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Lewis H. Ziska,¹ Paul R. Epstein,² and William H. Schlesinger³

¹U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA; ²Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; ³Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA

Abstract
Background: Although the issue of anthropogenic climate forcing and public health is widely recognized, one fundamental aspect has remained underappreciated: the impact of climatic change on plant biology and the well-being of human systems.

Objectives: We aimed to critically evaluate the extant and probable links between plant function and human health, drawing on the pertinent literature.

Discussion: Here we provide a number of critical examples that range over various health concerns related to plant biology and climate change, including aerobiology, contact dermatitis, pharmacology, toxicology, and pesticide use.

Conclusions: There are a number of clear links among climate change, plant biology, and public health that remain underappreciated by both plant scientists and health care providers. We demonstrate the importance of such links in our understanding of climate change impacts and provide a list of key questions that will help to integrate plant biology into the current paradigm regarding climate change and human health.

Key words: aerobiology, contact dermatitis, food security, pharmacology, toxicology. Environ Health Perspect 117:155–158 (2009) . doi:10.1289/ehp.11501 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 19 September 2008]

Address correspondence to L.H. Ziska, Building 1, Room 323, Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705 USA. Telephone: (301) 504-6639. Fax: (301) 504-5823. E-mail: l.ziska@ars.usda.gov

We thank J. Bunce for useful comments and suggestions.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 24 March 2008 ; accepted 19 September 2008.