1Corresponding author; e-mail: christopher.herndon@ucsfmedctr.org
1744-7429/asset/BTP_centre.gif?v=1&s=7cf9a17c9923e15dfb863b6580b8940700bda444)
You have free access to this content
Significance of Biodiversity to Health
Article first published online: 21 SEP 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00672.x
© 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2010 by The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation
Additional Information
How to Cite
Herndon, C. N. and Butler, R. A. (2010), Significance of Biodiversity to Health. Biotropica, 42: 558–560. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00672.x
- †
1Corresponding author; e-mail: christopher.herndon@ucsfmedctr.org
Publication History
- Issue published online: 21 SEP 2010
- Article first published online: 21 SEP 2010
- Received 21 April 2010; revision accepted 1 May 2010.
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- biodiversity;
- conservation;
- extinction;
- rain forest;
- health;
- medicine;
- natural products
ABSTRACT
The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. Despite the magnitude of the global crisis of biodiversity loss, its far-reaching consequences to human health remain largely unappreciated. The legacy of the natural world to medicine is profound and its potential to yield new therapeutics and advancements in biomedical science undervalued. The enormity of the global crisis underscores a fundamental truth, one that is seemingly obvious but has been tragically overlooked: Our species does not exist in isolation from the biosphere. Rather, our fate depends on it.