Optimising invasive species control to reduce zoonotic disease risk and agricultural losses in Madagascar

优化入侵物种控制以减少马达加斯加人畜共患疾病风险和农业损失

• 批准号: 2885033
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Aberdeen
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2885033
• 关键词: Optimising; invasive; species; control; reduce

Invasive alien species (IAS) cost a global minimum of US$46 billion annually, including huge agricultural losses and damage to human health and wellbeing. Tackling the socioeconomic impacts of IAS thus has key significance for addressing global susceptibility to disease and hunger. However, developing effective strategies against established IAS requires significantly improving our current knowledge-base and management toolkit. In Madagascar, the Asian toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus is spreading following an accidental introduction in the east of the island over a decade ago, with multiple socioeconomic and health consequences. As a toxic species, it poisons higher predators like snakes, eliminating predatory constraints on rodent populations (e.g. the black rat Rattus rattus), that are both agricultural pests and reservoirs for zoonotic diseases including plague and leptospirosis. As a predator, D. melanostictus can reduce beneficial crop-pest predator populations and eliminate farmers' additional income generation (e.g. honey production), reducing food availability, household resources and economic empowerment. This invasive species therefore represents an increasingly significant threat, and this project provides an opportunity to advance our ability to improve food security and human health, making progress towards UN sustainable development goals.Currently direct and indirect interactions between toad and rodent populations and their consequences for socioeconomic and health outcomes are poorly understood. This interdisciplinary project will work in collaboration with the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (a local NGO), government and local stakeholders to address these knowledge gaps at a landscape scale. It will combine existing data on toad and rodent distributions and control methodologies in Madagascar, with the potential for new field data collection and individual-based and epidemiological modelling to optimise approaches across the invasion gradient. Key research aspects include:a) Developing a targeted model of density-driven interactions between toads, rats and apex predator populations to understand the agricultural and epidemiological consequences across the invaded rangeb) Investigating the efficacy of control methodologies and strategic options to slow/halt the invasion front and improve detection and response strategies c) Testing model predictions against field datad) Assessing the diet of toads across the invasion gradient to determine variation in socioeconomic impacts

外来入侵物种 (IAS) 每年给全球造成至少 460 亿美元的损失，其中包括巨大的农业损失以及对人类健康和福祉的损害。因此，解决外来AS的社会经济影响对于解决全球对疾病和饥饿的易感性具有重要意义。然而，针对已建立的 IAS 制定有效的策略需要显着改进我们当前的知识库和管理工具包。在马达加斯加，亚洲蟾蜍 Duttaphrynus melanostictus 十多年前意外引入该岛东部，目前正在蔓延，造成了多种社会经济和健康后果。作为一种有毒物种，它会毒害蛇等高级捕食者，从而消除了对啮齿动物种群（例如黑鼠黄鼠）的捕食限制，啮齿动物既是农业害虫，也是鼠疫和钩端螺旋体病等人畜共患疾病的宿主。作为一种捕食者，D. melanostictus 可以减少有益作物害虫捕食者的数量，并消除农民的额外收入（例如蜂蜜生产），从而减少粮食供应、家庭资源和经济赋权。因此，这种入侵物种构成了日益严重的威胁，该项目为提高我们改善粮食安全和人类健康的能力提供了机会，从而在实现联合国可持续发展目标方面取得进展。目前，人们对蟾蜍和啮齿动物种群之间的直接和间接相互作用及其对社会经济和健康结果的影响知之甚少。这个跨学科项目将与马达加斯加动植物群（当地非政府组织）、政府和当地利益相关者合作，以解决景观层面的知识差距。它将结合马达加斯加蟾蜍和啮齿动物分布和控制方法的现有数据，以及新的现场数据收集和基于个体的流行病学建模的潜力，以优化跨入侵梯度的方法。主要研究方面包括：a) 开发蟾蜍、老鼠和顶级捕食者种群之间密度驱动相互作用的目标模型，以了解入侵范围内的农业和流行病学后果 b) 研究控制方法和战略选择的有效性，以减缓/停止入侵前沿并改进检测和响应策略 c) 根据现场数据测试模型预测 d) 评估入侵梯度上蟾蜍的饮食以确定 社会经济影响的变化