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

这个项目的重点是布鲁氏菌病，这是一种在大黄石生态系统中感染麋鹿、野牛和牛的细菌。自2004年以来，在怀俄明州、爱达荷州和蒙大拿州发生了几起布鲁氏菌病从野生动物传播到家畜的病例，导致牛只暴发。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关键的科学信息。具体的研究目标是：(1)确定是否可以在怀俄明州的补充饲料上使用两种生态田间操作来降低麋鹿布鲁氏菌病的流行；(2)确定改变土地所有权、灌溉、捕食和狩猎对麋鹿群体规模分布和布鲁氏菌病流行的影响；以及(3)利用宿主和病原体DNA标记和基因组学相结合的方法，估计麋鹿种群之间的种内传播量以及麋鹿、野牛和牛之间的种间传播量。研究人员将评估接触和疾病传播如何与宿主聚集有关，以及宿主聚集反过来如何受到土地利用、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是理解传染病传播动力学的基础。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，寄生虫将无法持续存在，因为密度降低。这构成了利用社会距离(例如学校停课)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、绝育和接种等策略的理由，这些策略旨在降低易感个体的密度。在大黄石生态系统中管理布鲁氏菌的问题对于这个美国旗舰生态系统中的野生动物管理和保护具有直接和直接的重要意义。研究人员将通过每两年举行一次的会议向自然资源管理者提供信息，并将传播免费的新颖软件，用于病原体动态的遗传分析。该项目还将：为本科生和研究生提供研究和培训机会，特别是招收美国原住民学生；促进科学家参与GK-12教师和学生的项目；通过蒙大拿州立大学科学和自然历史电影制作项目的学生制作的电影和播客，以及通过黄石国家公园的教育推广项目，支持公众宣传。

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.