1
|
Quiles P, Barrientos R. Interspecific interactions disrupted by roads. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:1121-1139. [PMID: 38303408 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Roads have pervasive impacts on wildlife, including habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, habitat pollution and increased human use of habitats surrounding them. However, the effects of roads on interspecific interactions are less understood. Here we provide a synthesis of the existing literature on how species interactions may be disrupted by roads, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest avenues for future research and conservation management. We conducted a systematic search using the Web of Science database for each species interaction (predation, competition, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism and amensalism). These searches yielded 2144 articles, of which 195 were relevant to our topic. Most of these studies focused on predation (50%) or competition (24%), and less frequently on mutualism (17%) or, parasitism (9%). We found no studies on commensalism or amensalism. Studies were biased towards mammals from high-income countries, with most conducted in the USA (34%) or Canada (18%). Our literature review identified several patterns. First, roads disrupt predator-prey relationships, usually with negative impacts on prey populations. Second, new disturbed habitats created in road corridors often benefit more competitive species, such as invasive species, although some native or endangered species can also thrive there. Third, roads degrade mutualistic interactions like seed dispersal and pollination. Fourth, roads can increase parasitism rates, although the intensity of the alteration is species specific. To reduce the negative impacts of roads on interspecific interactions, we suggest the following management actions: (i) verges should be as wide and heterogenous as possible, as this increases microhabitat diversity, thus enhancing ecosystem services like pollination and seed dispersal; (ii) combining different mowing regimes can increase the complexity of the habitat corridor, enabling it to act as a habitat for more species; (iii) the use of de-icing salts should be gradually reduced and replaced with less harmful products or maintenance practices; (iv) wildlife passes should be implemented in groups to reduce animal concentrations inside them; (v) periodic removal of carcasses from the road to reduce the use of this resource by wildlife; and (vi) implementation of traffic-calming schemes could enhance interspecific interactions like pollination and avoid disruption of predator-prey relationships.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Quiles
- Road Ecology Lab, Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, C/ José Antonio Novais 12, E-28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rafael Barrientos
- Road Ecology Lab, Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Complutense University of Madrid, C/ José Antonio Novais 12, E-28040, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ullah S, Huang JS, Khan A, Cossío-Bayúgar R, Nasreen N, Niaz S, Khan A, Yen TY, Tsai KH, Ben Said M. First report of Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., and Rickettsia spp. in Amblyomma gervaisi ticks infesting monitor lizards (Varanus begalensis) of Pakistan. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION : JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2024; 118:105569. [PMID: 38354994 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2024.105569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Ticks pose significant health risks to both wildlife and humans due to their role as vectors for various pathogens. In this study, we investigated tick infestation patterns, tick-associated pathogens, and genetic relationships within the tick species Amblyomma gervaisi, focusing on its prevalence in monitor lizards (Varanus bengalensis) across different districts in Pakistan. We examined 85 monitor lizards and identified an overall mean intensity of 19.59 ticks per infested lizard and an overall mean abundance of 11.98 ticks per examined lizard. All collected ticks (n = 1019) were morphologically identified as A. gervaisi, including 387 males, 258 females, 353 nymphs, and 21 larvae. The highest tick prevalence was observed in the Buner district, followed by Torghar and Shangla, with the lowest prevalence in Chitral. Lizard captures primarily occurred from May to October, correlating with the period of higher tick infestations. Molecular analysis was conducted on tick DNA, revealing genetic similarities among A. gervaisi ticks based on 16S rDNA and ITS2 sequences. Notably, we found the absence of A. gervaisi ITS2 sequences in the NCBI GenBank, highlighting a gap in existing genetic data. Moreover, our study identified the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, including Ehrlichia sp., Candidatus Ehrlichia dumleri, Anaplasma sp., Francisella sp., Rickettsia sp., and Coxiella sp., in these ticks. BLAST analysis revealed significant similarities between these pathogenic sequences and known strains, emphasizing the potential role of these ticks as vectors for zoonotic diseases. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS2 and mitochondrial 16S rDNA genes illustrated the genetic relationships of A. gervaisi ticks from Pakistan with other Amblyomma species, providing insights into their evolutionary history. These findings contribute to our understanding of tick infestation patterns, and tick-borne pathogens in monitor lizards, which has implications for wildlife health, zoonotic disease transmission, and future conservation efforts. Further research in this area is crucial for a comprehensive assessment of the risks associated with tick-borne diseases in both wildlife and humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shakir Ullah
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
| | - Jing-Syuan Huang
- Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Afshan Khan
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
| | - Raquel Cossío-Bayúgar
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Disciplinaria en Salud Animal eInocuidad, INIFAP, Km 11 Carretera Federal Cuernavaca- Cuautla, No. 8534, Col. Progreso, CP 62550 Jiutepec, Morelos, Mexico
| | - Nasreen Nasreen
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
| | - Sadaf Niaz
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
| | - Adil Khan
- Department of Zoology, Bacha Khan University, Charsadda 24420, Pakistan.
