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Anyshchenko A. Aligning Policy Design With Science to Achieve Food Security: The Contribution of Genome Editing to Sustainable Agriculture. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2022.897643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The need to meet the food demands of the world's growing population is the main challenge to global agricultural policy and economy. Issues in food security require innovative solutions. Modern biotechnology has a significant potential to contribute to food security, wealth, and sustainable development. Genetic engineering offers tools to improve nutrition, increase yield, and enhance crop resilience. New techniques of genome editing provide ample means to overcome limitations inherent in conventional plant breeding, but their industrial applicability depends on regulatory environment, decision making, and public perception. An alignment of goals between science and policy can help realise the potential of modern biotechnology to contribute to food security, wealth, and sustainable development.
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Host contributions to the force of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti transmission differ at edges of and within a small habitat patch. Appl Environ Microbiol 2022; 88:e0239121. [PMID: 34985986 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02391-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In the northeastern United States, the emergence of Lyme disease has been associated, in part, with the increase of small forest patches. Such disturbed habitat is exploited by generalist species, such as white-footed mice, which are considered the host with the greatest reservoir capacity for the agents of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto) and human babesiosis (Babesia microti). Spatial risk analyses have identified edge habitat as particularly risky. Using a retrotransposon-based quantitative PCR assay for host bloodmeal remnant identification, we directly measured whether the hosts upon which vector ticks fed differed at the edge or within the contiguous small habitat patch. Questing nymphal deer ticks, Ixodes dammini, the northern clade of Ixodes scapularis, were collected from either the edge or within a thicket on Nantucket Island over 3 transmission seasons and tested for evidence of infection as well as bloodmeal hosts. Tick bloodmeal hosts significantly differed by site as well as by year. Mice and deer were identified most often (49.9%), but shrews, rabbits and birds were also common. Ticks from the edge fed on a greater diversity of hosts than those from the thicket. Surprisingly, mice were not strongly associated with either infection at either sampling site (OR<2 for all). Although shrews were not the most common host utilized by ticks, they were highly associated with both infections at both sites (OR= 4.5 and 7.9 B. burgdorferi and 7.9 and 19.0 B. microti, edge and thicket). We conclude that reservoir hosts may differ in their contributions to infecting ticks between edge and contiguous vegetated patches. Importance Habitat fragmentation is thought to be a main factor in the emergence of Lyme disease and other of the deer tick-transmitted infections. The patchwork of forest and edges promotes altered biodiversity, favoring the abundance of generalist rodents such as white footed mice, heretofore considered a key tick and reservoir host in the northeastern U.S. We used tick bloodmeal analyses to directly identify the hosts from which nymphal deer ticks became infected. We demonstrate that there is considerable microfocality in host contributions to the cohort of infected ticks and that shrews, although they fed fewer ticks than mice, disproportionately influenced the force of pathogen transmission in our site. The venue of transmission of certain deer tick-transmitted agents may comprise a habitat scale of 10 meters or fewer and depend on alternative small mammal hosts such as shrews.
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Diuk-Wasser MA, VanAcker MC, Fernandez MP. Impact of Land Use Changes and Habitat Fragmentation on the Eco-epidemiology of Tick-Borne Diseases. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2021; 58:1546-1564. [PMID: 33095859 DOI: 10.1093/jme/tjaa209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The incidence of tick-borne diseases has increased in recent decades and accounts for the majority of vector-borne disease cases in temperate areas of Europe, North America, and Asia. This emergence has been attributed to multiple and interactive drivers including changes in climate, land use, abundance of key hosts, and people's behaviors affecting the probability of human exposure to infected ticks. In this forum paper, we focus on how land use changes have shaped the eco-epidemiology of Ixodes scapularis-borne pathogens, in particular the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in the eastern United States. We use this as a model system, addressing other tick-borne disease systems as needed to illustrate patterns or processes. We first examine how land use interacts with abiotic conditions (microclimate) and biotic factors (e.g., host community composition) to influence the enzootic hazard, measured as the density of host-seeking I. scapularis nymphs infected with B. burgdorferi s.s. We then review the evidence of how specific landscape configuration, in particular forest fragmentation, influences the enzootic hazard and disease risk across spatial scales and urbanization levels. We emphasize the need for a dynamic understanding of landscapes based on tick and pathogen host movement and habitat use in relation to human resource provisioning. We propose a coupled natural-human systems framework for tick-borne diseases that accounts for the multiple interactions, nonlinearities and feedbacks in the system and conclude with a call for standardization of methodology and terminology to help integrate studies conducted at multiple scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria A Diuk-Wasser
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York
| | - Meredith C VanAcker
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York
| | - Maria P Fernandez
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York
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Cassel KW, Morin DJ, Nielsen CK, Preuss TS, Glowacki GA. Low-intensity monitoring of small-mammal habitat associations and species interactions in an urban forest-preserve network. WILDLIFE RESEARCH 2020. [DOI: 10.1071/wr18082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
ContextAnthropogenic landscape modification and fragmentation result in loss of species and can alter ecosystem function. Assessment of the ecological value of urban reserve networks requires baseline and continued monitoring. However, depending on the desired indicators and parameters, effective monitoring can involve extensive sampling that is often financially or logistically infeasible.
