Host susceptibility to snake fungal disease is highly dispersed across phylogenetic and functional trait space

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) reduce host population sizes, cause extinction, disassemble communities, and have indirect negative effects on human well-being. Fungal EIDs have reduced population abundances in amphibians and bats across many species over large areas. The recent emergence of sna...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience advances Vol. 3; no. 12; p. e1701387
Main Authors Burbrink, Frank T, Lorch, Jeffrey M, Lips, Karen R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 01.12.2017
Subjects
Animals
Ascomycota - pathogenicity
Body Size
Clutch Size
Communicable Diseases, Emerging - microbiology
Disease Resistance - genetics
Ecology
Ecosystem
Host-Pathogen Interactions - physiology
Life Sciences
Mycoses - microbiology
Mycoses - veterinary
Neural Networks (Computer)
Phylogeny
SciAdv r-articles
Snakes - microbiology
Southeastern United States
United States
Southeastern United States
United States
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Summary:Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) reduce host population sizes, cause extinction, disassemble communities, and have indirect negative effects on human well-being. Fungal EIDs have reduced population abundances in amphibians and bats across many species over large areas. The recent emergence of snake fungal disease (SFD) may have caused declines in some snake populations in the Eastern United States (EUS), which is home to a phylogenetically and ecologically diverse assembly of 98 taxa. SFD has been documented in only 23 naturally occuring species, although this is likely an underestimate of the number of susceptible taxa. Using several novel methods, including artificial neural networks, we combine phylogenetic and trait-based community estimates from all taxa in this region to show that SFD hosts are both phylogenetically and ecologically randomly dispersed. This might indicate that other species of snakes in the EUS could be currently infected or susceptible to SFD. Our models also indicate that information about key traits that enhance susceptiblity is lacking. Surveillance should consider that all snake species and habitats likely harbor this pathogen.
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ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.1701387