Biodiversity and Physiotherapy

Biodiversity

The term biodiversity refers to every living thing including humans, animals, plants and bacteria. Some areas of the world are more biodiverse than others including, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, the southwestern US and Madagascar.  Rich biodiverse areas can be threatened by pollution, population growth and climate changes.  These threats can lead to species extinction decreasing biodiversity. Scientific estimates say that it is possible that half of the species on earth could be extinct by the next century. To preserve biodiversity and protect endangered species, conservation efforts are necessary.

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a specific environment where a community of living organisms interact and live. Ecosystems can vary in size from very small to very large. Humans are an essential function of ecosystems. Whether directly or indirectly, every factor within an ecosystem depends on every other factor. For example, the weather will affect which plants grow, which then affects which animals will eat those plants. Animals that do not eat those plants will have to adapt, move to another ecosystem, or die.

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem services are the benefits people derive from their ecosystems. They can be classified into::

Provisioning: the products people obtain from ecosystems, such as fresh water, fuel, food, fibre and genetic resources.

Regulating: the benefits people obtain from the regulation of ecosystem processes, including climate regulation, erosion control, air quality maintenance, water purification and regulation of human diseases.

Cultural: the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, reflection, cognitive development, recreation, and aesthetic experiences Lastly, there are supporting services that help maintain all other services such as photosynthesis and pollination.

PIC Demand for ecosystems services are increasing.

Human Well-Being

Ecosystem services are crucial to human well-being. Five different factors encompass human well-being:

1. Basic material needs for a good life
2. Health
3. Good social relations
4. Personal security
5. Freedom and choice

Each factor supports the others either positively or negatively. Change in one facet will bring about change in another. Human well-being is particularly affected by the availability of ecosystem services. A higher supply of service allows for increased well-being whereas a lower supply decreases well-being. Increased and varied services impart communities with resource options in the face of social upheaval or natural disasters. In contrast, poorly managed ecosystems, have an increased risk of being vulnerable to drought, crop failure, flood or disease. ,

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The demand by humans for ecosystem services is growing quickly, however, human action is concurrently altering the capacity of these systems to provide services. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was created to provide options for conserving the ecosystem while meeting human needs. Human well-being is the main focus of the MA framework.. The MA was created in 2001 by a partnership of governments, private sectors, non-governmental organizations and scientists. Questions the MA is designed to answer:

• “How humans have altered ecosystems
• How changes in ecosystems have affected human well-being
• How ecosystems changes may affect people in future decades
• What types of response can be adopted at local, national or global scales to improve ecosystem management and thereby contribute to human well-being and poverty alleviation” (MA form)

Urban Lifestyles

Research shows that urban lifestyles have more immune-mediated diseases than pre-modern lifestyles. One factor researchers believe is causing the increase in immune-related diseases is the lack of biodiversity in urban communities.. City living decreases microbial communities via consumption of processed food, use of antibiotics and urban pollution. This microbial imbalance has an association with immune-mediated diseases. (rose)

Green Space Exposure

Through urbanization, we have removed green spaces and destroyed ecosystems. Introducing new green spaces in an urban area and protecting existing ones are important because of the association to human health benefits. Research has shown that there is a wide range of health benefits associated with green space exposure:

• Reduction in: cancer, diabetes, decreased blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. (stanhope,speaker)
• Improvement in: mental health, allergies (AERTES)
• Short term exposure: reduces stress and depressive symptoms, restores fatigue, increases self-reported positive emotions and improves self-esteem, mood, perceived mental and physical health
• Access to natural environments tends to enhance outdoor physical activity thereby reducing obesity and type 2 diabetes
• Long-term exposure: (residing in) reduced respiratory, cardiovascular and cancer mortality ; improved respiratory and mental health (AERTES)

Physical Therapy Implications

Biodiversity and ecosystems have implications on physical therapists in various ways. As discussed above, exposure to green spaces has many health benefits. As PTs, we can educate our patients on the health benefits of outdoor exposure. When discussing these benefits, PTs should inquire about any barriers the patient might have to get outdoors. Together, they can brainstorm ideas on how to add green space exposure to their normal routine. In addition, PTs can provide therapy in green space environments such as a park or an outdoor area near the clinic. (SPEAKER) Should there be no green space associated with the hospital/clinic, PTs should advocate for it.  

PTs can advocate not only in their local area but on a national or international level to improve health, ecological and social challenges. One international organization seeking to do just that is The Environmental Physiotherapy Association (www.envirnomentalphysio.com). This network of students, academics and clinicians aims to advance environmental responsibility across physical therapy education and research. (SEAN) Environmental stewardship is a novel concept for most PTs, but with some education and understanding of how we can initiate change, PTs have an important role to play regarding the interrelation of environment and human health. (SEAN)

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