Capacity for Local Adaptation to Disease in Holarctic Species

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Understanding mechanisms of wildlife disease maintenance and spread are of practical importance as they interrelate to human, wildlife and ecosystem health (e.g., recent Ebola outbreak). My research will investigate interactions between host and pathogen neutral and functional genetic variation across landscapes to understand patterns of disease spread and the capacity for host populations to adapt to disease. Arctic rabies (AR) provides a model system to understand the capacity for northern species to respond to rapid changes in disease patterns where climatic changes are having a pronounced effect on the dynamics of AR. The AR system includes multiple hosts with contrasting patterns of disease susceptibility and temporal disease exposure, making it possible to test hypotheses regarding the genetic interactions of AR with its hosts. Further, this system presents contrasts in the localization and spread of disease across its circumpolar distribution. This research will enhance our understanding mechanisms of wildlife disease spread and has the potential to help mitigate negative human and wildlife health impacts from wildlife disease.