Humans and wildlife disease
Humans are modifying landscapes in ways that profoundly alter disease transmission. Climatic and land use changes affect animal movement, pathogen survival, and the environmental context in which hosts and pathogens interact. Biodiversity loss and defaunation lead to shifts in host communities that can also have massive impacts on pathogen transmission in variable ways. Given the pace of current global changes, it is increasingly evident that more research is needed to better understand parasite diversity and parasite responses to anthropogenic perturbations.
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Relevant Projects
Publications
- Kilpatrick, A. M., Salkeld, D. J., Titcomb, G. & Hahn, M. B. Conservation of biodiversity as a strategy for improving human health and well-being. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London B Biol. Sci. 372, (2017). pdf.
- Weinstein, S., Titcomb, G., Agwanda, B., Riginos, C. & Young, H. Parasite responses to large mammal loss in an African savanna. Ecology 98, (2017). pdf
- Titcomb, G.; Allen, B; Ainsworth, T; Henson, L; Hedlund, T; Pringle, R; Palmer, T; Njoroge, L; Campana, M; Fleischer, R; Mantas, J; Young, H. Interacting effects of wildlife loss and climate on ticks and tick-borne disease. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 284, 20170475 (2017). pdf
- Titcomb, G., Pringle, R. M., Palmer, T. M. & Young, H. S. What explains tick proliferation following large-herbivore exclusion? Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 285, (2018). pdf
- Buck, J.C.; Weinstein, S.B.; Titcomb, G.; Young, H.S. Conservation implications of disease control. Front. Ecol. Environ. 18, 329–334 (2020). pdf
- Titcomb, G. (2021) Climate-driven livestock management shifts and tick populations, in Nuttall, P. (ed.) Climate, Ticks, and Disease. CABI Publishing (2021). pdf
We are also broadly interested in the effects of anthropologic change on communities, from global migrants to sessile plants:
- Hardesty-Moore, M; Deinet, S; Freeman, R; Titcomb, G; Dillon, E; Stears, K; Klope, M; Bui, A; Orr, D; Young, HS; Miller-ter Kuile, A; Hughey, L; McCauley, DJ. Migration in the Anthropocene: how collective navigation, environmental system and taxonomy shape the vulnerability of migratory species. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 373, 20170017 (2018). pdf
- Titcomb, G, Amooni, G., Mantas, J.N., Young, H.S. Savanna plant community responses to herbivore aggregation at water sources vary across abiotic gradients. Ecological Applications. 31 (7), e02422 (2021) (Cover article). pdf