Predator and scavenger movements among and within endangered seabird colonies: opportunities for pathogen spread

• Published in: Journal of Applied Ecology
• Main Authors: Gamble, Amandine, Bazire, Romain, Delord, Karine, Barbraud, Christophe, Gantelet, Hubert, Thibault, Eric, Lebarbenchon, Camille, Lagadec, Erwan, Weimerskirch, Henri, Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Garnier, Romain, Tornos, Jérémy, Jaeger, Audrey, Boulinier, Thierry
• Other Authors: Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California (UC), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ceva Biovac Beaucouzé, France, Processus Infectieux en Milieu Insulaire Tropical (PIMIT), Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-IRD-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Réserve Naturelle Nationale des Terres Australes Françaises, Georgetown University Washington (GU), Ecologie marine tropicale des océans Pacifique et Indien (ENTROPIE Nouvelle-Calédonie ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD Nouvelle-Calédonie )-Délégation Ifremer de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (UNC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), IPEV programme 1151 ECOPATH
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: conservation biology; disease ecology; dynamic space utilisation; individual 85 heterogeneity; movement ecology; Pasteurella multocida; sentinel species; serology; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Amsterdam Island; Antarc*; antarcticus; Stercorarius antarcticus
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02330420; https://hal.science/hal-02330420/document; https://hal.science/hal-02330420/file/Gamble_et_al_2019_JAppE.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13531

International audience 1. The spatial structure of host communities is expected to constrain pathogen spread. However, predators and/or scavengers may connect distant host (sub)populations when foraging. Determining whether some individuals or populations play a prominent role in the spread of pathogens is critical to inform management measures.2. We explored movements and epidemiological status of brown skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus), the only avian terrestrial consumer native of Amsterdam Island (Indian Ocean), to assess whether and how they could be involved in the spread of the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which recurrently causes avian cholera outbreaks in endangered albatross and penguin species breeding on the island.3. High proportions of seropositive and DNA-positive individuals for P. multocida indicated that skuas are highly exposed to the pathogen and may be able to transmit it. Movement tracking revealed that the foraging ranges of breeding skuas largely overlap among individuals and expand all along the coasts where albatrosses and penguins nest, but not on the inland plateau hosting the endemic Amsterdam albatross (Diomedea amsterdamensis).4. Considering the epidemiological and movement data, skua movements may provide opportunity for pathogen spread among and within seabird colonies.5. Synthesis and applications. This work highlights the importance of considering the behaviour and epidemiological status of predators and scavengers in disease dynamics because the foraging movements of individuals of such species can potentially limit the efficiency of local management measures in spatially-structured host communities. Such species could thus represent priority vaccination targets to implement efficient management measures aiming at limiting pathogen spread and also be used as sentinels to monitor pathogen circulation and evaluate the effectiveness of management measures. 1. La circulation d’agents infectieux dans les populations sauvages peut être fortement contrainte par la ...