Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity
Abstract Anthropogenic land use change has led to considerable biodiversity loss, affecting ecosystem functions with unresolved consequences for zoonotic disease transmission. Functional diversity is understudied but potentially important for understanding the role of biodiversity because many zoono...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Ecosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70292 |
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| _version_ | 1849419395679387648 |
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| author | Marie Lilly Arielle Crews Alexandra Lawrence Jordan Salomon Samantha Sambado Liliana Cerna Kacie Ring Ceili Peng Grace Shaw Shannon Summers Andrea Swei |
| author_facet | Marie Lilly Arielle Crews Alexandra Lawrence Jordan Salomon Samantha Sambado Liliana Cerna Kacie Ring Ceili Peng Grace Shaw Shannon Summers Andrea Swei |
| author_sort | Marie Lilly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Anthropogenic land use change has led to considerable biodiversity loss, affecting ecosystem functions with unresolved consequences for zoonotic disease transmission. Functional diversity is understudied but potentially important for understanding the role of biodiversity because many zoonotic disease systems are maintained by species with different roles in disease transmission. Here, we explore how functional groups and pathogen genetic diversity influence transmission and human disease risk within the Lyme disease system. Our field and molecular ecology study examined ticks and vertebrates across a fragmented landscape and evaluated several metrics of disease risk. For predicting vector and infected vector density, rodent host richness had a positive effect and was most important, but vector infection prevalence was best predicted by rodent and predator richness together, reflecting how indirect effects may alter tick–host interactions and disease risk. These results indicate that examining species richness generally may obscure important interactions driven by richness within functional groups. Pathogen genotype richness was best predicted by overall vertebrate richness, providing support for the multiple niche polymorphism hypothesis. Our study offers an important perspective on the relationship between biodiversity and disease risk, suggesting that richness within functional groups may offer more nuanced insight into pathogen transmission dynamics than overall biodiversity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-68ddb896debc48b8a6345cd856dcff4c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj-art-68ddb896debc48b8a6345cd856dcff4c2025-08-20T03:32:07ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252025-06-01166n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.70292Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversityMarie Lilly0Arielle Crews1Alexandra Lawrence2Jordan Salomon3Samantha Sambado4Liliana Cerna5Kacie Ring6Ceili Peng7Grace Shaw8Shannon Summers9Andrea Swei10Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York New York USASan Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District Burlingame California USADivision of Forestry and Natural Resources West Virginia University Morganstown West Virginia USADepartment of Entomology Texas A&M University College Station Texas USADepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara California USADepartment of Biology San Francisco State University San Francisco California USADepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara California USAMicrobiology Graduate Program and Department of Biology Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge Massachusetts USADepartment of Biology San Francisco State University San Francisco California USADepartment of Biology San Francisco State University San Francisco California USADepartment of Biology San Francisco State University San Francisco California USAAbstract Anthropogenic land use change has led to considerable biodiversity loss, affecting ecosystem functions with unresolved consequences for zoonotic disease transmission. Functional diversity is understudied but potentially important for understanding the role of biodiversity because many zoonotic disease systems are maintained by species with different roles in disease transmission. Here, we explore how functional groups and pathogen genetic diversity influence transmission and human disease risk within the Lyme disease system. Our field and molecular ecology study examined ticks and vertebrates across a fragmented landscape and evaluated several metrics of disease risk. For predicting vector and infected vector density, rodent host richness had a positive effect and was most important, but vector infection prevalence was best predicted by rodent and predator richness together, reflecting how indirect effects may alter tick–host interactions and disease risk. These results indicate that examining species richness generally may obscure important interactions driven by richness within functional groups. Pathogen genotype richness was best predicted by overall vertebrate richness, providing support for the multiple niche polymorphism hypothesis. Our study offers an important perspective on the relationship between biodiversity and disease risk, suggesting that richness within functional groups may offer more nuanced insight into pathogen transmission dynamics than overall biodiversity.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70292biodiversitycommunity ecologyzoonoses |
| spellingShingle | Marie Lilly Arielle Crews Alexandra Lawrence Jordan Salomon Samantha Sambado Liliana Cerna Kacie Ring Ceili Peng Grace Shaw Shannon Summers Andrea Swei Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity Ecosphere biodiversity community ecology zoonoses |
| title | Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| title_full | Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| title_fullStr | Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| title_short | Functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector‐borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| title_sort | functional vertebrate group diversity differentially impacts vector borne pathogen transmission and genetic diversity |
| topic | biodiversity community ecology zoonoses |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70292 |
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