[Conceptual approaches and methodological proposals for the study of interactions between environment and health:...

Modifications of the landscape by human activity and migratory movements contribute to the emergence or reemergence of zoonotic and human diseases, particularly those transmitted by insects which often escape the changing environmental conditions, adapting and modifying their trophic networks and morphology, including their genotype. A better understanding of relationships between ecological factors, human factors, and anthropozoonoses is vital to be able to identify variables that allow one to map the risk for human populations. This is the main objective of the research program Landscape Ecology, Land-Use Dynamics, and Eco-Pathogenic Complexes: Eco-Epidemiologic Risk in the Case of American Trypanosomiasis, developed in various Brazilian ecosystems. The authors describe the program's conceptual and methodological basis and highlight the role of eco-epidemiology for studying the structure and function of natural and anthropogenic foci of infection. Modeling spatial and temporal dynamics can help predict and monitor such tropical diseases.