AimsWe employed a low-intensity, mixed-detector survey design to monitor the small-mammal community across a network of 53 fragmented forest preserves (225 sites) in a highly urbanised landscape in the Chicago metropolitan area from August to October, 2009–2012.
MethodsWe used a sequential process to fit single-season occupancy and pairwise co-occurrence models for six common small mammal species to evaluate habitat associations and interspecific interactions.
Key resultsShrew species and meadow voles occurred more often in open canopy-associated habitats, whereas occupancy was greater for eastern chipmunks, grey squirrels and white-footed mice in closed-canopy habitats. Habitat associations were complicated by negative pairwise interactions, resulting in reduced occurrence of meadow voles when predatory short-tailed shrews were present and lower occupancy rates of white-footed mouse when chipmunk competitors where present. White-footed mice co-occurred with short-tailed shrews, but detection of white-footed mice was lower when either eastern chipmunks or short-tailed shrews were present, suggesting that densities of these species could be inversely related.
ConclusionsWe found evidence for both habitat segregation and interspecific interactions among small mammal species, by using low-intensity sampling across the reserve network. Thus, our sampling and analysis approach allowed for adequate assessment of the habitat associations and species interactions within a small-mammal community.
ImplicationsOur findings demonstrated the utility of this monitoring strategy and community as bioindicators for urban-reserve networks. The approach described holds promise for efficient monitoring of reserve networks in fragmented landscapes, critical as human population densities and urbanisation increase, and we discuss how adaptive sampling methods could be incorporated to further benefit conservation efforts.
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Stevens RD, Rowe RJ, Badgley C. Gradients of mammalian biodiversity through space and time. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Richard D Stevens
- Department of Natural Resources Management and Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - Rebecca J Rowe
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
| | - Catherine Badgley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Zungu MM, Maseko MST, Kalle R, Ramesh T, Downs CT. Fragment and life-history correlates of extinction vulnerability of forest mammals in an urban-forest mosaic in EThekwini Municipality, Durban, South Africa. Anim Conserv 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- M. M. Zungu
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Scottsville Pietermaritzburg South Africa
| | - M. S. T. Maseko
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Scottsville Pietermaritzburg South Africa
| | - R. Kalle
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Scottsville Pietermaritzburg South Africa
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History; Coimbatore Tamil Nadu India
| | - T. Ramesh
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Scottsville Pietermaritzburg South Africa
- Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History; Coimbatore Tamil Nadu India
| | - C. T. Downs
- School of Life Sciences; University of KwaZulu-Natal; Scottsville Pietermaritzburg South Africa
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A spatial agent-based model of the disease vector Ixodes scapularis to explore host-tick associations. Ecol Modell 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Nolfo-Clements L. Mammals of the Boston Harbor Islands: Permanent and Ephemeral Residents. Northeast Nat (Steuben) 2018. [DOI: 10.1656/045.025.s901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Lee EJ, Rhim SJ. Influence of vegetation area and edge length on mammals in urban woods. Anim Cells Syst (Seoul) 2017; 21:294-299. [PMID: 30460081 PMCID: PMC6138358 DOI: 10.1080/19768354.2017.1348983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 05/17/2017] [Accepted: 06/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated the relationships between vegetation area, edge length, and mammals in the urban woods of Daejeon Metropolitan City, South Korea. The vegetation patches included in this study varied from 2.1 to 501.0 ha in size. Surveys were conducted monthly between February and October 2015, with a survey route measuring 1 km in length and 10 m width established in each forest patch. Field signs of 14 species of mammals were recorded in the 33 chosen forest patches over the course of the study period, and the number of species in each patch varied from 2 to 11. Mammal species richness was positively correlated with vegetation area, and field sign frequency was positively correlated with vegetation area and negatively correlated with edge length. The field sign frequencies of large moles Mogera robusta, Siberian chipmunks Tamias sibiricus, leopard cats Prionailurus bengalensis, Korean hares Lepus coreanus, water deer Hydropotes inermis, and wild boars Sus scrofa were positively correlated with vegetation area. Moreover, that of large moles, leopard cats, Korean hares, and water deer were negatively correlated with edge length. Remnant vegetation area and edge length are the primary determinants of mammal species richness and field sign frequency in urban woods, highlighting the importance of vegetation patch size for mammal conservation in fragmented urban landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun-Jae Lee
