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Project

Complex patterns of host-pathogen interaction: the role of behaviour in mediating the spread of infectious disease through structured host populations

Contrary to the large, well-mixed theoretical populations on which the spread of infectious disease has traditionally been modelled, most wildlife and human populations are socially or spatially structured into distinct groups. This is significant, as infection transmission within a structured population will also depend on group dynamics including group connectivity via individual movements. But while theoretical studies have modelled the effects of population structure and connectivity on infection dynamics, the behavioural mechanisms driving connectivity have remained largely unstudied. This project will redress this fundamental issue, using the quintessential infectious disease, plague (Yersinia pestis), and one of its major hosts, great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus), to explore how social and spatial structures within populations affect infection dynamics. Specifically, this project aims to: 1) examine how the movements of great gerbils, their predators and other secondary hosts contribute to connectivity within structured great gerbil populations, and whether there are systematic differences in these measures in different landscapes; and 2) implement a large field experiment to test whether derived hypotheses of connectivity account for the spread of fleas (and potentially, therefore, of plague) through structured populations.
Date:1 Jan 2012 →  31 Dec 2012
Keywords:EXPERIMENTAL STUDY, DISEASE ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY
Disciplines:Animal biology, Ecology, Environmental science and management, Other environmental sciences