Abiotic and biotic factors jointly influence the contact and environmental transmission of a generalist pathogen.

Autor: Suh DC; Odum School of Ecology University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.; Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA., Lance SL; Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia Aiken South Carolina USA., Park AW; Odum School of Ecology University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.; Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.; Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology and evolution [Ecol Evol] 2024 Aug 16; Vol. 14 (8), pp. e70167. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 16 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70167
Abstrakt: The joint influence of abiotic and biotic factors is important for understanding the transmission of generalist pathogens. Abiotic factors such as temperature can directly influence pathogen persistence in the environment and will also affect biotic factors, such as host community composition and abundance. At intermediate spatial scales, the effects of temperature, community composition, and host abundance are expected to contribute to generalist pathogen transmission. We use a simple transmission model to explain and predict how host community composition, host abundance, and environmental pathogen persistence times can independently and jointly influence transmission. Our transmission model clarifies how abiotic and biotic factors can synergistically support the transmission of a pathogen. The empirical data show that high community competence, high abundance, and low temperatures correlate with high levels of transmission of ranavirus in larval amphibian communities. Discrete wetlands inhabited by larval amphibians in the presence of ranavirus provide a compelling case study comprising distinct host communities at a spatial scale anticipated to demonstrate abiotic and biotic influence on transmission. We use these host communities to observe phenomena demonstrated in our theoretical model. These findings emphasize the importance of considering both abiotic and biotic factors, and concomitant direct and indirect mechanisms, in the study of pathogen transmission and should extend to other generalist pathogens with the capacity for environmental transmission.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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