Evaluating Spatial Overlap and Relatedness of White-tailed Deer in a Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone

Magle, Seth B.; Samuel, Michael D.; Deelen, Timothy R. Van; Robinson, Stacie J.; Mathews, Nancy E.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0056568

Cited by 19 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…does and fawns), often show a strong association between genetic and spatial distances (e.g. [82]). Although the spatial genetic structure of mule deer is driven by female philopatry and dispersal of males at large spatial scales [47], our data suggest that even at small scales, adults tend to mix freely, suggesting that disease in adults would spread beyond family groups as it should be transmitted similarly among related and unrelated individuals [20, 88].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mule deer spatial association patterns and potential implications for transmission of an epizootic disease

et al. 2017

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Animal social behaviour can have important effects on the long-term dynamics of diseases. In particular, preferential spatial relationships between individuals can lead to differences in the rates of disease spread within a population. We examined the concurrent influence of genetic relatedness, sex, age, home range overlap, time of year, and prion disease status on proximal associations of adult Rocky Mountain mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) in a chronic wasting disease endemic area. We also quantified the temporal stability of these associations across different sex, age, and disease status classes. We used three years of high frequency telemetry data from 74 individuals to record encounters within 25 m of each other, and to calculate seasonal home range overlap measured by volume of intersection (VI). The strength of pairwise spatial association between adult mule deer was independent of genetic relatedness, age and disease status. Seasonal variation in association strength was not consistent across years, perhaps due to annual changes in weather conditions. The influence of home range overlap on association strength varied seasonally, whereby associations were stronger in pre-rut and fawning than in the rest of the seasons. The sexes of individuals also interacted with both VI and season. At increasing levels of VI, associations were stronger between females than between males and between females and males. The strongest associations in pre-rut were between males, while the strongest in rut were between females and males. The temporal stability of associations was markedly dependant on the sex and the diagnosis of the associating pair. Our findings highlight the importance of considering concurrent effects of biological and environmental factors when seeking to understand the role of social preference in behavioural ecology and disease spread. Applying this knowledge in epidemiological modelling will shed light on the dynamics of disease transmission among mule deer.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mule deer spatial association patterns and potential implications for transmission of an epizootic disease

et al. 2017

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“…Observations of animals in the same area and simultaneous GPS relocations have been used to compare within-and between-group contact rates (Kjaer et al 2008;Magle et al 2013), assuming a specified level of proximity is an indicator of potential contact regardless of group membership. Our findings strongly question that assumption by showing that the same degree of proximity led to less probability of close contact for neighboring groups than for deer in the same group or more distant groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Magle et al (2013) observed that female dyads with high space-use overlap tended to be closely related. Schauber et al (2015) found that direct contact (simultaneous locations in close proximity) rates of females and juveniles were much higher within than between groups, even after accounting for shared space-use, and Walrath et al (2011), using PLs, showed that penned deer contacted close relatives with greater frequency and duration than unrelated deer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In particular, intragroup and intergroup characteristics, such as sex, age, and patterns of space-use, can influence contact rates (Altizer et al 2003;Magle et al 2013). Such social structuring of contacts can reduce how many individuals each host contacts, thereby impeding pathogen transmission and establishment relative to the same mean contact rate in a well-mixed population (Keeling 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Combining Proximity Loggers and GPS Reveals Female White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Avoiding Close Contact With Neighbors

Tosa

Schauber

Nielsen

2015

Journal of Wildlife Diseases

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ABSTRACT:Social interactions can influence infectious disease dynamics, particularly for directly transmitted pathogens. Therefore, reliable information on contact frequency within and among groups can better inform disease modeling and management. We compared three methods of assessing contact patterns: (1) space-use overlap (volume of interaction [VI]), (2) direct contact rates measured by simultaneous global positioning system (GPS) locations (,10 m apart), and (3) direct contact rates measured by proximity loggers (PLs; 1-m detection) among female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We calculated the PL:GPS contact ratios to see whether both devices reveal similar contact patterns and thus predict similar pathogen transmission patterns. Contact rates measured by GPS and PLs were similarly high for two within-group dyads (pairs of deer in the same social groups). Dyads representing separate but neighboring groups (high VI) had PL:GPS contact ratios near zero, whereas dyads further apart (intermediate VI) had higher PL:GPS contact ratios. Social networks based on PL contacts showed the fewest connected individuals and lowest mean centrality measures; network metrics were intermediate when based on GPS contacts and greatest when based on VI. Thus, the VI network portrayed animals to be more uniformly and strongly connected than did the PL network. We conclude that simultaneous GPS locations, compared with PLs, substantially underestimate the impact of group membership on direct contact rates of female deer and make networks appear more connected. We also present evidence that deer coming within the general vicinity of each other are less likely to come in close contact if they are in neighboring social groups than deer whose home ranges overlap little if at all. Combined, these results provide evidence that direct transmission of disease agents among female and juvenile white-tailed deer is likely to be constrained both spatially and by social structure, more so than GPS data alone would suggest.

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“…The hypothesis of FD transmission in deer is largely based on the assumption that female matrilineal social structure and site-fidelity limits infectious contact between female social groups [5], [26], [27]; a finding corroborated by Grear et al [28]. Schauber and Woolf [6] challenged this notion on the grounds of insufficient empirical support and encouraged modeling CWD under a broader transmission framework.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer: Implications for Disease Spread and Management

et al. 2014

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Few studies have evaluated the rate of infection or mode of transmission for wildlife diseases, and the implications of alternative management strategies. We used hunter harvest data from 2002 to 2013 to investigate chronic wasting disease (CWD) infection rate and transmission modes, and address how alternative management approaches affect disease dynamics in a Wisconsin white-tailed deer population. Uncertainty regarding demographic impacts of CWD on cervid populations, human and domestic animal health concerns, and potential economic consequences underscore the need for strategies to control CWD distribution and prevalence. Using maximum-likelihood methods to evaluate alternative multi-state deterministic models of CWD transmission, harvest data strongly supports a frequency-dependent transmission structure with sex-specific infection rates that are two times higher in males than females. As transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are an important and difficult-to-study class of diseases with major economic and ecological implications, our work supports the hypothesis of frequency-dependent transmission in wild deer at a broad spatial scale and indicates that effective harvest management can be implemented to control CWD prevalence. Specifically, we show that harvest focused on the greater-affected sex (males) can result in stable population dynamics and control of CWD within the next 50 years, given the constraints of the model. We also provide a quantitative estimate of geographic disease spread in southern Wisconsin, validating qualitative assessments that CWD spreads relatively slowly. Given increased discovery and distribution of CWD throughout North America, insights from our study are valuable to management agencies and to the general public concerned about the impacts of CWD on white-tailed deer populations.

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Evaluating Spatial Overlap and Relatedness of White-tailed Deer in a Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone

Cited by 19 publications

References 44 publications

Mule deer spatial association patterns and potential implications for transmission of an epizootic disease

Mule deer spatial association patterns and potential implications for transmission of an epizootic disease

Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Combining Proximity Loggers and GPS Reveals Female White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Avoiding Close Contact With Neighbors

Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in Wisconsin White-Tailed Deer: Implications for Disease Spread and Management

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