Variation in host home range decreases rabies vaccination effectiveness by increasing the spatial spread of rabies

ABSTRACTAnimal movement influences the spatial spread of wildlife infectious diseases through host-host contact structure and hence pathogen transmission. Wildlife disease hosts vary in characteristics related to pathogen transmission, which can increase the spread and intensity of disease outbreaks. The consequences of home range size variation on wildlife disease dynamics are poorly understood, but could help to predict disease spread and determine more effective disease management strategies.We developed a spatially-explicit individual-based model to examine the effect of variation in host home range size on the spatial spread rate, persistence, and incidence of rabies virus (RABV) in raccoons (Procyon lotor). We tested the hypothesis that host home range area variation decreases vaccination effectiveness in wildlife host populations following pathogen invasion into a vaccination zone.We simulated raccoon demography and RABV dynamics across a range of magnitudes and variances in weekly home range radius distributions for raccoons, and compared results to conditions that assumed a fixed host home range area. We examined how variable host home range radius distributions influenced the relative effectiveness of three components of orally-baited raccoon RABV vaccination (ORV) programs—timing and frequency of bait delivery, width of the zone where ORV baits were delivered, and proportion of hosts immunized.Variability in home range radius distributions increased RABV spread rates by 1.2 - 5.2-fold compared to simulations with fixed radii. More variable host home range radius distributions decreased relative vaccination effectiveness by 71% compared to less variable host home range radius distributions under conventional vaccination conditions. We found that vaccination timing was more influential for vaccination effectiveness than vaccination frequency or vaccination zone width.Our results suggest that variation in wildlife home range exploration increases the spatial spread and incidence of wildlife disease. Our vaccination results underscore the importance of prioritizing individual-level space use data collection to understand the dynamics of wildlife diseases and plan their effective control and elimination.

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Secondhand homes: Woodpecker cavity location and structure influences secondary nester’s success

10.1101/2020.09.11.293860 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Faith O. Hardin ◽

Samantha Leivers ◽

Jacquelyn K. Grace ◽

David M. Cairns ◽

Tyler Campbell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Nest Success ◽

Model Averaging ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Nesting Success ◽

Range Size ◽

List Type ◽

Site Location ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Naturally Occurring

AbstractUnderstanding how ecosystem engineers influence other organisms has long been a goal of ecologists. Woodpeckers select nesting sites with high food availability and will excavate and then abandon multiple cavities through their lifetime. These cavities are crucial to secondary cavity nesting birds (SCB) that are otherwise limited by the availability of naturally occurring cavities.Our study examined the role food resources have on the nest site location and home range size of woodpeckers, and the respective influence woodpeckers and the construction of cavities have on the nesting success of SCB.Using five years of avian point count data to locate golden-fronted woodpeckers (GFWO: Melanerpes aurifrons), we correlated insect availability with GFWO home range size and determined differences in insect availability between GFWO occupied and unoccupied sites, while recording nesting success (success: ≥ 1 fledgling) for the GFWO and common SCB in south Texas: Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus), Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), Brown-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus tyrannulus), and Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii). We used model averaging to fit species-specific logistic regression models to predict nest success based on cavity metrics across all species.Sites occupied by GFWO had a higher biomass of insects in orders Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Orthoptera than unoccupied sites, and there was a negative correlation between the availability of these insect orders and home-range size. GFWO had increased nest success in trees with increased vegetation cover and lower levels of decay, whileSCB had higher levels of nesting success in abandoned GFWO cavities opposed to naturally occurring ones, and in trees with low decay.Our results suggest that SCB may be drawn to nest in abandoned woodpecker cavities where they have higher rates of nest success compared to natural cavities. Additionally, the prevalence for GFWO to excavate cavities in trees with lower levels of decay contradicts previous literature and may indicate a novel temperature trade-off, with live trees requiring more energy to excavate, but providing more protection from high breeding season temperatures in arid and semi-arid areas.

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Variation in host home range size decreases rabies vaccination effectiveness by increasing the spatial spread of rabies virus

Journal of Animal Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2656.13176 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 89 (6) ◽

pp. 1375-1386 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katherine M. McClure ◽

Amy T. Gilbert ◽

Richard B. Chipman ◽

Erin E. Rees ◽

Kim M. Pepin

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Rabies Virus ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Spatial Spread ◽

Rabies Vaccination

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Home range size, utilization and spatial organization of Pine Martens in Bial'owieza National Park, Poland

Mammal Review ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2907.2000.0075l.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 30 (3-4) ◽

pp. 232-232

Author(s):

A. Zalewski ◽

W. Jedrzejewski

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

National Park ◽

Spatial Organization ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Pine Martens

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Foraging Habitat, Home-Range Size and Diet of a Mediterranean Bat Species, Savi's Pipistrelle

Acta Chiropterologica ◽

10.3161/15081109acc2018.20.2.007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 351

Author(s):

Marina Kipson ◽

Martin Šálek ◽

Radek Lučan ◽

Marcel Uhrin ◽

Edita Maxinová ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Foraging Habitat

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Green morays (Gymnothorax funebris) have sedentary ways in mangrove bays, but also ontogenetic forays to reef enclaves

Environmental Biology of Fishes ◽

10.1007/s10641-021-01137-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew S. Kendall ◽

Laughlin Siceloff ◽

Ashley Ruffo ◽

Arliss Winship ◽

Mark E. Monaco

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Caribbean Region ◽

History Of ◽

High Site ◽

Single Night ◽

Exploratory Movements ◽

Moray Eel

AbstractSurprisingly, little is known about basic life history of the largest moray eel species in the Caribbean region, the green moray eel (Gymnothorax funebris). Sixteen eels were captured from the mangrove fringe in multiple bays on St. Croix, USVI, implanted with coded acoustic transmitters, and their movements were tracked for up to 11 months using an array of 37 stationary acoustic receivers. They exhibited high site fidelity in the bays during their residence, using the same general parts of individual bays and did not switch bays except for one individual. There was no relationship between eel size (mean TL = 83 cm, range = 54–126 cm) and home range size (mean area of 95% KUD = 5.8 ha ± 0.7 SE). Most individuals were more frequently detected at night than during the day suggesting greater nocturnal activity. Several of the larger eels (mean TL = 93 cm ± 5.9 SE) showed clear and permanent emigration tracks out of the mangrove estuary to coral reef habitats offshore. For some individuals, these habitat shifts were preceded by exploratory movements away from the eel’s typical home range the night before emigration. All final emigration events took place nocturnally, happened during a single night, and occurred during months from December to May. Mean emigration speed was 3.4 km/h. This study is the first documentation of an ontogenetic habitat shift in moray eels, as well as the first determination of home range size for this species and their site fidelity in mangrove habitats.

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