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The concept of ecosystem health is explored, deepening the analysis on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem stability, both as variables for health evaluation. Ecosystem stability is studied under a systemic approach in terms of resistance and resilience. According to some authors, when ecosystems´s models consider not only the effects of organisms on the environment but also feedbacks from the environment to the organisms, the interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem stability become positive or even synergic. To test this, the “Daisyworld” model is used to simulate the effects of diversity and trophic complexity increments on ecosystem stability. For this, the model was consecutively run with: 1st one species of daisy, 2nd two species of daisy, and 3rd two species of daisy and a herbivore. To study the stability of the system, three perturbations were introduced: 1st, 50% reduction on the daisy population, 2nd, 10% decrease on the solar radiation, and 3rd, 10% increase in the solar radiation regarding the initial value. From the execution of the model, it can be concluded that increments on biodiversity did result in more resistance but less resilience. Nevertheless, it is considered that the system becomes healthier, as its self-regulation is improved, and the total biomass (productivity) increased. However, increments in diversity or trophic complexity are themselves considered positive in evaluating the ecosystemic health., Se explora el concepto de salud ecosistémica, para lo cual se estudia la estabilidad entendida como resistencia y resiliencia sistémicas. De acuerdo a ciertos autores, cuando los modelos consideran, además de efectos de los organismos sobre el ambiente, retroalimentaciones entre el ambiente y los organismos, las interacciones entre diversidad y estabilidad podrían ser positivas o incluso sinérgicas. A modo de prueba se utiliza el modelo “El mundo de las Margaritas”, para simular el efecto de aumentos de biodiversidad y complejidad de la red trófica sobre la estabilidad de un ecosistema. Para ello el modelo se corre consecutivamente con: 1ra una especie de margarita (blanca), 2da dos especies de margarita (blanca y negra), y 3ra con dos especies de margarita y un herbívoro (predador de margaritas). Para estudiar la estabilidad del sistema se introducen 3 perturbaciones: 1ra: reducción en un 50% del número de margaritas, 2da: disminución en un 10% de la radiación solar respecto a un valor base y 3ra, aumento en un 10% de la radiación solar respecto a un valor base. De la ejecución del modelo se concluye que al aumentar la diversidad el sistema se hace más resistente pero menos resiliente. No obstante, se considera que el sistema se hace más saludable, al mejorar su autorregulación y al aumentar su biomasa (productividad). No obstante, el aumento del número de especies y su complejidad trófica son por sí solos factores utilizados para evaluar salud de ecosistemas, por lo que se concluye que el estado final del ecosistema en la modelación es más saludable.

The current fragmented framework of health governance for humans, animals and environment, together with the conventional linear approach to solving current health problems, is failing to meet today's health challenges and is proving unsustainable. Advances in healthcare depend increasingly on intensive interventions, technological developments and expensive pharmaceuticals. The disconnect grows between human health, animal health and environmental and ecosystems health. Human development gains have come with often unrecognized negative externalities affecting ecosystems. Deterioration in biodiversity and ecosystem services threatens to reverse the health gains of the last century. A paradigm shift is urgently required to de-sectoralize human, animal, plant and ecosystem health and to take a more integrated approach to health, One Health (OH). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a framework and unique opportunity for this. Through analysing individual SDGs, we argue the feasibility of an OH approach towards achieving them. Feasibility assessments and outcome evaluations are often constrained by sectoral politics within a national framework, historic possession of expertise, as well as tried and tested metrics. OH calls for a better understanding, acceptance and use of a broader and transdisciplinary set of assessment metrics. Key objectives of OH are presented: that humans reconnect with our natural past and accept our place in, and dependence on our planet's ecosystems; and that we recognize our dependence on ecosystem services, the impact of our development thereon and accept our responsibility towards future generations to address this. Several action points are proposed to meet these objectives., peer-reviewed

