CAREER: Animal Migrations and Infectious Disease Dynamics: Monarch Butterfiles as a Global Case Study

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This project examines how long-distance animal migrations affect the transmission of infectious diseases, using monarch butterflies and a protozoan parasite as a model system. Monarchs inhabit islands and continents worldwide and are best known for undertaking a spectacular migration in parts of North America. Parasites occur in all monarch populations examined to date and prevalence is highest in populations that breed year round and do not migrate. The investigator will conduct field studies to compare contemporary infection rates within and between multiple migratory and non-migratory monarch populations. A citizen science project, MonarchHealth, will involve volunteer observers to help track infected butterflies in N. America. Mathematical models and laboratory experiments will be developed to evaluate hypothesized mechanisms that could account for lower infection rates in migratory populations, including: host escape from contaminated habitats, costs of infection and immune defenses for monarch flight ability, and evolutionary changes in host resistance and parasite virulence. Studying this migratory butterfly-parasite system will provide insights for effects of migration on the health of other animal species, including how human activities that alter host migratory patterns can affect pathogen spread. Proposed training activities include courses in the biology of infectious diseases and promoting environmental literacy among non-science majors at the University of Georgia. Because monarchs have captured the imagination of the public, the investigator will engage in outreach efforts that involve students and public citizens in science. These activities include a citizen science project, interactions with natural history centers and local teachers' groups, and developing a website to disseminate information on monarch butterfly parasites to the general public.