Ecosystem health

Erincipal element of sustainability. Because it is difficult to imagine owhuman health can be maintained in a degraded, unhealthy natural world, the issue of ecosystem health should be a more fundamental concern. Sustainabihty requires that the health of all diverse species as well as their interrelated ecological functions be maintained. As only one species in a complex web of ecological interactions, humans cannot separate their success from that of the total system. 

It is well known that arsenic is one of the most dangerous elements in terms of its potential impacts to both to human and ecosystem health. Therefore the problem of As detection at ppb level remains very important from the point of environmental hazard investigation. The goal of the present work is the developing of very simple and inexpensive assay for arsenite and arsenate determination in environmental samples using whole-cell bacterial biosensors. 

H. Marschner, Soil-root interface Biological and biochemical processe.s. Soil Chemistry and Ecosystem Health (P. Huang, ed.). Soil Science Stx iety of America, Madi.son, Wisconsin, 1998, p. 191. 

The increase in environmental awareness and the acute effects of some toxic compounds have raised questions over the safety of using many chemicals invented for agricultural and industrial applications. A great deal of current research addresses the management and remediation of old contaminated sites. Recent concerns regard the safety of consumer chemicals, especially nanomaterials the effect of pharmaceuticals on ecosystems and the combined effect that chemical cocktails have on human and ecosystem health. 

Matinek K, Mozhaev W (1985) Immobilization of enzymes an approach to fundamental studies in biochemistry. Adv Enzymol 57 179-249 McLaughlin MJ, Smolders E, Merckx, R (1998) Soil-root interface physicochemical processes. In Huang PM, Adriano DC, Logan TJ, Checkai RT (eds) Soil Chemistry and Ecosystem Health. Soil Sci Soc Am, Madison, WI, USA, pp 233-277... 

Campbell CA, Janzen HH, Juma NG (1997) Case studies of soil quality in the Canadian prairies long-term field experiments. In Gregorich EG, Carter MR (eds) Soil quality for crop production and ecosystem health. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 351-397... 

Hodson, P. 1990. Indicators of ecosystem health at the species level and the example of selenium effects on fish. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 15 241-254. 

There are many examples of the ways in which soil characteristics function towards ecosystem health and stability. Organic management strategies such as incorporating... 

Coleman DC, Hendrix PF, Odum EP (1998) Ecosystem health an overview. In Huang PM (ed.)... 

Soil chemistry and ecosystem health. SSSA Special Publication Number 52. Madison, WI Commission of the European Communities (2006) Impact assessment of the thematic strategy on soil protection. Brussels... 

Do critical loads really protect ecosystem health ... 

Critical load exceedances may serve as the basis for interpreting ecological impacts as ecological risks (or rather changes in the level of current risk to ecosystem health ). This would refer to the process of ecological risk characterization. 

Under both national and international agreements, the process of quantitatively predicting the probability of an adverse response in ecosystem health due to exposure to one or more pollutants is collectively known as Environmental Risk Assessment, ERA (US EPA, 1992). 

A high amount of various nutrients and trace metals is retained in peat and dead plant residues and thus temporarily eliminated from the biogeochemical cycles and pollutants exposure to human and ecosystem health. The period of this elimination depends on the solubility of these metals. It has been shown (Dobrovolsky, 1994) that... 

Biogeochemical cycling of elements and pollutants exposure pathways in the tropical ecosystems, which occur between 30°N and 30°S, are both intensive and at high probability of risk for human and ecosystem health. The tropical belt receives about 60% of solar radiation inputting on the Earth s surface. The total area of tropical ecosystems is about 40 x 106 km2, with exception of the High Mountain and Extra-Dry Sandy Deserts with strongly depressed life processes. 

Emissions of actually and potentially dangerous toxic elements may influence the human and ecosystem health on local, regional and global scales. Accumulation of toxic metals may be in soils, waters, bottom sediments and biota. For example, the accumulation of heavy metals in the upper layers of bottom sediments and glaciers occurring during the 20th century is shown in many recent studies. 

Similar to other batteries and accumulators, the burying of cadmium batteries is a very great problem in every country, and Cd seepage from landfills and waste sites (in addition to fertilizers) is responsible for soil and water pollution and environmental risks to human and ecosystem health. The same is true for lead and mercury. 

These peculiarities of urban area development led to the technogenic biogeochemical provinces, i.e., the areas with local increase of pollutants in different components of urban ecosystems such as soils, grounds, surface and ground waters, plants, atmosphere. These pollutants create ecological risk to human and ecosystem health by their accumulation in the biogeochemical food webs (food stuffs and water). 

Hungate, F.P., Radiation and terrestrial ecosystems, Health Physics, 11, 1255, 1965. 

Smolen JM, Stone AT (1998) Organophosphorous ester hydrolysis catalyzed by dissolved metals and metal containing surfaces. In PM Huang et al. (eds) Soil chemistry and ecosystem health. Soil Sci Soc Am Spec Publ 52 Madison, Wisconsin, pp 157-171 Spencer WF, Shoup TD, Spear RC (1980) Conversion of parathion to paraoxon on soil dusts and clay-minerals as affected by ozone and UV-Ught. J Agric Food Chem 28 366-371 Stevenson FJ (1982) Humus chemistry. Wiley, New York Stevenson FJ (1986) Cycles of soil. Wiley Interscience, New York... 

Peographic information systems Natural resources Su stain abdihjr rn etri cs Human ecosystem health Fate transport rnechariisms Flip act. inc d eling Eish assessment... 

Rapport D.J., J.M. Howard, R. Larmigan, C.M. Anjema, and W. McCauley (2001). Strange bedfellows Ecosystem health in the medical curriculum. Ecosystem Health 7 155-162. 

---