Collaborative Research: Effects of land-use, predation and management on wildlife contact and Brucella transmission in the Yellowstone Ecosystem

该项目重点关注布鲁氏菌病，这是大黄石生态系统中麋鹿、野牛和牛的细菌感染。自 2004 年以来，多起布鲁氏菌病从野生动物传播到牲畜的事件导致怀俄明州、爱达荷州和蒙大拿州爆发牛群疫情。这项研究将为负责该地区野生动物和牲畜的多个州和联邦机构提供重要的科学信息。具体研究目标是：（1）确定使用两种生态现场操作是否可以降低怀俄明州补充饲料场上麋鹿的布鲁氏菌病患病率； (2) 确定土地所有权、灌溉、捕食和狩猎的变化对麋鹿群体规模分布和布鲁氏菌病患病率的影响； (3) 结合宿主和病原体 DNA 标记和基因组学，估计麋鹿种群中种内布鲁氏菌病传播量以及麋鹿、野牛和牛之间种间传播量。研究人员将评估接触和疾病传播与宿主聚集的关系，以及宿主聚集如何受到土地利用、栖息地、狩猎和捕食者的影响。宿主密度和寄生虫传播之间的关系对于了解传染病传播的动态至关重要。模型预测，当传播与宿主密度相关时，存在一个宿主密度阈值，低于该阈值，随着密度的降低，寄生虫将无法持续存在。这构成了利用社交距离（例如关闭学校）来减少流行病传播的基础。在自然系统中，密度-传播关系是扑杀、绝育和疫苗接种等策略的合理性，这些策略旨在降低易感个体的密度。大黄石生态系统中布鲁氏菌的管理问题对于美国这一旗舰生态系统中的野生动物管理和保护具有直接和紧迫的重要性。研究人员将通过每两年一次的会议向自然资源管理者提供信息，并将传播用于病原体动态遗传分析的免费新颖软件。该项目还将： 为本科生和研究生提供研究和培训机会，特别是招募美国原住民学生；促进科学家参与 GK-12 教师和学生的项目；通过蒙大拿州科学和自然历史电影制作项目的学生制作的电影和播客以及黄石国家公园的教育外展项目支持公众外展活动。

This project focuses on brucellosis, a bacterial infection of elk, bison and cattle in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Since 2004, several instances of brucellosis transmission from wildlife to livestock have resulted in cattle outbreaks in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. This research will provide critical scientific information to the multiple State and Federal agencies responsible for wildlife and livestock in this region. The specific research objectives are to: (1) determine whether brucellosis prevalence of elk can be reduced on the supplemental feedgrounds of Wyoming using two ecological field manipulations; (2) determine the effects of changing land-ownership, irrigation, predation, and hunting on elk group size distributions and brucellosis prevalence; and (3) estimate the amount of intraspecific brucellosis transmission among elk populations and the interspecific transmission among elk, bison, and cattle using a combination of host and pathogen DNA markers and genomics. The researchers will assess how contact and disease transmission are related to host aggregation, and how host aggregations, in turn, are affected by land-use, habitat, hunting, and predators. The relationship between host density and parasite transmission is fundamental to understanding the dynamics of infectious disease transmission. Models predict that when transmission is correlated with host density, there is a host density threshold below which the parasite will be unable to persist as the density is reduced. This forms the basis for using social distancing (such as school closures) to reduce the spread of pandemics. In natural systems, the density-transmission relationship is the justification for strategies such as culling, sterilization, and vaccination, which aim to reduce the density of susceptible individuals. The problem of managing Brucella in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is of direct and immediate importance for wildlife management and conservation in this flagship American ecosystem. The researchers will provide information to natural resource managers through biennual meetings and will disseminate free novel software for genetic analyses of pathogen dynamics. The project also will: provide research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, with a particular goal of recruiting Native American students; foster the participation of scientists in programs with GK-12 teachers and students; and support public outreach through films and podcasts developed by students in the Science and Natural History Filmmaking program at Montana State and through the educational outreach program at Yellowstone National Park.