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Concurrent dilution and amplification effects in an intraguild predation eco-epidemiological model
Enith A Gómez-Hernández1, Felipe N Moreno-Gómez2, Moisés Bravo-Gaete3
1Doctorado en Modelamiento Matemático Aplicado, Universidad Católica del Maule, Talca, Chile. eamandagh@gmail.com.
Scientific Reports
|April 20, 2023
Summary
Interspecific interactions like predation and competition can lead to both dilution and amplification effects in zoonotic diseases. Predation impacts disease transmission differently for predators and prey, while competition consistently reduces infection rates.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Epidemiology
- Disease Ecology
Background:
- Zoonotic diseases are influenced by species diversity, with dilution and amplification effects predicting opposing trends in pathogen prevalence.
- Interspecific interactions, including predation and competition, play a crucial role in shaping disease transmission dynamics within ecological communities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the conditions under which dilution and amplification effects emerge in zoonotic disease systems.
- To model the influence of ecological interactions, specifically intraguild predation and competition, on disease transmission and prevalence.
Main Methods:
- Development of compartmental models integrating ecological and epidemiological processes.
- Formulation of an intraguild predation model with susceptible and infected compartments for each species.
- Analysis of how predation and competition affect disease transmission potential and host densities.
Main Results:
- Increased predation enhances predator disease transmission and infected density but reduces prey transmission and density.
- Interspecific competition consistently decreases the number of infected individuals across both species.
- Dilution and amplification effects can coexist, contingent on the specific ecological interactions present.
Conclusions:
- Ecological interactions significantly modulate zoonotic disease dynamics, leading to complex outcomes.
- Predation has differential effects on predator and prey disease dynamics, while competition acts as a general suppressive force on infections.
- The interplay between ecological structure and disease transmission is critical for understanding and managing zoonotic diseases.
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