Suh Daniel C, Schroeder Katie, Strauss Alexander T
Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Ecol Lett. 2025 Jun;28(6):e70151. doi: 10.1111/ele.70151.
Environmental conditions such as temperature and resource availability can shape disease transmission by altering contact rates and/or the probability of infection given contact. However, interactive effects of these factors on transmission processes remain poorly understood. We develop mechanistic models and fit them to experimental data to uncover how temperature and resources jointly affect transmission of fungal parasites (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) in zooplankton hosts (Daphnia dentifera). Model competition revealed interactive effects of temperature and resources on both contact rates (host foraging) and the probability of infection given contact (per-parasite susceptibility). Foraging rates increased with temperature and decreased with resources (via type-II functional response), but this resource effect weakened at warmer temperatures due to shorter handling times. Per-parasite susceptibility increased with resources at cooler temperatures but remained consistently high when warmer. Our analysis demonstrates that temperature and resources interact to shape transmission processes and provides a general theoretical framework for other host-parasite systems.
诸如温度和资源可用性等环境条件可通过改变接触率和/或接触时的感染概率来影响疾病传播。然而,这些因素对传播过程的交互作用仍知之甚少。我们构建了机理模型并将其与实验数据拟合,以揭示温度和资源如何共同影响浮游动物宿主(齿状溞)中真菌寄生虫(双尖梅奇酵母)的传播。模型比较揭示了温度和资源对接触率(宿主觅食)以及接触时的感染概率(每个寄生虫的易感性)的交互作用。觅食率随温度升高而增加,随资源减少(通过II型功能反应),但由于处理时间缩短,这种资源效应在较温暖的温度下会减弱。每个寄生虫的易感性在较冷的温度下随资源增加,但在较温暖时始终保持较高水平。我们的分析表明,温度和资源相互作用以影响传播过程,并为其他宿主 - 寄生虫系统提供了一个通用的理论框架。