2021/9/29

The importance ofOneHealth to people
and biodiversity
Alice C. Hughes
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden,
Chinese Academy of Sciences

What and why OneHealth• OneHealth is a holistic approach to landscape andbiodiversity management that promotes healthy
ecosystems, and species as the basis of a healthy
economy• It requires an overarching and synergistic
assessment of the interrelationships between
elements of the system to inform management andsafeguard all components

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Zoonoses and risks• 111 recent epidemic disease outbreaks have zoonotic origins (i.e. HIV-AIDS,Ebola, MERS and SARS)• 60% of human emerging disease events are caused by zoonotic pathogens,with most (72%) originating in wildlife.
• Most human pathogens are zoonotic (80% of viruses)• (50% of bacteria, 40% of fungi, 70% of protozoa and 95% of helminths)• Seven coronaviruses (CoVs) are currently known to infect humans (Andersenet al 2020), four of which are regularly found in populations in which theycause only mild symptoms (Corman et al 2018)• However, the betacoronaviruses, SARS-CoV-1, MERS and SARS-CoV-2 are
more often fatal• Over 200 novel coronaviruses have been identified in bats and approximately
35% of the bat virome sequenced is composed of coronaviruses (Banerjee etal. 2019)

Route of spillover
1.
2.
3.
4.

Direct: Bites, scratches, fluids (i.e. Rabies)
Indirect: Contamination (i.e. Marburg)
Vector-borne: Bites (i.e. Lyme, Plague)
Foodborne/Waterborne: Contamination (i.e. Hendra, Ebola)

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Terrifying disease vector

OneHealth-one world• Unsustainable land management also increases disease risk byincreasing vulnerability, transmission and spread-we will see more
epidemics without better governance• Health is a good example of how the importance of intact ecosystems
and preventing unregulated consumption can be mainstreamed• In addition to protecting key regions we can develop management
approaches which minimise risk of spillover• Following Covid-19 we will see a change in consumption patterns-but
these lessons need to be expanded• Mainstreaming of other ecosystem benefits also need to be better
integrated into governance and management systems

Zhou, H., Chen, X., Hu, T., Li, J., Song, H., Liu, Y., ... & Hughes, A. C. (2020). A novel bat coronavirus
closely related to SARS-CoV-2 contains natural insertions at the S1/S2 cleavage site of the spike
protein. Current Biology.

Wildlife & Humans• Understanding
Humans are how
generally the greatest threats to batsutilizeecosystems generally both stresses Karsts• species
Perturbing
batsandand increases
caves
landscapes
movementis criticalto understanding• spillover
Bats switch
roosts when disturbed, and seasonally so human activity
risk
greatly influences bats despite the fact that we depend on ecosystemservices from bats
• Fungal pathogens
Barns andwere
livestockalso likely introduced to naïve bat populations Housingby humans• Given this how can we use bats as ecosystem indicators

Trees3

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Badgers and TB• TB became an renewed issue in cattle in the 1960s around when maize (high sugar, lownutrients) started to be widely grown• Habitats in England are fragmented, and combined with easy food badgers encountercattle• Government funded scientists showed that culls were not only ineffective of preventing
badgers spreading TB to cattle but actually exacerbated it due to the perturbation effect• Disrupting populations makes badgers stressed, and makes them move-spreading TB,
increasing upto 130% in cull zones• The government funded culls have increased cattle TB in areas with culls• This shows that species ecology is important, and policy that ignores it will exacerbate
issues• Quoted in 2012 as calling the proposed pilot strategy ‘mindless’, Lord Krebs reiterated
that: “The scientific case is as clear as it can be: this cull is not the answer to TB incattle. The government is cherry-picking bits of data to support its case.”

Bats and Hendra

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OneHealth and risk

• Fragmentation associated with changes in diet, and changes inmicrobiome• We need a clearer understanding of the impacts of habitat
modification on species to understand what the risks are and where
they fall to enable proactive management• Changing the landscape has a domino effect on other elements of theecosystem, and this changing interface combined with the effects ofstress may drastically increase spillover risk
• So understanding links between species, and species and environment
are essential

Species interactions

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Bats and CoVs
• In a sample of 441 bats we found 24CoVs• This included some of the most similar
to SARS-COV2 (94.5%)• Including four novel SARS-CoV-2
related and three SARS-CoV related
genomes• Bat CoVs are not rare!
• However-spillover is still rare
• High diversity with at least 24 species
projected to co-exist in some regions• Understanding risks of when and whyspillovers may occur is important

Other approaches to identifying keyecosystems• Native ecosystem patchsize• These kinds of approaches can be used to identify priority systems toprotect and connect• Such approaches are also scalable and ecosystem specificForests

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Understanding theinteractions inhabitat structureand species use caninform the chanceof spillover

Estimated risk fornovel infectious
disease emergence

Understanding data for
analysis

Hughes, A.C., Orr, M.C., Qinmin, Y., Qiao, H., (2021) Effectively and accurately mapping global
biodiversity patterns for different regions and taxa. Global Ecology and Biogeography.

