The role climate change may play in altering human health, particularly in the emergence and spread of diseases, is an evolving area of research. It is important to understand this relationship because it will compound the already significant burden of diseases on national economies and public health. Authorities need to be able to assess, anticipate, and monitor human health vulnerability to climate change, in order to plan for, or implement action to avoid these eventualities. Environmental health indicators (EHIs) provide a tool to assess, monitor, and quantify human health vulnerability, to aid in the design and targeting of interventions, and measure the effectiveness of climate change adaptation and mitigation activities. Our aim was to identify the most suitable framework for developing EHIs to measure and monitor the impacts of climate change on human health and inform the development of interventions. Using published literature we reviewed the attributes of 11 frameworks. We identified the Driving force-Pressure-State-Exposure-Effect-Action (DPSEEA) framework as the most suitable one for developing EHIs for climate change and health. We propose the use of EHIs as a valuable tool to assess, quantify, and monitor human health vulnerability, design and target interventions, and measure the effectiveness of climate change adaptation and mitigation activities. In this paper, we lay the groundwork for the future development of EHIs as a multidisciplinary approach to link existing environmental and epidemiological data and networks. Analysis of such data will contribute to an enhanced understanding of the relationship between climate change and human health.

Anthropogenic environmental changes, such as deforestation, agriculture, and introduced exotic species, have often coincided with an increase in mortality and morbidity from mosquito-borne diseases worldwide. Deforestation and agricultural development are likely to regulate immature mosquito populations through the addition of nutrients from livestock waste, decreased shade resulting in increased insolation (solar radiation), and the proliferation of artificial container habitats. We conducted a field experiment in Waikanae, New Zealand, to tease apart the relative effects of shade and nutrient levels on aquatic immature populations of two generalist mosquito species. Container habitats were subjected to five levels of detrital input (0-500-g sheep manure/liter of water) and three shade treatments (open, artificial shade, and forest canopy) in a factorial design. The native species Culex pervigilans constituted 98.9% of all late-instar larvae; the remainder being the exotic Ochlerotatus notoscriptus. We observed higher overall immature mosquito abundance and pupal productivity in open containers with medium detrital loads (5 g/L). Exotic mosquito abundance was low in all treatments and was excluded from containers in unshaded, or deforested, areas. No native or exotic mosquito abundance was observed in containers with extremely high detrital loads (500 g/L). As many exotic species thrive in similar high nutrient conditions, these containers and other larval habitats of similarly high nutrient levels represent potentially vacant niches for exotic mosquito invasion. These results indicate the importance of shade and nutrient level as central determinants of mosquito productivity in temperate climates, such as New Zealand, as well as show that anthropogenic environmental change can have flow-on effects on the ecology of disease-vector mosquitoes.

The inacroinvertehrate fauna of Rope Ladder Cave, a tropical cave in northern Queensland, was surveyed for the first rime. Fourreen species in 14 families and 10 orders were recorded in pitfall traps, leaf litter traps and b> visual searching. They comprised 13 cave dwelling species (four guanophiles, four generalist detritivores, and five predators) and 1 opportunistic forager from the surface. Wet leaf-litter traps here used for the first time as a survey method of cave fauna, and proved very effective. Such traps simulate the thriving state of a tropical cave following natural flooding. Direct searching was also very effective, but is more dependent on the presence of a surveyor with previous experience.

ABSTRACT:The conservation and management of Saddlebacks (Philesturnus carunculatus) and other New Zealand birds, currently relies on the translocation of individuals to predator-free sites. Avian malaria has been identified as one of the diseases to be tested for prior to translocations in New Zealand, with the aim of translocating disease-free individuals. We describe avian malaria lineages and their seasonal prevalence in [2007][2008] in Saddlebacks from Mokoia Island, a source of birds for translocations, and investigate their pathogenicity. Three lineages of avian malaria were found at low prevalence (#10.6%) and parasitemia (all but one infection were below 1/10,000 erythrocytes), typical of chronic infections. Two lineages clustered with previously identified lineages of Plasmodium relictum and one with a lineage of Plasmodium (Huffia) elongatum. Prevalence of malaria infection was higher in the spring with no significant difference in prevalence between juvenile and adult birds. We found no effect of stress on infections or any indication of pathogenicity.