Wolves contribute to disease control in a multi-host system
12 páginas, 5 figuras. We combine model results with feld data for a system of wolves (Canis lupus) that prey on wild boar (Sus scrofa), a wildlife reservoir of tuberculosis, to examine how predation may contribute to disease control in multi-host systems. Results show that predation can lead to a m...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/213101 https://doi.org/10.13039/100009767 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000266 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000360 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100007480 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000848 |
Summary: | 12 páginas, 5 figuras. We combine model results with feld data for a system of wolves (Canis lupus) that prey on wild boar (Sus scrofa), a wildlife reservoir of tuberculosis, to examine how predation may contribute to disease control in multi-host systems. Results show that predation can lead to a marked reduction in the prevalence of infection without leading to a reduction in host population density since mortality due to predation can be compensated by a reduction in disease induced mortality. A key fnding therefore is that a population that harbours a virulent infection can be regulated at a similar density by disease at high prevalence or by predation at low prevalence. Predators may therefore provide a key ecosystem service which should be recognised when considering human-carnivore conficts and the conservation and re-establishment of carnivore populations. This is a contribution to MINECO Plan Nacional grant WILD DRIVER ref. CGL2017-89866 and EU-FEDER. Eleanor Tanner was supported by The Maxwell Institute Graduate School in Analysis and its Applications, a Centre for Doctoral Training funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/L016508/01), the Scottish Funding Council, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. Pelayo Acevedo was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and the University of Castilla-La Mancha through a "Ramon y Cajal" contract (RYC-2012-11970). This research was also supported by Ministerio para la Transicion Ecologica, through Fundacion Biodiversidad. Peer reviewed |
---|