Wildlife diseases: from individuals to ecosystems

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Parasitology
• Wildlife Health

Background:

• Wildlife infectious diseases are complex, operating across multiple scales from individual hosts to entire ecosystems.
• Understanding these diseases is crucial for wildlife conservation and ecosystem stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize the ecological understanding of wildlife infectious diseases.
• To identify conceptual gaps, challenges, and future research directions.
• To highlight the role of parasites in ecological processes and host populations.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of existing research on wildlife infectious diseases.
• Discussion of conceptual frameworks and empirical evidence.
• Identification of emerging molecular and immunological approaches.

Main Results:

• Molecular approaches and immunological parameters offer new insights into host-parasite interactions and disease mechanisms.
• Transmission dynamics are influenced by host heterogeneity and contact processes across spatial and temporal scales.
• Parasites significantly impact invasive species success and recipient communities, with ecosystem-level effects requiring further characterization.

Conclusions:

• Further empirical testing and theoretical development are needed, integrating cross-scale interactions to understand disease regulation, species extinction risks, and ecosystem resilience.
• A unified understanding of parasite impacts on population regulation and ecosystem health is essential.
• Future research should focus on experimental field studies, meta-analyses, long-term data, and constrained modeling.