Land Use Change and Infection Dynamics in a Multi-Host Helminth

Why severe outbreaks occur in some populations and not others, remains an enduring ecological and evolutionary puzzle. When outbreaks of pests or parasites (re)emerge suddenly, climate and land use change are often suspected as underlying causes, especially in aquatic systems. Yet, causally linking specific environmental changes to the dynamics of pests and parasites remains challenging because these organisms are embedded in complex ecosystems with multiple, interconnected drivers that often have nonlinear effects. How do we pinpoint the causes of dynamical shifts in the abundance and incidence of pests and pestilence? How do we accurately predict the effects of global change on future outbreaks? Here, we combine field surveys and structural equation models to understand the relative contributions of endogenous (species diversity, abundance) and exogenous (land use) factors on parasite outbreaks. Our goal is to develop a framework that links across multiple scales of biological organization to provide a mechanistic understanding of the consequences of land use decisions on parasite outbreaks affecting aquatic systems. 

Primary Presenter: Ipsita Srinivas, University of Wisconsin-Madison (isrinivas@wisc.edu)

Authors:

Ipsita Srinivas, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (isrinivas@wisc.edu)

Chloé Fouilloux, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (fouilloux@wisc.edu)

Eric Neeno-Eckwall, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (ecneenoeckwa@wisc.edu)

John Berini, Carleton College  (jberini@carleton.edu)

Heather Alexander, University of Connecticut  (hjalexand@gmail.com)

Daniel Bolnick, University of Connecticut  (daniel.bolnick@uconn.edu)

Amanda Hund, Carleton College  (ahund@carleton.edu)

Jessica Hite, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (jhite2@wisc.edu)