Collaborative Research: Understanding the Diversity of Parasites and Infectious Diseases in Three Mammalian Orders

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Pathogens and parasites are a major component of biological diversity, and haveimportant impacts on natural populations. A central question in host-parasite ecology concernswhat features of host behavior, life history, and environment best explain the diversity andevolution of infectious diseases. Significant theoretical progress has advanced our understandingof factors that influence infectious disease dynamics within populations, yet relatively fewstudies have analyzed ecological variables that underlie observed variation in pathogen diversityand characteristics. This project will examine patterns of parasite diversity across threemammalian orders to explicitly test predictions derived from both epidemiological models andisland biogeography theory. Major questions this project will address include (1) What are thekey ecological variables that determine variation in the types and diversity of parasites in wildmammal populations? (2) How do parasite transmission mode and the degree of specificitydepend on host ecology? (3) Does evolutionary diversification of hosts correlate with patterns ofparasite species richness? (4) Does knowledge of parasite diversity have important implicationsfor wildlife conservation?Establishing a large database on the pathogens and parasites infecting wild mammals iscritical to conducting comprehensive analyses and represents a major goal of this project. Theinvestigators have recently assembled a large database on the pathogens and parasites ofprimates and will extend this effort to two other well-studied groups - carnivores and ungulates.These databases capture (i) ecological, behavioral and life history traits relevant to theoreticalmodels of disease spread, (ii) records of parasites and pathogens recovered from wildpopulations, (iii) data on parasite transmission mode and degree of host specificity, and (iv)phylogenetic information on the hosts. Database development requires an immense effort andfollowing this study all data will be made freely available over the World Wide Web so thatother scientists can access the fruits of this labor.Understanding factors that underlie parasite diversity and characteristics is vital tomanaging vulnerable wildlife populations and mitigating threats to human health. This studyextends the scope of previous host-parasite comparative work by examining a rich diversity ofboth micro- and macroparasites, including information on parasite characteristics, and byassessing phylogenetic information involving tree topology, branch lengths and rates of hostdiversification. Analytical comparative methods will control for sampling effort, test multiplevariables simultaneously, and will assess whether host and parasite traits are correlated withphylogeny. A synthetic approach that links ecology, parasitology, epidemiology, andphylogenetic comparative methods is crucial for developing a broad conceptual framework toexplain parasite diversity and characteristics in relation to host features. To advance these goals,the investigators will organize three annual workshops composed of experts from each of thesedisciplines to refine predictions for comparative research, explore methods for examiningecological and evolutionary interactions in host-parasite assemblages, and chart future directionsfor both theoretical and empirical work.