Weeds of disease

摘要

Tree-huggers are fond of saying that the planet is sick -and they may be onto something. The huge drops in biodiversity in recent decades could cause increases in disease. Felicia Keesing of Bard College in Annandale, New York, and her colleagues reviewed 15 diseases of plants and animals and found that for 13, contagion increased when biodiversity fell (Nature, vol 468, p 647).