| | - Tsai-Ying Yen
- Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kun-Hsien Tsai
- Institute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Global Health Program, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Mourad Ben Said
- Laboratory of Microbiology, National School of Veterinary Medicine of Sidi Thabet, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia; Department of Basic Sciences, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sidi Thabet, University of Manouba, Manouba 2010, Tunisia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cain S, Solomon T, Leshem Y, Toledo S, Arnon E, Roulin A, Spiegel O. Movement predictability of individual barn owls facilitates estimation of home range size and survival. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2023; 11:10. [PMID: 36750910 PMCID: PMC9906850 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-022-00366-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/31/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is growing attention to individuality in movement, its causes and consequences. Similarly to other well-established personality traits (e.g., boldness or sociability), conspecifics also differ repeatedly in their spatial behaviors, forming behavioral types ("spatial-BTs"). These spatial-BTs are typically described as the difference in the mean-level among individuals, and the intra-individual variation (IIV, i.e., predictability) is only rarely considered. Furthermore, the factors determining predictability or its ecological consequences for broader space-use patterns are largely unknown, in part because predictability was mostly tested in captivity (e.g., with repeated boldness assays). Here we test if (i) individuals differ in their movement and specifically in their predictability. We then investigate (ii) the consequences of this variation for home-range size and survival estimates, and (iii) the factors that affect individual predictability. METHODS We tracked 92 barn owls (Tyto alba) with an ATLAS system and monitored their survival. From these high-resolution (every few seconds) and extensive trajectories (115.2 ± 112.1 nights; X̅ ± SD) we calculated movement and space-use indices (e.g., max-displacement and home-range size, respectively). We then used double-hierarchical and generalized linear mix-models to assess spatial-BTs, individual predictability in nightly max-displacement, and its consistency across time. Finally, we explored if predictability levels were associated with home-range size and survival, as well as the seasonal, geographical, and demographic factors affecting it (e.g., age, sex, and owls' density). RESULTS Our dataset (with 74 individuals after filtering) revealed clear patterns of individualism in owls' movement. Individuals differed consistently both in their mean movement (e.g., max-displacement) and their IIV around it (i.e., predictability). More predictable individuals had smaller home-ranges and lower survival rates, on top and beyond the expected effects of their spatial-BT (max-displacement), sex, age and ecological environments. Juveniles were less predictable than adults, but the sexes did not differ in their predictability. CONCLUSION These results demonstrate that individual predictability may act as an overlooked axis of spatial-BT with potential implications for relevant ecological processes at the population level and individual fitness. Considering how individuals differ in their IIV of movement beyond the mean-effect can facilitate understanding the intraspecific diversity, predicting their responses to changing ecological conditions and their population management.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shlomo Cain
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Tovale Solomon
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Yossi Leshem
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Sivan Toledo
- Blavatnik School of Computer Science, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Eitam Arnon
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Alexandre Roulin
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Building Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Orr Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Payne E, Spiegel O, Sinn DL, Leu ST, Gardner MG, Godfrey SS, Wohlfeil C, Sih A. Intrinsic traits, social context, and local environment shape home range size and fidelity of sleepy lizards. ECOL MONOGR 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- E. Payne
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy University of California Davis Davis USA
| | - O. Spiegel
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
| | - D. L. Sinn
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy University of California Davis Davis USA
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Tasmania, Hobart Tasmania Australia
| | - S. T. Leu
- School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide Adelaide Australia
| | - M. G. Gardner
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University Adelaide Australia
- Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace Adelaide Australia
| | - S. S. Godfrey
- Department of Zoology University of Otago Dunedin New Zealand
| | - C. Wohlfeil
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University Adelaide Australia
| | - A. Sih
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy University of California Davis Davis USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Tardy O, Vincenot CE, Bouchard C, Ogden NH, Leighton PA. Context-dependent host dispersal and habitat fragmentation determine heterogeneity in infected tick burdens: an agent-based modelling study. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022. [PMID: 35360357 DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nzs7h44rx] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
As the incidence of tick-borne diseases has sharply increased over the past decade, with serious consequences for human and animal health, there is a need to identify ecological drivers contributing to heterogeneity in tick-borne disease risk. In particular, the relative importance of animal host dispersal behaviour in its three context-dependent phases of emigration, transfer and settlement is relatively unexplored. We built a spatially explicit agent-based model to investigate how the host dispersal process, in concert with the tick and host demographic processes, habitat fragmentation and the pathogen transmission process, affects infected tick distributions among hosts. A sensitivity analysis explored the impacts of different input parameters on infected tick burdens on hosts and infected tick distributions among hosts. Our simulations indicate that ecological predictors of infected tick burdens differed among the post-egg life stages of ticks, with tick attachment and detachment, tick questing activity and pathogen transmission dynamics identified as key processes, in a coherent way. We also found that the type of host settlement strategy and the proportion of habitat suitable for hosts determined super-spreading of infected ticks. We developed a theoretical mechanistic framework that can serve as a first step towards applied studies of on-the-ground public health intervention strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Tardy
