Nature Communications (Oct 2017)

Upstream watershed condition predicts rural children’s health across 35 developing countries

  • Diego Herrera,
  • Alicia Ellis,
  • Brendan Fisher,
  • Christopher D. Golden,
  • Kiersten Johnson,
  • Mark Mulligan,
  • Alexander Pfaff,
  • Timothy Treuer,
  • Taylor H. Ricketts

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00775-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Globally diarrheal disease through contaminated water sources is a major cause of child mortality. Here, the authors compile a database of 293,362 children in 35 countries and find that upstream tree cover is linked to a lower probability of diarrheal disease and that increasing tree cover may lower mortality.