Biodiversity and the Dilution Effect in Disease Ecology

Schmidt, Kenneth A.; Ostfeld, Richard S.

doi:10.2307/2680183

Cited by 180 publications

(242 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

233

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Third, reduced biodiversity of urban wildlife can influence the transmission of some vector-borne diseases through a process termed the 'dilution effect' [17][18][19]. Here, high host species richness can lower parasite transmission if vectors feed on multiple host species varying in competence with respect to contracting, amplifying and transmitting the pathogen.…”

Section: Wildlife Communities In Urban Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization and the ecology of wildlife diseases

Bradley

Altizer

2007

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

684

540

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urbanization is intensifying worldwide, with two-thirds of the human population expected to reside in cities within 30 years. The role of cities in human infectious disease is well established, but less is known about how urban landscapes influence wildlife-pathogen interactions. Here, we draw on recent advances in wildlife epidemiology to consider how environmental changes linked with urbanization can alter the biology of hosts, pathogens and vectors. Although urbanization reduces the abundance of many wildlife parasites, transmission can, in some cases, increase among urban-adapted hosts, with effects on rarer wildlife or those living beyond city limits. Continued rapid urbanization, together with risks posed by multi-host pathogens for humans and vulnerable wildlife populations, emphasize the need for future research on wildlife diseases in urban landscapes.

show abstract

Section: Wildlife Communities In Urban Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization and the ecology of wildlife diseases

Bradley

Altizer

2007

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

684

540

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Current declines in biodiversity are at the root of a renewed interest on the relationship between biodiversity and disease emergence [14 ]. For multi-host pathogens, heterogeneity in the ability of the pathogen to infect and multiply in different hosts has been shown to either reduce ('dilution effect' [30]) or increase ('amplification effect' [31]) the overall prevalence of infection in diverse host communities. The 'dilution effect' and 'amplification effect' represent extremes of a continuum based on the degree of host specialization by the pathogen.…”

Section: The Relationships Between Biodiversity and Infection Risksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem simplification, biodiversity loss and plant virus emergence

Roossinck

García‐Arenal

2015

Current Opinion in Virology

125

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Plant viruses can emerge into crops from wild plant hosts, or conversely from domestic (crop) plants into wild hosts. Changes in ecosystems, including loss of biodiversity and increases in managed croplands, can impact the emergence of plant virus disease. Although data are limited, in general the loss of biodiversity is thought to contribute to disease emergence. More in-depth studies have been done for human viruses, but studies with plant viruses suggest similar patterns, and indicate that simplification of ecosystems through increased human management may increase the emergence of viral diseases in crops.

show abstract

“…3). Ostfeld et al [22][23][24]26] have called this phenomenon the ''dilution effect'' in reference to the process of deviation to which is subjected the pathogen in communities which are rich in reservoir species and a significant proportion of which are less or not susceptible to infection.…”

Section: [ ( ) T D $ F I G ]mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the vector species community also plays an important part in disease transmission. The dilution effect has been most thoroughly studied in vector-borne diseases, especially Lyme disease, which, in the USA, is transmitted by a single tick species, I. scapularis [22,23,26]. This, therefore, might not be representative of the many indirectly transmitted zoonotic pathogens for which several vector species may be more or less competent in disease transmission.…”

Section: [ ( ) T D $ F I G ]mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem dynamics, biological diversity and emerging infectious diseases

Roche

Guégan

2011

Comptes Rendus. Biologies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we summarize the major scientific developments of the last decade on the transmission of infectious agents in multi-host systems. Almost sixty percent of the pathogens that have emerged in humans during the last 30-40 years are of animal origin and about sixty percent of them show an important variety of host species besides humans (3 or more possible host species). In this review, we focus on zoonotic infections with vector-borne transmission and dissect the contrasting effects that a multiplicity of host reservoirs and vectors can have on their disease dynamics. We discuss the effects exerted by host and vector species richness and composition on pathogen prevalence (i.e., reduction, including the dilution effect, or amplification). We emphasize that, in multiple host systems and for vector-borne zoonotic pathogens, host reservoir species and vector species can exert contrasting effect locally. The outcome on disease dynamics (reduced pathogen prevalence in vectors when the host reservoir species is rich and increased pathogen prevalence when the vector species richness increases) may be highly heterogeneous in both space and time. We then ask briefly how a shift towards a more systemic perspective in the study of emerging infectious diseases, which are driven by a multiplicity of hosts, may stimulate further research developments. Finally, we propose some research avenues that take better into account the multi-host species reality in the transmission of the most important emerging infectious diseases, and, particularly, suggest, as a possible orientation, the careful assessment of the life-history characteristics of hosts and vectors in a community ecology-based perspective.

show abstract

Biodiversity and the Dilution Effect in Disease Ecology

Cited by 180 publications

References 0 publications

Urbanization and the ecology of wildlife diseases

Urbanization and the ecology of wildlife diseases

Ecosystem simplification, biodiversity loss and plant virus emergence

Ecosystem dynamics, biological diversity and emerging infectious diseases

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About