SG: Collaborative Research: The Role of Watering Holes in Concentrating Parasites in a Changing Climate

浇水点汇集了种类繁多的野生动物和家畜，形成了疾病传播的直接界面。考虑到当前的气候变化和水的不稳定性，特别是在东非热带稀树草原，了解水在不同季节和气候梯度中聚集动物及其寄生虫的程度尤为重要。该地区是世界上一些最具魅力的野生动物物种的家园，但它也是一个疾病热点，目前正在继续发展，并在野生动物区扩大牧场和养牛活动。该项目将寻求量化由动物运动介导的供水点对寄生虫密度的影响，并了解气候和宿主社区如何在整个景观的供水点的疾病风险中发挥作用。该项目包括四个不同的组成部分，包括广泛的观测调查、实验操作和数学建模。第一部分包括对肯尼亚中部莱基皮亚县陡峭降雨梯度上的20座水坝和控制点进行调查。在降雨季节，将使用粪便调查、蜱虫拖拽、相机陷阱、植被调查和土壤和水分析来确定水坑和控制地点的动物及其寄生虫的密度。第二个组成部分将利用野生动物和牲畜使用的成对水盆：每对水盆中的一个水盆将在两个降雨季节被排干，然后再被重新填满，上述所有调查将在本实验中重复进行。第三个组成部分将利用水源地的动物圈地来确定大型哺乳动物的消失对景观中寄生虫密度的影响。最后，将利用野外数据参数化的数学模型来模拟粪口寄生虫在不同气候和季节对一系列宿主的传播。将测试水的供应和分配对动物运动和疾病流行的影响，为土地管理者和科学家对水、宿主和寄生虫的复杂系统提供宝贵的见解。

Watering points draw together an enormous range of wildlife and domestic animals, forming a direct interface for disease transmission. Understanding the degree to which water aggregates animals and their parasites across seasons and climate gradients is particularly important in light of current climate change and water instability, particularly in the East African tropical savanna. This region is home to some of the world's most charismatic wildlife species, but it is also a disease hotspot that is currently undergoing continued development and expanded ranching and cattle practices in wildlife zones. This project will seek to quantify the effect of watering points on parasite density, as mediated by animal movement, and to understand how climate and host community play a role in disease risk at water points across the landscape. The project entails four distinct components that integrate extensive observational surveys, experimental manipulations, and mathematical modelling. The first component involves a survey of 20 dams and control sites across a steep rainfall gradient in Laikipia County, central Kenya. Dung surveys, tick drags, camera trapping, vegetation surveys, and soil and water analyses will be used to determine the density of animals and their parasites at both watering holes and control sites over rainfall seasons. The second component will utilize paired water pans used by wildlife and cattle: one water pan in each pair will be drained for two rainfall seasons before being refilled, and all surveys listed above will be repeated for this experiment. The third component will utilize animal exclosure plots at water sources to determine the effect of large mammal loss on parasite density in the landscape. Finally, mathematical models parameterized with field data will be used to simulate the transmission of fecal-oral parasites over different climates and seasons for a range of hosts. The effect of water availability and distribution on animal movement and disease prevalence will be tested, providing valuable insight to both land managers and scientists on the complex system of water, hosts, and parasites.