivity, Environmental Change,Emerging Diseases, Anthropogenic Impact.

Journal of Global Resources, January 2022, Volume 08 (01) Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost Page | 15

Introduction
The planet Earth is experiencing very harsh environmental changes through human activities(Vitousek, P. M., 1994; Tilman, D., 1999). Anthropogenic Environmental Changes (AEC) inlandscapes, like fragmentation of ecosystems, has led to emergence of diseases, and sometimes ina number of conditions novel diseases (Woolhouse et al., 2005; Jones et al., 2008). The species
diversity relations due to the course of evolutionary interactions occur within endemic/localcommunity. In return, this diversity in species richness and composition can also influence thetransmission mode of pathogens. Within natural ecosystems, parasites without dispute are main
player in shaping of the endemic/local species assembly. Regarding non-specialized or multi-species
system, the pathogen diversity in reservoir hosts will have important outcome on the transmission ofdiseases (LoGiudice et al., 2003). Moreover, the potential reservoir species has various capacities
to multiply the pathogens and transmit the disease. The vector species assembly also presents
important role in disease transmission (Schmidt and Ostfeld, 2001). Among dilution hosts, somespecies function as ecological pitfall for the pathogens or vectors.
The pathogens are parts of ecosystems; they are embedded in trophic webs and reproduce
in defined ecosystems or habitats (Horwitz and Wilcox, 2005). That’s why any change in landscapestructure would have considerable impact on ecosystem/human health. The pandemics of SARS andavian influenza in recent years and now COVID-19 indicate how important is emerging and noveldiseases and how these diseases impact health, communication and economic development. Wildlife
populations are linked in the chain of pathogen emergence, forming the reservoirs from which
Zoonotic diseases may emerge, causing either localized outbreaks (epizootics) or affecting
populations on global scales (panzootics). Most human Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) listedby the Institute of Medicine (Lederberg et al., 1992) are Zoonotic. Anthropogenic changes to wildlife
habitat, like; habitat destruction and fragmentation, increase the flow of pathogens from wildlife
reservoirs and thereby foster disease emergence in humans.
Wildlife EIDs threaten biodiversity, human health, communication, behavior, culture and wellbeing in a complex inter-related manner. To understand their impact will require broad integration
and an understanding of how changes in human behavior, urban structure, agricultural development,
demography and economy alter pathogen transmission within the human–domestic animal–wildlife
continuous sequence (Daszak et al., 2000a). Pandemics and other emerging zoonoses cause
widespread human suffering and represent an existential threat to the public health across the planet.
Without preventative strategies, pandemics would have more devastating impact on human society
including global economy and sustainable development.
Land-use change at the local level, like; deforestation, human settlement in primarily wildlife
habitat, the growth of crop and livestock production and urbanization together, would significantly
create global driver of pandemics. Land-use change creates synergistic effects with climate change(forest loss, heat island effects, burning of forest to clear land) and biodiversity loss that in turn has
led to important emerging diseases. Destruction of habitats and encroachment of humans andlivestock into biodiverse habitats provide new pathways for pathogens to spill over and increasetransmission rates. In this regard, human health considerations are largely unaccounted for in landuse planning decisions.

Journal of Global Resources, January 2022, Volume 08 (01) Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost Page | 16

