Module 10 Health and Wellness as Ecosystem Services

• Ecosystem


  The living systems and their environment that make up the biosphere
• The four spheres of Earth

  • Biosphere
  • Atmosphere
  • Hydrosphere
  • Lithosphere
• The biosphere is where all living components of the earth are found
• Ecosystem services


  • Provisioning (food, water, fuel, wood)
  • Regulating (climate, disease, hazards)
  • Cultural (spiritual, aesthetic, recreational)
  • Supporting (nutrient cycling, production)
• Ensuring sustainability of ecosystem services is crucial to human health and wellbeing
• Disruptions in living systems


  Affect the material world
• Changes in the physical environment


  Affect living systems
• Humans are part of their ecosystem
• As humans acquired the ability to utilize and manipulate their environment, the disturbance they have brought on the ecosystems and the biosphere in general is of such magnitude as to threaten not just the survival of the biosphere but consequently their own health and well-being and ultimately their survival
• This module describes the impact of living systems and disruptions of ecosystems to human health and wellness
• Ecosystem services that sustain organisms include food, clean water, fuel, wood
• Biodiversity


  The variety of living systems in an ecosystem
• Loss of biodiversity


  Can alter or disrupt provisioning services resulting in health effects
• Worldwide, one of the major contributors to biodiversity loss is agriculture
• Traditionally, agricultural systems evolved as part of the tradition, beliefs, native technologies and myths of small communities
• Current local agricultural practices have become incorporated into the global economy with landowners focusing more on so-called "cash crops" or commodities for export
• The conversion of land to agricultural plantations results in huge loses to the wildlife and biodiversity of the area due not only to habitat loss from the clearing of forests but also to a dramatic shift in the nature of the ecosystem and the introduction of synthetics such as fertilizers and pesticides
• Introduction of single varieties and cropping patterns can affect biodiversity while farming results in habitat simplification, or species loss
• The crops or species being farmed are fed with fertilizers and unnatural feeds that can alter the nutritional content of these food sources compared with those found in the wild, making communities vulnerable to ill health
• Agriculture and aquaculture while supplying enough food and fish for a growing human population are also causing the build up of dead zones where oxygen have considerably dropped to levels that can no longer sustain life
• In 2010, the UN's 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook reported that 80% of the world's marine fish stocks are depleted owing to overfishing in the open seas
• Global warming, biodiversity loses and an increasing shift in nutrient distribution in the soils and waters as a result of the introduction of fertilizers and other synthetics will eventually affect all food supplies in the years to come
• Disruptions in ecosystem interactions provided by a biodiverse environment will eventually affect the provisioning of food, clean water and other ecosystem services essential for human health and wellness
• Tacio, Nov. 2011 from PBSAP, 2015-2028: '"It's not only now, several times, we went home without fish," he lamented'
• This scenario is repeated throughout the country
• Global warming, biodiversity loses and an increasing shift in nutrient distribution in the soils and waters as a result of the introduction of fertilizers and other synthetics (e.g. antibiotics)


  Will eventually affect all food supplies in the years to come
• Global warming and biodiversity losses is showing evidences of the asynchrony of bird migration, mating and rearing with the arrival of food sources such as insects and seeds; plant pollination and arrival of cross-pollinators, etc.
• Populations of some insects, birds and predators are also declining due to consumption of food treated with pesticides or carcasses of animals that had consumed antibiotics or other synthetics
• The decrease in the population of predators and preys

  Will have a domino effect on the food chain
• Such disruptions in ecosystem interactions provided by a biodiverse population of living systems could adversely affect the provisioning services that such ecosystem provides
• The Philippines


  • It's unique archipelagic character, the abundance of active volcanoes and regular passage of storms contribute to the richness of the land and its water systems
  • It has many unique flora and fauna while its coral diversity harbors a variety of marine life including fishes and other invertebrates making it the global center of coastal marine biodiversity
• Over the last century, the rate of biodiversity loss in the Philippines is considered shocking, with many birds, fishes and small mammals placed under endangered or critically endangered species
• Biodiversity loss in the Philippines

  Attributed to the runaway population growth and its demands on ecosystem services, and extractive practices/ industries that have placed a stress on the provisioning services of the ecosystem
• The build up of artificial islands is altering marine biodiversity in the West Philippine sea
• The Philippines is now considered a biodiversity hotspot and many areas are classified as extremely urgent or critical for conservation
• Regulating services


  Ecosystem services that ensure quality of air, water and soil and controls diseases and risks, including environmental hazards
• Healthy ecosystem


  • Maintains the balance of species populations in an ecosystem ensuring that risks of overpopulation are minimized
  • Maintains its genetic diversity as this provides gene pools from which speciation can arise to enable species to adapt to changing environments or risks of predation and extinction
• Regulating services


  • Includes those that impact on the physical environment such as the presence of species such as mangroves that allows coastal areas to withstand flooding and storm surges during typhoons while wetlands and soil microbiomes ensure that wastes produced by living systems are treated and contained so that it does not put communities and the ecosystem at risk for contamination and ill health
• Human health is influenced by the health of the ecosystem, including the plants and animals in it that they interact with
• A degraded ecosystem will be unable to mitigate the impacts of pollution, climate change, water scarcity and diseases, among others