Ecology of infectious disease: Roles of biodiversity, biotic interactions, and global change

• Richard S. Ostfeld

Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases plague humans thoughout the world, but the ability of scientists to anticipate and prevent epidemics is severely limited. Forecasting disease outbreaks will require a better understanding of the ecological interactions among pathogens, vectors, hosts, reservoirs, humans, and their environments. The goals of this Working Group are to describe the general patterns and principles that characterize the roles of biodiversity, biotic interactions, and global change in the dynamics of disease; and to organize and synthesize ecological information such that biomedical researchers can apply it to disease abatement.