The underlying driver of pandemics is mostly considered to be local with global impact that accountfor biodiversity loss, global warming and climate change. It may cause significant outbreak of disease
with high fatality rate. Biodiversity loss associated with disruption of landscapes can lead to a highdanger of zoonotic transmission. For pandemic prevention, control and response measures, anefficient transformative change with policy options would be needed. There is considerable documentthat the causative agent of almost all recent EIDs are massive environmental and socioeconomicchanges that modify the rates of contact reservoir and people in transmission of pathogens (Jones,K. E. et al., 2008; Allen, T. et al., 2017). Various mechanisms explain how ecosystem disruption andbiodiversity reduction affect disease occurrences and emergence. The dilution effect studied in detailindicates, in ecosystem with high biodiversity assemblage, pathogens would have less expectancy
to find suitable hosts to establish and transmit disease (Schmidt and Ostfeld, 2001; Ostfeld andKeesing, 2012).
The emerging disease regulation may also happen through prey-predation relation that affectthe populations of vectors or otherwise hosts in the community (Levi, T. et al., 2012; Sokolow, S.H.
et al., 2015). Also, urban structure with the municipality/health infrastructural deficiencies, such as
poor sanitation, lack of proper disposal of wastes, air pollution, population congestion and lack ofadequate health services and socio-cultural limitations may lead to some contagious infectious
diseases. Thus, EIDs are the interacting outcome of the pathogens, vectors, hosts and theirsurrounding environment. However, as the environmental factors by governing ecological systems
influence the infectious diseases, on the contrary, any change in the state of EIDs can themselves
bring about disruption in ecosystem functionality and services.
MethodThe methodology used is the multi-ecosystem examinations exposed to the major anthropogenic
changes against the reference sites in which the ecosystems are unchanged or minimally agitated.
Data collection is based on monitoring and observation.
Geographical Location
The Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome,
covering about 55,000 square kilometers, adjacent the shores of the Caspian Sea. The naturalvegetation is temperate deciduous broadleaved forest. The large mammals in ecoregion are theleopard, lynx, brown bear, wild boar, wolf, golden jackal, jungle cat, badger, otter, etc. The existenceof unique and endemic biodiversity makes the Caspian Hyrcanian forests a priority location forsustainable conservation. With knowing the importance of conservation in this ecoregion,
unfortunately the ecological connectivity and habitats are threatened by conversion of forests into
agricultural land practices, poaching and unsustainable development.
Results and Discussion
The result indicates, as many parts of the forest get disconnected by logging, road construction,building of houses and other activities, also poaching of precious species, the forest can’t deliver theecological services as before, eg., a continuous rain for a few days create severe flooding inundation,
which disturbs local community and create lose of properties even in neighbouring towns. Moreover,the migratory bird’s community richness and abundance gets impacted by all these adverse activities.
Also, there are some reports that the disease occurrence in wildlife has increased in compare withprevious years, because forest resiliency got hampered.

Journal of Global Resources, January 2022, Volume 08 (01) Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost Page | 17In recent years we have seen fungal pathogens like; Biscogniauxia mediterranea and Calonectria
pseudonaviculata gets opportunity to infect major parts of forests and reducing the quality andproductivity of the forests goods and services. Also, Tortrix viridana (green moth), Geometridae(caterpillar), Lymantria dispar (gypsy moth), Cryptococcus fagisuga (woolly beech scale),
Diplodia pinea (fungus), Rhytisma acerinum (fungus), Armillaria mella (honey fungus- plant
pathogen), and Viscum spp. (plant poisonous to humans) are infesting in forests and creating
devastating problems.
As a result, by now we have understood, anthropogenic environmental modifications bringabout environmental changes, sometimes with irreversible environmental damage, like; extinction ofspecies (Hautier et al., 2015; Lewis and Maslin, 2015). Most EIDs are driven by anthropogenicactivities. In the sense, humans by modifying the habitats and ecological systems, created theconditions for pathogens to spread into new hosts and ecological niches (Taylor et al., 2001). Direct
anthropogenic drivers that affect diseases outbreak include: wildlife habitat destruction,
deforestation, conversion of land, diversion of surface water, unplanned urbanization, chemicaldeposition, solid waste disposal and air pollution. That’s why, due to human-induced environmental
changes, our planet has entered a new geological epoch termed the Anthropocene (Crutzen andStoermer, 2000).
According to the WHO, environmental threats to human society include: global warming andclimate change, ozone depletion, loss of biological diversity, changes in hydrological systems, landdegradation, urbanization, and stresses on food-producing systems (WHO, 2017). Also,transportation is the greatest risks for the rapid spread of infectious diseases (Jaffry et al., 2009).
Particularly in the places with high biodiversity and rapid ecological disturbance the chances for theemergence of new pathogens are quite high (Jones et al., 2008). The anthropogenic environmental
alteration is the most significant driver of wildlife, domestic animal and human EIDs. The study ofEIDs requires an integrated, multidisciplinary approach (Daszak et al., 2000a). Ecological restoration,
which is critical for conservation, climate adaptation and provision of ecosystem services, shouldintegrate health considerations to avoid potential increased disease risk resulting from increased
human-livestock-wildlife contact.
There are comprehensive evidences that climate change induced by human activities andstyle of life impact ecological well-being and human health. For example, when the heat waves
happen, there would be considerable additional deaths that one need to decide how to reducethese risks. Moreover, the temperature change will bring other consequences, like; droughts,
floods, fires, vector-borne diseases and poor agricultural production which leads to mal-nutritionand poverty. Also, an increase of ozone level in troposphere would increase the cardio-respiratory
diseases and mortality. There are scientific evidences that while host diversity increases, theinfection risk decreases in a focal species. As a result, the greater host diversity may reduce theretention of the infection in a community (Keesing et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2014).
Moreover, the modification of ecosystems and natural processes may also lead to alterationof diseases incidence, because ecosystems provide some specific functions and any disturbance inthe regulation function of ecosystems may favor the population of some vectors or hosts to flourish.