- Urban Planning Research Group, Daejeon Sejong Research Institute, Daejeon, Korea
| | - Shin-Jae Rhim
- School of Bioresource and Bioscience, Chung-Ang University, Ansung, Korea
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Jacques CN, Zweep JS, Scheihing ME, Rechkemmer WT, Jenkins SE, Klaver RW, Dubay SA. Influence of trap modifications and environmental predictors on capture success of southern flying squirrels. WILDLIFE SOC B 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - James S. Zweep
- Department of Biological Sciences; Western Illinois University; Macomb IL 61455 USA
| | - Mary E. Scheihing
- Department of Biological Sciences; Western Illinois University; Macomb IL 61455 USA
| | - Will T. Rechkemmer
- Department of Biological Sciences; Western Illinois University; Macomb IL 61455 USA
| | - Sean E. Jenkins
- Department of Biological Sciences; Western Illinois University; Macomb IL 61455 USA
| | - Robert W. Klaver
- U.S. Geological Survey; Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit; Iowa State University; Ames IA 50011 USA
| | - Shelli A. Dubay
- College of Natural Resources; University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Stevens Point WI 54481 USA
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LaDeau SL, Allan BF, Leisnham PT, Levy MZ. The ecological foundations of transmission potential and vector-borne disease in urban landscapes. Funct Ecol 2015; 29:889-901. [PMID: 26549921 PMCID: PMC4631442 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Urban transmission of arthropod-vectored disease has increased in recent decades. Understanding and managing transmission potential in urban landscapes requires integration of sociological and ecological processes that regulate vector population dynamics, feeding behavior, and vector-pathogen interactions in these unique ecosystems. Vectorial capacity is a key metric for generating predictive understanding about transmission potential in systems with obligate vector transmission. This review evaluates how urban conditions, specifically habitat suitability and local temperature regimes, and the heterogeneity of urban landscapes can influence the biologically-relevant parameters that define vectorial capacity: vector density, survivorship, biting rate, extrinsic incubation period, and vector competence.Urban landscapes represent unique mosaics of habitat. Incidence of vector-borne disease in urban host populations is rarely, if ever, evenly distributed across an urban area. The persistence and quality of vector habitat can vary significantly across socio-economic boundaries to influence vector species composition and abundance, often generating socio-economically distinct gradients of transmission potential across neighborhoods.Urban regions often experience unique temperature regimes, broadly termed urban heat islands (UHI). Arthropod vectors are ectothermic organisms and their growth, survival, and behavior are highly sensitive to environmental temperatures. Vector response to UHI conditions is dependent on regional temperature profiles relative to the vector's thermal performance range. In temperate climates UHI can facilitate increased vector development rates while having countervailing influence on survival and feeding behavior. Understanding how urban heat island (UHI) conditions alter thermal and moisture constraints across the vector life cycle to influence transmission processes is an important direction for both empirical and modeling research.There remain persistent gaps in understanding of vital rates and drivers in mosquito-vectored disease systems, and vast holes in understanding for other arthropod vectored diseases. Empirical studies are needed to better understand the physiological constraints and socio-ecological processes that generate heterogeneity in critical transmission parameters, including vector survival and fitness. Likewise, laboratory experiments and transmission models must evaluate vector response to realistic field conditions, including variability in sociological and environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brian F. Allan
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Paul T. Leisnham
- Concentration in Ecosystem Health and Natural Resource Management, Department of Environmental Science & Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Michael Z. Levy
- Department of Biostatistics & Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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12