INTRODUCTION The study of marine ecosystems has become a hot research topic in recent times. In fact, the number of manuscripts including the words “marine ecosystems” published since 1970 has immensely increased reaching between 1100 and 1500 articles per year in the past five years (Figure 1). Based on the keywords used in these manuscripts, the most frequent topics can be grouped into: (i) marine ecosystems (28.8% of the papers); (ii) biodiversity (26.6%), used as keyword at any level of organization, such as bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, fishes, mammals, seabirds, etc.; (iii) functionality (10.7%), including aspects such as ecosystem function, biomass, foodwebs, primary and secondary production, etc.; (iv) environmental research (9.7%), including pollution, environmental monitoring, human pressures, impacts, etc.; (v) structural parameters (6.6%) such as abundance, richness, diversity; (vi) climate change (3.4%); (vii) ecology (3.4%); (viii) systems management (3.2%); (ix) genetic

Over the last 30 years, the Cerrado has been experiencing various antropic impacts that have brought about alterations to species composition, structure and functioning of aquatic habitats. Therefore, studies on negative impacts are useful to prevent future damage and restore environmental quality. The objectives of our study were: i) to adapt an index of biotic integrity of streams in the Rio Cuiabá Basin and ii) to analyze if the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) correlated with the environmental quality measured by the Index of Environmental Quality (IEQ) and with the mesohabitat structure. We sampled 26 streams in sub-basins of the Cuiabá River. In each stream, we closed a stretch of 50 m with blockage nets and used electrofishing to capture fish. To obtain a measure of environmental quality in sampled units, we characterized the stream and its micro basin. For the analyses, we used the Spearman Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test and Analysis of Multiple Regression. We collected 697 individuals distributed into 6 orders, 15 families and 49 species. The IBI followed changes on environmental quality measured by IEQ when we removed streams that present natural barriers from the analysis (r² = 0.4; r² = 0.58). Types of land use did not affect the biotic integrity (n = 26; df = 4; H = 4,860; p = 0.302), but natural and artificial barriers affected it (n = 26; df = 4; H = 11,027; p = 0.026). The IBI was not sensitive to variations in mesohabitat structure (F2,23 = 0.373; r² = 0.031; Axe 1 p = 0.620; Axe 2 p = 0.490). The IBI is certainly a reasonable instrument for evaluating changes in the environment, but we cannot ignore the fact that we were able to obtain the same result with any combinations of metrics. This makes its analysis and interpretation difficult. Nos últimos 30 anos, o cerrado tem sofrido severos impactos antrópicos que provocam alterações na composição de espécies, na estrutura e no funcionamento de habitats aquáticos. Dessa forma, estudos sobre impactos negativos são úteis para prevenir futuras degradações e restaurar a qualidade ambiental. Os objetivos do nosso estudo foram: i) adaptar um índice de integridade biótica para os riachos da bacia do rio Cuiabá e ii) analisar se o índice de integridade biótica (IIB) é correlacionado com a qualidade ambiental medida pelo índice de qualidade ambiental (IQA) e com a estrutura do meso-habitat. Amostramos 26 riachos da sub-bacia do rio Cuiabá; em cada um deles, delimitados um segmento de 50 m, utilizando a pesca elétrica como método de coleta. Para obter a medida de qualidade ambiental nas unidades amostradas, caracterizamos os riachos e sua microbacia. Para as análises nós usamos a correlação de Sperman, o teste Kruskal-Wallis e a análise de componentes principais. Coletamos 697 indivíduos distribuídos em 6 ordens, 15 famílias e 49 espécies. O IIB seguiu mudanças na qualidade ambiental medida pelo IQA quando nós removemos da análise os riachos que apresentavam barreiras ambientais (r² = 0.4; r²S= 0.58). Tipos de usos da terra não afetaram a integridade biótica (n = 26; df = 4; H = 4,860; p = 0.302), de modo oposto existiu uma associação negativa entre a presença de barreira e o IIB (n = 26; df = 4; H = 11,027; p = 0.026). O IIB não foi sensível às variações na estrutura do meso-habitat (F2,23 = 0.373; r² = 0.031; Axe 1 p = 0.620; Axe 2 p = 0.490). O IIB mostrou-se como um razoável instrumento para avaliar as mudanças do ambiente, mas não podemos ignorar que com várias combinações das métricas podemos obter um mesmo resultado, o que dificulta sua análise e interpretação.