Journal of Global Resources, January 2022, Volume 08 (01) Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost Page | 18

Recommendations• Incorporating Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) in major development and land-use projects.
• Developing programs based on effective habitat conservation measures.
• Enabling transformative change to reduce agricultural expansion and trade.
• Educating communities in emerging wildlife infectious diseases.
• Conducting disease surveillance of wildlife in the trade.
• Enhancing law enforcement collaboration on illegal wildlife trade.
• Improving understanding of the relationship between ecosystem degradation and restorationand landscape structure, and the risk of emerging disease.
• Considering economic analyses of return-on-investment for programs that reduce theenvironmental changes that lead to pandemics.
• Valuing Indigenous People (VIP) and Local Communities’ engagement and knowledge inpandemic prevention programs.
Conclusion:
The ecosystems connectivity in the landscape delivers the functionality, productivity and diversity of
the natural environment. Multiple Complex Changes (MCC) in this arrangement; would reduce theEarth’s operating system and handicaps the environmental quality to serve specific functions. Thebalance in biodiversity composition like, hosts, predators, preys, vectors, and parasites deliver
indispensable services from ecological systems which controls EIDs. There are links in the chain of
emergence of human and domestic animal diseases with pathogens, habitats and environmental
changes shared between these populations. Anthropogenic drivers of local environmental change
may have different impact at global scales. For instance, when we locally replace natural vegetation
for agriculture, we reduce ecosystems services and increase the rate of species extinction with large
impact on global climate change. Moreover, landscape disruption, deforestation, urbanization anddesertification are main drivers of large life-threatening infectious diseases. In most cases, thesedrivers cause a new, sometimes devastating challenge.
A comprehensive surveillance system should be designed to prevent environmental
infectious diseases by identifying risks to ecological and human health and well-being. However, tounderstand how diseases from wildlife reservoir hosts will respond to drivers of change requires aseries of investigation on ecological examination of diseases dynamics. Many diseases display
complexities with multi-host species and multi-infectious agents that require novel knowledge andmethods to control them. In multiple host species the infectious agent may be maintained by several
host species, contributing to the maintenance of transmission. Moreover, pathogens dynamics totallydepends on the dynamics of the species diversity in the community. In this regard, the present
alteration of the forest ecological system may accelerate the spread of infectious diseases, because
vectors and reservoirs may gain more favorable environmental condition. Therefore, ecosystem
disruption accounts for biodiversity reduction, enhancing the risk of disease from primary reservoir.
The EIDs continue to challenge global health now as well as in future. To respond to EIDs effectively,
well planned strategy with global coordination effort should be implemented.
Acknowledgement: All the scientific literatures released by academia, UN and other agencies
including Department of Environment that have been used in this research paper are highly
appreciated.
Journal of Global Resources, January 2022, Volume 08 (01) Mahmood Yekeh Yazdandoost Page | 19References
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