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Lesmeister DB, Nielsen CK, Schauber EM, Hellgren EC. Spatial and temporal structure of a mesocarnivore guild in midwestern north America. WILDLIFE MONOGRAPHS 2015. [DOI: 10.1002/wmon.1015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Damon B. Lesmeister
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology; Center for Ecology; Southern Illinois University; 251 Life Science II Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Clayton K. Nielsen
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology; Center for Ecology; Southern Illinois University; 251 Life Science II Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Eric M. Schauber
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology; Center for Ecology; Southern Illinois University; 251 Life Science II Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Eric C. Hellgren
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology; Center for Ecology; Southern Illinois University; 251 Life Science II Carbondale IL 62901 USA
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13
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McGregor RA, Stokes VL, Craig MD. Does forest restoration in fragmented landscapes provide habitat for a wide-ranging carnivore? Anim Conserv 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- R. A. McGregor
- Environmental Research; Alcoa of Australia; Pinjarra WA Australia
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences; Murdoch University; Murdoch WA Australia
| | - V. L. Stokes
- Environmental Research; Alcoa of Australia; Pinjarra WA Australia
| | - M. D. Craig
- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences; Murdoch University; Murdoch WA Australia
- School of Plant Biology; University of Western Australia; Nedlands WA Australia
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Menezes JFS, Fernandez FAS. Nestedness in forest mammals is dependent on area but not on matrix type and sample size: an analysis on different fragmented landscapes. BRAZ J BIOL 2013; 73:465-70. [DOI: 10.1590/s1519-69842013000300002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2012] [Accepted: 08/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Nestedness, the pattern in which the species of a species-poor community are a subset of species-rich communities, can provide information regarding species order of extinction, which is vital knowledge for conservation biology. We tested the hypotheses that the nestedness of mammal communities in forest remnants is influenced by sampling effort, mean remnant area, range of remnant areas, matrix type, and presence or absence of forest corridors, and compared the results with multi-taxa reviews. We used 24 published datasets to test this hypothesis and ran simple regressions for each variable. Our results provide evidence that area was the main determinant of nestedness in mammalian communities. We also found a significant effect on the range of areas as measured through area ratio. However we conclude that nestedness is not affected by sample size.
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Affiliation(s)
- JFS. Menezes
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundão, Brazil
| | - FAS. Fernandez
- Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundão, Brazil
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Levy S. The Lyme disease debate: host biodiversity and human disease risk. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2013; 121:A120-A125. [PMID: 23548684 PMCID: PMC3620092 DOI: 10.1289/ehp.121-a120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
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Ostfeld RS, Keesing F. Effects of Host Diversity on Infectious Disease. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2012. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102710-145022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 301] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Felicia Keesing
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York 12545;
- Biology Program, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504
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Biodiversity and disease: a synthesis of ecological perspectives on Lyme disease transmission. Trends Ecol Evol 2012. [PMID: 23182683 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 168] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Recent reviews have argued that disease control is among the ecosystem services yielded by biodiversity. Lyme disease (LD) is commonly cited as the best example of the 'diluting' effect of biodiversity on disease transmission, but many studies document the opposite relationship, showing that human LD risk can increase with forestation. Here, we unify these divergent perspectives and find strong evidence for a positive link between biodiversity and LD at broad spatial scales (urban to suburban to rural) and equivocal evidence for a negative link between biodiversity and LD at varying levels of biodiversity within forests. This finding suggests that, across zoonotic disease agents, the biodiversity-disease relationship is scale dependent and complex.