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Christian E Vincenot
- Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Catherine Bouchard
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Nicholas H Ogden
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Patrick A Leighton
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Tardy O, Vincenot CE, Bouchard C, Ogden NH, Leighton PA. Context-dependent host dispersal and habitat fragmentation determine heterogeneity in infected tick burdens: an agent-based modelling study. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220245. [PMID: 35360357 PMCID: PMC8965412 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
As the incidence of tick-borne diseases has sharply increased over the past decade, with serious consequences for human and animal health, there is a need to identify ecological drivers contributing to heterogeneity in tick-borne disease risk. In particular, the relative importance of animal host dispersal behaviour in its three context-dependent phases of emigration, transfer and settlement is relatively unexplored. We built a spatially explicit agent-based model to investigate how the host dispersal process, in concert with the tick and host demographic processes, habitat fragmentation and the pathogen transmission process, affects infected tick distributions among hosts. A sensitivity analysis explored the impacts of different input parameters on infected tick burdens on hosts and infected tick distributions among hosts. Our simulations indicate that ecological predictors of infected tick burdens differed among the post-egg life stages of ticks, with tick attachment and detachment, tick questing activity and pathogen transmission dynamics identified as key processes, in a coherent way. We also found that the type of host settlement strategy and the proportion of habitat suitable for hosts determined super-spreading of infected ticks. We developed a theoretical mechanistic framework that can serve as a first step towards applied studies of on-the-ground public health intervention strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Tardy
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Christian E. Vincenot
- Department of Social Informatics, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
| | - Catherine Bouchard
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Nicholas H. Ogden
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
- Public Health Risk Sciences Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| | - Patrick A. Leighton
- Research Group on Epidemiology of Zoonoses and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, 3200 rue Sicotte, Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada J2S 2M2
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Fracasso G, Matthysen E, Heylen D. Heritable variation in host quality as measured through an ectoparasite's performance. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Dieter Heylen
- Interuniversity Inst. for Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics, Hasselt Univ. Diepenbeek Belgium
- Eco‐Epidemiology Group, Dept of Biomedical Sciences, Inst. of Tropical Medicine Antwerp Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Payne E, Sinn D, Spiegel O, Leu S, Gardner M, Godfrey S, Wohlfeil C, Sih A. Consistent after all: behavioural repeatability in a long-lived lizard across a 6-year field study. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.01.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
9
|
Smith JE, Smith IB, Working CL, Russell ID, Krout SA, Singh KS, Sih A. Host traits, identity, and ecological conditions predict consistent flea abundance and prevalence on free-living California ground squirrels. Int J Parasitol 2021; 51:587-598. [PMID: 33508332 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2020.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 11/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding why some individuals are more prone to carry parasites and spread diseases than others is a key question in biology. Although epidemiologists and disease ecologists increasingly recognize that individuals of the same species can vary tremendously in their relative contributions to the emergence of diseases, very few empirical studies systematically assess consistent individual differences in parasite loads within populations over time. Two species of fleas (Oropsylla montana and Hoplopsyllus anomalous) and their hosts, California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi), form a major complex for amplifying epizootic plague in the western United States. Understanding its biology is primarily of major ecological importance and is also relevant to public health. Here, we capitalize on a long-term data set to explain flea incidence on California ground squirrels at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, USA. In a 7 year study, we detected 42,358 fleas from 2,759 live trapping events involving 803 unique squirrels from two free-living populations that differed in the amount of human disturbance in those areas. In general, fleas were most abundant and prevalent on adult males, on heavy squirrels, and at the pristine site, but flea distributions varied among years, with seasonal conditions (e.g., temperature, rainfall, humidity), temporally within summers, and between flea species. Although on-host abundances of the two flea species were positively correlated, each flea species occupied a distinctive ecological niche. The common flea (O. montana) occurred primarily on adults in cool, moist conditions in early summer whereas the rare flea (H. anomalous) was mainly on juveniles in hot, dry conditions in late summer. Beyond this, we uncovered significantly repeatable and persistent effects of host individual identity on flea loads, finding consistent individual differences among hosts in all parasite measures. Taken together, we reveal multiple determinants of parasites on free-living mammals, including the underappreciated potential for host heterogeneity - within populations - to structure the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as bubonic plague.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer E Smith
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA.
| | - Imani B Smith
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA
| | - Cecelia L Working
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA; Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, 140 E Green St, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Imani D Russell
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA
| | - Shelby A Krout
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA
| | - Kajol S Singh
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94631, USA
| | - Andrew Sih
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| |
Collapse
|