Spatial compartmentalization: A nonlethal predator mechanism to reduce parasite transmission between prey species
Luiz Gustavo Rodrigues Oliveira‐Santos, Seth A. Moore, William J. Severud, James D. Forester, Edmund J. Isaac, Yvette Chenaux‐Ibrahim, Tyler J. Garwood, Luis E. Escobar, Tiffany M. Wolf
Abstract
)] presence and landscape configuration. Results revealed that spring migratory movements of cervid hosts increased parasite spillover risk from deer to moose, an effect tempered by changes in elevation, land cover, and wolf presence. Wolves induced host-species segregation, a nonlethal mechanism that modulated disease emergence by reducing spatiotemporal overlap between infected and susceptible prey, showing that wildlife disease dynamics may change with landscape disturbance and the loss of large carnivores.
Topics & Concepts
PredationOdocoileusBiologyEcologyPredatorGeneralist and specialist speciesWildlifeMetapopulationHabitatWildlife diseaseApex predatorBiological dispersalPopulationSociologyDemographyWildlife Ecology and ConservationZoonotic diseases and public healthAnimal Behavior and Welfare Studies