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Garroway CJ, Bowman J, Wilson PJ. Complex social structure of southern flying squirrels is related to spatial proximity but not kinship. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1431-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Nelner TB, Hood GA. Effect of agriculture and presence of American beaver Castor canadensis on winter biodiversity of mammals. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2011. [DOI: 10.2981/09-097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Rydzewski J, Mateus-Pinilla N, Warner RE, Hamer S, Weng HY. Ixodes scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi among diverse habitats within a natural area in east-central Illinois. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2011; 11:1351-8. [PMID: 21688974 DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2010.0160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The distributions of the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, and of the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), have continued expanding in Illinois over the past 20 years, but the extent of their spread is not well known. The role of multiple habitats in the establishment and maintenance of I. scapularis and Bb at local scales is not well understood, and the use of integrated approaches to evaluate local scale dynamics is rare. We evaluated habitat diversity and temporal changes of I. scapularis occurrence and Bb infection within a natural area in Piatt County, Illinois, where I. scapularis were first detected in 2002. Small mammals were trapped and attached ticks were collected in young forest, prairie, mature forest, and flood plain sites from 2005 to 2009. Small mammal abundance, and the prevalence (% mammals infested), mean intensity (I. scapularis per infested mammal), and relative density (I. scapularis per mammal trapped) of I. scapularis were computed for each habitat type and compared. Immature I. scapularis were tested for Bb infection using polymerase chain reaction techniques. Out of 2446 trapped small mammals, 388 were infested with I. scapularis. The prairie had the highest diversity of small mammal hosts. Prevalence, mean intensity, and relative density of I. scapularis and prevalence of Bb infection were highest for the prairie and young forest sites; in the former, all infection was associated with the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster. The minimum Bb infection prevalence of on-host I. scapularis collected in the natural area was 14% (n=56). Unlike previous studies solely focused on forested areas and Peromyscus leucopus, our study is the first to provide evidence of I. scapularis collected from prairie habitat and other reservoir hosts, particularly M. ochrogaster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Rydzewski
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1816 S. Oak Street, Urbana, IL 61820, USA
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Flaherty EA, Ben-David M, Smith WP. Quadrupedal locomotor performance in two species of arboreal squirrels: predicting energy savings of gliding. J Comp Physiol B 2010; 180:1067-78. [DOI: 10.1007/s00360-010-0470-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2009] [Revised: 03/09/2010] [Accepted: 03/11/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Keesing F, Brunner J, Duerr S, Killilea M, Logiudice K, Schmidt K, Vuong H, Ostfeld RS. Hosts as ecological traps for the vector of Lyme disease. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:3911-9. [PMID: 19692412 PMCID: PMC2825780 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.1159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2009] [Accepted: 07/30/2009] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Vectors of infectious diseases are generally thought to be regulated by abiotic conditions such as climate or the availability of specific hosts or habitats. In this study we tested whether blacklegged ticks, the vectors of Lyme disease, granulocytic anaplasmosis and babesiosis can be regulated by the species of vertebrate hosts on which they obligately feed. By subjecting field-caught hosts to parasitism by larval blacklegged ticks, we found that some host species (e.g. opossums, squirrels) that are abundantly parasitized in nature kill 83-96% of the ticks that attempt to attach and feed, while other species are more permissive of tick feeding. Given natural tick burdens we document on these hosts, we show that some hosts can kill thousands of ticks per hectare. These results indicate that the abundance of tick vectors can be regulated by the identity of the hosts upon which these vectors feed. By simulating the removal of hosts from intact communities using empirical models, we show that the loss of biodiversity may exacerbate disease risk by increasing both vector numbers and vector infection rates with a zoonotic pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Keesing
- Department of Biology, Bard College, Annandale, NY 12504, USA.
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Dell’Arte GL, Leonardi G. The feeding choice of the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) in a semi-arid fragmented landscape of North Africa in relation to water and energy contents of prey. Afr J Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01079.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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LoGiudice K, Duerr STK, Newhouse MJ, Schmidt KA, Killilea ME, Ostfeld RS. Impact of host community composition on Lyme disease risk. Ecology 2009; 89:2841-9. [PMID: 18959321 DOI: 10.1890/07-1047.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 169] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The drivers of variable disease risk in complex multi-host disease systems have proved very difficult to identify. Here we test a model that explains the entomological risk of Lyme disease (LD) in terms of host community composition. The model was parameterized in a continuous forest tract at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (formerly the Institute of Ecosystem Studies) in New York State, U.S.A. We report the results of continuing longitudinal observations (10 years) at the Cary Institute, and of a shorter-term study conducted in forest fragments in LD endemic areas of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, USA. Model predictions were significantly correlated with the observed nymphal infection prevalence (NIP) in both studies, although the relationship was stronger in the longer-term Cary Institute study. Species richness was negatively, albeit weakly, correlated with NIP (logistic regression), and there was no relationship between the Shannon diversity index (H') and NIP. Although these results suggest that LD risk is in fact dependent on host diversity, the relationship relies explicitly on the identities and frequencies of host species such that conventional uses of the term biodiversity (i.e., richness, evenness, H') are less appropriate than are metrics that include species identity. This underscores the importance of constructing interaction webs for vertebrates and exploring the direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic stressors on host community composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen LoGiudice
- Department of Biological Sciences, Union College, Schenectady, New York 12308, USA.