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Is Asia at a higher risk?
• Asia has well over half the worlds population• With increasing population, industrialization and consumption ofmeat it is putting natural resources under increasing pressure• The interface between livestock and wildlife is also considerable
providing risks of spillover via direct contact, parasites or fluids• Asia Pacific Accounts For 69% Of The Dimension Stone Mining
Market; Granite Accounts For The Largest Segment• However rate of change within Asia is also a major risk

Is Asia at a higher risk?

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Deforestation• Tropical deforestation resulted in a debt of more than 140 forestspecific vertebrates (Rosa et al., 16)• The extinction debt would increase 20th-century extinctions invertebrates by 120%
• Clearance for agriculture accounts for appx 80% deforestation from1980-2000 (Gibbs et al., 10)• Agriculture is the main driver in Asia, whereas political stability &GDP are correlates in SS Africa (Lebois et al., 17)Austin et al., 17

Global roads….

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Implementation• Reserve planning• Ecological redlines

Bird richnessNavigating bettertargets• Managing landscapes to maintain• ecosystem
Targets can beservice provision meansdeveloped basedon needs andbalancing
different
highresolution
data
understanding the trade-offs
which allow direct
mechanisms forpayments forecosystem services• These can be set tobe implemented inconcert with global
targets

Bai. Y, C. P. Wong, B. Jiang, A. C. Hughes, M. Wang, Q. Wang. (2018) Developing China’s Ecological Redline Policy using ecosystem services assessments for land use
planning.

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Services and value• Ecosystem services and Payment for ecosystem services provides
another means to prioritise systems and obtain funds to protect them

New database with over 5000 bat-plant interactions used to model service provision and interactions
Garibaldi, L. A., Oddi, F. J., Miguez, F. E., Bartomeus, I., Orr, M. C., Jobbágy, E. G.,Hughes., A.C ... & Abramson, G. (2020).
Working landscapes need at least 20% native habitat. Conservation Letters, e12773.

Our impacts-our outcomes• Southeast Asia is a hotspot of biodiversity• Yet it is a hotspot of threat-the highest rates of deforestation globally,
highest rates of mining in the tropics, and a 5.7% annual loss of karst• Destroying habitat increases interactions and spillover opportunity,
and increased stress increases ability to contract and carry viruses• Unless we protect habitat we will see increased and continued
emergence of threats• Consumption of wildlife and farming of wild species is inherently
high risk• Biosafety needs to be improved through all components of meatproduction and efforts made to prevent wildlife-livestock interactions

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Interface with wildlifeThreats• Bat hunting for consumption as bushmeat and medicine affects at least 167species of bats (13 % global bat species)• Half (92/183) extant Pteropodidae species are hunted• Pteropodids that are hunted are six times more likely to be Red Listed as
threatened: 66 % species (CR, EN, VU, NT), compared to 11 % of species inthe ‘Least Concern’ (LC) category• Bats are frequently a scapegoat for issues with disease and fruit predation• Mauritius culled over 20,000 P. niger (20% global population)• Culls have also been used to combat crop damage elsewhere (i.e. Australia)• Culling programs have failed to reduce rabies prevalence in vampire bats(Streicker et al. 2012); and failed attempt to cull Rousettus aegyptiacus in
Uganda resulted in a rise in the prevalence of Marburg virus (Amman et al.
2014). Yet these happen globally122021/9/29

Our future-our choices• Covid is a consequence of unsustainable resource use• The difference between Covid and the 100s of other Novel Zoonoses
is that it spreads well, can be spread asymptomatically-and we now
move more• The difference between now and the 2012 cases-connections• This will not be the last pandemic unless we learn-maintain healthy
habitats and populations, reduce interactions and spillover• Sustainability and tracking systems to identify and stop spread, andreduce use of high risk species is key to reducing future pandemics

Synthesis• Bats are keystone to many ecosystems, especially desert, savanna andisland ecosystems• Bat services are ecologically vital and economically important• We still know every little about the majority of bat species, even basic
information on distribution or taxonomy• Better data is needed to identify and monitor species• Regulations to protect species are also urgently needed as many
species are threatened by habitat loss or direct persecution• Education is also needed to enhance appreciation and understandingof a unique group of highly specialised mammals• Understanding the inter-relationship between species-health andecosystem health is challenging, but critically important132021/9/29

Synthesis• Bats are a hugely diverse group with a suite of mechanisms that
prolong longevity and give immunity to many viruses• Naturally these species provide services and an index of ecosystem
health• Understanding how bats use landscapes, and how we can maintainhealthy populations and conserve key sites is crucial• However; extensive landscape change increases not only the risk oflosing services, but spillover between bats, and between bats andother taxa
• For a safer future we need better information on how bats respond to
stressors, and how we can protect them and thereby maintain a safer
futureThank you!
谢谢!

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