Impacts of Landscape Structure, Host Demography, and Management Interventions on Disease Dynamics

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This project will investigate how environmental factors and wildlife management programs affect infectious disease spread in species that move large distances. The researchers will evaluate populations of pumas in the Florida Everglades, Colorado?s Front Range and Western Slope, and Southern California. The results will be applicable to other wide-ranging species, such as large herbivores, other carnivores, and even humans. Working with partners in state and Federal agencies, the investigators will determine how the spread of disease is affected by management actions such as hunting and relocation of animals; how future disease outbreaks might spread through vulnerable populations; and how they might be controlled via vaccination, development of quarantine buffer zones, or other means. The project also includes outreach efforts to educate the public about conservation issues, and engage students in relevant studies in disease ecology. This project will involve students from groups that are underrepresented in the sciences. The study will evaluate how the interaction between landscape structure and management interventions affect disease spread in populations of wide-ranging apex predators (Puma concolor). Using an exceptional database and corresponding set of biological samples, and an experienced collaborative team, the research will trace the spread of two apathogenic (i.e. non-pathogenic), contact-dependent retroviral agents in geographically distinct puma populations under three different management regimes: (a) supplementation and recovery of the highly endangered Florida panther, (b) large-scale manipulative harvest experiments of a rural Colorado puma population, and (c) steady-state management of urban puma populations in the Colorado Front Range and Southern California. A landscape genomics approach will inform advanced network models to determine the relative importance of landscape structure and management actions on host connectivity, demography, and, ultimately, disease dynamics. These apathogenic transmission models will be tested with empirical data from a recent virulent outbreak of Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) in Florida Panthers. The model will be used to predict disease spread of virulent agents using models based on apathogenic agents, and to inform management programs to control disease outbreaks. This integrated approach provides a basis for utilizing complex molecular and geospatial tools to advance models to predict and mitigate virulent disease outbreaks for wide-ranging species in complex landscapes.