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Salsbury CM. Distribution Patterns of Sciurus niger (Eastern Fox Squirrel) Leaf Nests Within Woodlots Across a Suburban/Urban Landscape. Northeast Nat (Steuben) 2008. [DOI: 10.1656/1092-6194-15.4.485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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McDonald PT, Nielsen CK, Oyana TJ, Sun W. Modelling habitat overlap among sympatric mesocarnivores in southern Illinois, USA. Ecol Modell 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Randa LA, Yunger JA. CARNIVORE OCCURRENCE ALONG AN URBAN–RURAL GRADIENT: A LANDSCAPE-LEVEL ANALYSIS. J Mammal 2006. [DOI: 10.1644/05-mamm-a-224r2.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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CAYUELA LUIS, GOLICHER DUNCANJ, BENAYAS JOSÉMARÍAREY, GONZÁLEZ-ESPINOSA MARIO, RAMÍREZ-MARCIAL NEPTALÍ. Fragmentation, disturbance and tree diversity conservation in tropical montane forests. J Appl Ecol 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01217.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Small Mammal Responses to Silvicultural and Precipitation-Related Disturbance in Northeastern Missouri Riparian Forests. WILDLIFE SOC B 2006. [DOI: 10.2193/0091-7648(2006)34[485:smrtsa]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Abstract
The transmission of infectious diseases is an inherently ecological process involving interactions among at least two, and often many, species. Not surprisingly, then, the species diversity of ecological communities can potentially affect the prevalence of infectious diseases. Although a number of studies have now identified effects of diversity on disease prevalence, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear in many cases. Starting with simple epidemiological models, we describe a suite of mechanisms through which diversity could increase or decrease disease risk, and illustrate the potential applicability of these mechanisms for both vector-borne and non-vector-borne diseases, and for both specialist and generalist pathogens. We review examples of how these mechanisms may operate in specific disease systems. Because the effects of diversity on multi-host disease systems have been the subject of much recent research and controversy, we describe several recent efforts to delineate under what general conditions host diversity should increase or decrease disease prevalence, and illustrate these with examples. Both models and literature reviews suggest that high host diversity is more likely to decrease than increase disease risk. Reduced disease risk with increasing host diversity is especially likely when pathogen transmission is frequency-dependent, and when pathogen transmission is greater within species than between species, particularly when the most competent hosts are also relatively abundant and widespread. We conclude by identifying focal areas for future research, including (1) describing patterns of change in disease risk with changing diversity; (2) identifying the mechanisms responsible for observed changes in risk; (3) clarifying additional mechanisms in a wider range of epidemiological models; and (4) experimentally manipulating disease systems to assess the impact of proposed mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Keesing
- Department of Biology, Bard College, PO Box 5000, Annandale, NY 12504, USA
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Schulze TL, Jordan RA, Schulze CJ. Host associations of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in residential and natural settings in a Lyme disease-endemic area in New Jersey. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2005; 42:966-73. [PMID: 16465736 DOI: 10.1093/jmedent/42.6.966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
We live-trapped small mammals and flagged vegetation within wooded natural and residential landscapes to examine how any observed differences in small mammal species composition may influence Ixodes scapularis Say burdens and the abundance of host-seeking ticks. Two years of live trapping showed that Eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus, were captured with significantly greater frequency in some residential areas than white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus, whereas the proportion of white-footed mouse captures was higher or similar to chipmunk captures in the undeveloped natural areas. Both mice and chipmunks seemed to adapt well to managed residential landscapes, with residential sites yielding similar or significantly greater numbers of captures compared with undeveloped sites. In areas where chipmunk captures outnumbered mice, larval tick burdens on mice were either higher or no different than in areas where few or no chipmunks were captured, in contrast to previous studies suggesting that alternate hosts should reduce larval burdens on mice. Chipmunks apparently play an important role in the Lyme disease transmission cycle in these residential settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terry L Schulze
- Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health, New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton 08625, USA
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Densities of Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) in Farmland Woodlots Decline with Increasing Area and Isolation. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2005. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031(2005)154[0433:doects]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Effects of habitat composition on the use of resources by the red fox in a semi arid environment of North Africa. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY 2005. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2004.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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MODELING PATCH OCCUPANCY BY FOREST RODENTS: INCORPORATING DETECTABILITY AND SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION WITH HIERARCHICALLY STRUCTURED DATA. J Wildl Manage 2005. [DOI: 10.2193/0022-541x(2005)069[0933:mpobfr]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Fischer J, Lindenmayer DB. Perfectly nested or significantly nested - an important difference for conservation management. OIKOS 2005. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.13674.