4 pages, figures, and tables statistics., Heavy metals in the soils of old mining areas, besides affecting the productivity of their ecosystems, could also affect animal and human health. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the bioavailability of heavy metals to forage crops used as human food sources or components of fodder. The sites examined were the surrounding soils of two abandoned mines in Central Spain polluted with Al, Fe, Mn, and more than one of the heavy metals Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Cr or Ni, and As. All elements were determined by plasma emission spectroscopy with the exception of As, which was quantified by XRF. Levels of Zn, Pb, Cd, Cu and Fe were high in roots as well as in the above-ground parts of the plants, and high As levels were also found in roots. The accumulation of heavy metals by this plant was assessed in terms of its possible use for phytoremediation but also in view of its possible detrimental impacts on humans as well as wild and domestic animals. Strategies for education in areas faced with this problem are also proposed. People living in rural areas will need to be taught ecological concepts but we will also have to alert political leaders and administrators to the problem to encourage them to invest in dealing with polluted soils. In this context, it is essential to understand both the elements and processes affecting ecosystems and the perception and opinions held by the rural population of the problem of soil pollution. KEYWORDS: Ecosystems health, grasslands, agrosystems, polluted soils, phytoremediation INTRODUCTION The environment plays a major role in the health of individuals and communities, including air, water and soil, through which exposure to chemical, biological and physical agents may occur [1]. For several decades, Central Spain has sustained substantial mining activities. Although presently abandoned, the effects of these mines persist [2, 3]. The ecosystems affected by old mines are mainly grasslands consumed by cattle and sheep that are often surrounded by lands given over to forage crops, mainly barley, wheat and oats. These sites show more than one heavy metal in their topsoil layers. Thus, the heavy metals in soils of these Mediterranean ecosystems, besides affecting the productivity of the systems, could also have impacts on animal and human health. Heavy metals detected in the aerial portions of grazing and forage plant species pose a serious health risk for herbivores. Cu and Pb are both toxic with the latter being moderately toxic for plants and highly toxic for animals; Zn and Cr also have known toxic effects. This study was designed to determine the bioavailability of heavy metals to oats used as a food source or component of fodder., Project CTM2008-04827/TECNO of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; EIADES Program of the Community of Madrid.

Over the last 30 years, the Cerrado has been experiencing various antropic impacts that have brought about alterations to species composition, structure and functioning of aquatic habitats. Therefore, studies on negative impacts are useful to prevent future damage and restore environmental quality. The objectives of our study were: i) to adapt an index of biotic integrity of streams in the Rio Cuiabá Basin and ii) to analyze if the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) correlated with the environmental quality measured by the Index of Environmental Quality (IEQ) and with the mesohabitat structure. We sampled 26 streams in sub-basins of the Cuiabá River. In each stream, we closed a stretch of 50 m with blockage nets and used electrofishing to capture fish. To obtain a measure of environmental quality in sampled units, we characterized the stream and its micro basin. For the analyses, we used the Spearman Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test and Analysis of Multiple Regression. We collected 697 individuals distributed into 6 orders, 15 families and 49 species. The IBI followed changes on environmental quality measured by IEQ when we removed streams that present natural barriers from the analysis (r² = 0.4; r² = 0.58). Types of land use did not affect the biotic integrity (n = 26; df = 4; H = 4,860; p = 0.302), but natural and artificial barriers affected it (n = 26; df = 4; H = 11,027; p = 0.026). The IBI was not sensitive to variations in mesohabitat structure (F2,23 = 0.373; r² = 0.031; Axe 1 p = 0.620; Axe 2 p = 0.490). The IBI is certainly a reasonable instrument for evaluating changes in the environment, but we cannot ignore the fact that we were able to obtain the same result with any combinations of metrics. This makes its analysis and interpretation difficult.