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

这个项目将调查环境因素和野生动物管理计划如何影响传染病在远距离迁徙的物种中的传播。研究人员将评估佛罗里达大沼泽地、科罗拉多州S前沿山脉和西坡以及南加州的美洲狮种群。这一结果将适用于其他范围广泛的物种，如大型食草动物、其他食肉动物，甚至人类。调查人员将与州和联邦机构的合作伙伴合作，确定狩猎和重新安置动物等管理行动如何影响疾病的传播；未来疾病暴发可能如何通过脆弱人群传播；以及如何通过接种疫苗、发展隔离缓冲区或其他方式控制疫情。该项目还包括对公众进行保护问题教育的外展努力，并让学生参与疾病生态学的相关研究。这个项目将涉及来自科学界代表性不足的群体的学生。这项研究将评估景观结构和管理干预措施之间的相互作用如何影响疾病在大范围顶端捕食者(美洲狮)种群中的传播。利用一个特殊的数据库和相应的一套生物样本，以及一个经验丰富的合作团队，这项研究将在三种不同的管理制度下追踪两种非致病(即非致病)、接触依赖型逆转录病毒制剂在不同地理位置的美洲狮种群中的传播：(A)高度濒危的佛罗里达州美洲豹的补充和恢复，(B)对科罗拉多州农村美洲狮种群的大规模人工收获实验，以及(C)对科罗拉多前线山脉和南加州的城市美洲狮种群的稳态管理。景观基因组学方法将为先进的网络模型提供信息，以确定景观结构和管理行动对宿主连通性、人口统计学以及最终疾病动态的相对重要性。这些非致病性传播模型将用最近在佛罗里达州黑豹爆发的猫白血病病毒(FeLV)的经验数据进行测试。该模型将用于使用基于非致病因子的模型来预测致病因子的疾病传播，并为控制疾病爆发的管理程序提供信息。这一综合办法为利用复杂的分子和地理空间工具推进预测和减轻复杂地貌中各种物种的致命性疾病暴发的模型提供了基础。

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.