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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WILDER SHAWNM, ABTAHI AMIRM, MEIKLE DOUGLASB. The Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Densities of White-footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus) During the Winter. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2005. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031(2005)153[0071:teoffo]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Cook WM, Anderson RM, Schweiger EW. Is the matrix really inhospitable? Vole runway distribution in an experimentally fragmented landscape. OIKOS 2004. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2004.12761.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Distribution of Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus) in the Shawnee National Forest, Southern Illinois: Why Are They Missing from the Eastern Shawnee? AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2003. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031(2003)150[0194:doects]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Goheen JR, Swihart RK, Gehring TM, Miller MS. Forces structuring tree squirrel communities in landscapes fragmented by agriculture: species differences in perceptions of forest connectivity and carrying capacity. OIKOS 2003. [DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2003.12336.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Ostfeld RS, LoGiudice K. COMMUNITY DISASSEMBLY, BIODIVERSITY LOSS, AND THE EROSION OF AN ECOSYSTEM SERVICE. Ecology 2003. [DOI: 10.1890/02-3125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 191] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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LoGiudice K, Ostfeld RS, Schmidt KA, Keesing F. The ecology of infectious disease: effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2003; 100:567-71. [PMID: 12525705 PMCID: PMC141036 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0233733100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 683] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2002] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent to which the biodiversity and community composition of ecosystems affect their functions is an issue that grows ever more compelling as human impacts on ecosystems increase. We present evidence that supports a novel function of vertebrate biodiversity, the buffering of human risk of exposure to Lyme-disease-bearing ticks. We tested the Dilution Effect model, which predicts that high species diversity in the community of tick hosts reduces vector infection prevalence by diluting the effects of the most competent disease reservoir, the ubiquitous white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). As habitats are degraded by fragmentation or other anthropogenic forces, some members of the host community disappear. Thus, species-poor communities tend to have mice, but few other hosts, whereas species-rich communities have mice, plus many other potential hosts. We demonstrate that the most common nonmouse hosts are relatively poor reservoirs for the Lyme spirochete and should reduce the prevalence of the disease by feeding, but rarely infecting, ticks. By accounting for nearly every host species' contribution to the number of larval ticks fed and infected, we show that as new host species are added to a depauperate community, the nymphal infection prevalence, a key risk factor, declines. We identify important "dilution hosts" (e.g., squirrels), characterized by high tick burdens, low reservoir competence, and high population density, as well as "rescue hosts" (e.g., shrews), which are capable of maintaining high disease risk when mouse density is low. Our study suggests that the preservation of vertebrate biodiversity and community composition can reduce the incidence of Lyme disease.
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Swihart RK, Gehring TM, Kolozsvary MB, Nupp TE. Responses of ‘resistant’ vertebrates to habitat loss and fragmentation: the importance of niche breadth and range boundaries. DIVERS DISTRIB 2002. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1472-4642.2003.00158.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 202] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Fischer J, Lindenmayer DB. Treating the nestedness temperature calculator as a “black box” can lead to false conclusions. OIKOS 2002. [DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.990121.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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Bowman J, Fahrig L. Gap crossing by chipmunks: an experimental test of landscape connectivity. CAN J ZOOL 2002. [DOI: 10.1139/z02-161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are forest specialists common to eastern North America. Numerous studies suggest that chipmunks require fencerow corridors between woodlots to maintain functional connectivity in agricultural landscapes. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a homing experiment to assess whether chipmunks would cross nonforested gaps of different sizes. Chipmunks in 11 landscapes were translocated a constant distance of 220250 m across gaps ranging in size from 0 (continuous forest) to 240 m (mostly gap). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the probability of an adult chipmunk returning to its home range was not related to the size of the gap that had to be crossed (χ2 = 0.781, n = 60, P = 0.377, ρ2 = 0.011). Chipmunks crossed the entire range of gap sizes and there was no evidence of a threshold in connectivity. These results suggest that forest woodlots may be functionally connected for chipmunks even without fencerow corridors, and that landscape configuration in the study area may not have isolating effects on chipmunk populations. More empirical studies are required to identify whether functional connectivity thresholds are present in mammal populations as theoretical studies suggest.
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CARO TM, SHARGEL JA, STONER CJ. Frequency of Medium-sized Mammal Road Kills in an Agricultural Landscape in California. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2000. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031(2000)144[0362:fomsmr]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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