scholarly journals The ecological consequences of a pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 20200641
Author(s):  
Julia C. Buck ◽  
Sara B. Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Disease Avoidance ◽  
Global Response ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Economic And Social Impacts

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered human behaviour in profound ways, prompting some to question whether the associated economic and social impacts might outweigh disease impacts. This fits into a burgeoning ecological paradigm suggesting that for both predator–prey and parasite–host interactions, non-consumptive effects (avoidance) can be orders of magnitude stronger than consumptive effects (sickness and death). Just as avoidance of predators and parasites imposes substantial costs on prey and hosts, altered behaviour to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 has impacted human fitness and wellbeing. But the effects of infectious disease avoidance do not stop there; non-consumptive effects of predators and parasites often trigger cascading indirect effects in natural systems. Similarly, shifts in human behaviour due to COVID-19 have triggered myriad indirect effects on species and the environment, which can be positive, negative or neutral. We urge researchers to recognize that the environmental impacts associated with lockdowns are indirect effects of the virus. In short, the global response to COVID-19 suggests that the non-consumptive effects of a pathogen, and resulting indirect effects, can be profound.

scholarly journals Meteorological factors against COVID-19 and the role of human mobility

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252405
Author(s):  
Olivier Damette ◽  
Clément Mathonnat ◽  
Stéphane Goutte
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Impact

In the vein of recent empirical literature, we reassessed the impact of weather factors on Covid-19 daily cases and fatalities in a panel of 37 OECD countries between 1st January and 27th July 2020. We considered five different meteorological factors. For the first time, we used a dynamic panel model and considered two different kinds of channels between climate and Covid-19 virus: direct/physical factors related to the survival and durability dynamics of the virus on surfaces and outdoors and indirect/social factors through human behaviour and individual mobility, such as walking or driving outdoors, to capture the impact of weather on social distancing and, thus, on Covid-19 cases and fatalities. Our work revealed that temperature, humidity and solar radiation, which has been clearly under considered in previous studies, significantly reduce the number of Covid-19 cases and fatalities. Indirect effects through human behaviour, i.e., correlations between temperature (or solar radiation) and human mobility, were significantly positive and should be considered to correctly assess the effects of climatic factors. Increasing temperature, humidity or solar radiation effects were positively correlated with increasing mobility effects on Covid-19 cases and fatalities. The net effect from weather on the Covid-19 outbreak will, thus, be the result of the physical/direct negative effect of temperature or solar radiation and the mobility/indirect positive effect due to the interaction between human mobility and those meterological variables. Reducing direct effects of temperature and solar radiation on Covid-19 cases and fatalities, when they were significant, were partly and slightly compensated for positive indirect effects through human mobility. Suitable control policies should be implemented to control mobility and social distancing even when the weather is favourable to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

scholarly journals Human factors in emerging infectious diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott B. Halstead
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Emerging Infectious Disease ◽  
Emerging Disease ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Microbial World ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Methods Of Control

When the underlying causes and mechanisms of emerging infectious disease problems are studied carefully, human behaviour is often involved. Even more often, the only methods of control or prevention available are to change human behaviour. Several major recent emerging disease problems can be cited. It is sometimes emphasized that it is human carelessness, human excesses, human ignorance or human habits of conquest or leisure which contribute directly to the biological niches that microorganisms are all too capable of exploiting. We must look at ourselves as the engines of microbial opportunism. It is not likely that we will ever conquer the microbial world;we must look instead to control the human factors that contribute to emergence.

17. The Environmental Policy of Windmills on Amherst and Wolfe Island and Their Indirect Impact on the Environment

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Mardon ◽  
Jessica Stepic ◽  
Andrew Weatherhead ◽  
Michael Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Mosquito Population ◽  
Island Conservation ◽  
The People ◽  
Indirect Impact ◽  
Source Of Information

The objective of our project is to look at the indirect effects of windmills on Wolfe and Amherst Island on native wildlife as well as a focus on the environmental policy around windmills. The indirect effects of windmills would include topics such as changed species behavior in response to windmills and potential changes in the ecosystem as a response to dead birds/bats (i.e. has there been a surge in mosquito population with less bats around). The policy section would include topics such as assessing windmill related mortalities in ways that underestimate the environmental impact or people assessing the potential environmental impacts of building windmills at times diversity/activity of the native ecosystem is not well represented. We will be in contact with people from the Amherst Island conservation group as a source of information and for potential volunteering opportunities. We will also be going to Wolfe/Amherst Island to talk to the people there about the windmills as well as observing the windmills up close. The goal of this study would be to inform people about the problem with the windmills as well as to identify some issues with how people are currently assessing the environmental impacts of windmills.

Comparing the Indirect Effects between Exploiters in Predator-Prey and Host-Pathogen Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 196 (6) ◽  
pp. E144-E159
Author(s):  
Michael H. Cortez ◽  
Meghan A. Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Host Pathogen

scholarly journals Plasminogen Binding Proteins and Plasmin Generation on the Surface ofLeptospiraspp.: The Contribution to the Bacteria-Host Interactions

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica L. Vieira ◽  
Marina V. Atzingen ◽  
Rosane Oliveira ◽  
Renata S. Mendes ◽  
Renan F. Domingos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Immune Evasion ◽  
Host Tissue ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Tissue Penetration ◽  
Bacterial Surface ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Evasion Strategy ◽  
Immune Attack ◽  
Human Plasminogen

Leptospirosis is considered a neglected infectious disease of human and veterinary concern. Although extensive investigations on host-pathogen interactions have been pursued by several research groups, mechanisms of infection, invasion and persistence of pathogenicLeptospiraspp. remain to be elucidated. We have reported the ability of leptospires to bind human plasminogen (PLG) and to generate enzimatically active plasmin (PLA) on the bacteria surface. PLA-coatedLeptospiracan degrade immobilized ECM molecules, an activity with implications in host tissue penetration. Moreover, we have identified and characterized several proteins that may act as PLG-binding receptors, each of them competent to generate active plasmin. The PLA activity associated to the outer surface ofLeptospiracould hamper the host immune attack by conferring the bacteria some benefit during infection. The PLA-coated leptospires obstruct complement C3b and IgG depositions on the bacterial surface, most probably through degradation. The decrease of leptospiral opsonization might be an important aspect of the immune evasion strategy. We believe that the presence of PLA on the leptospiral surface may (i) facilitate host tissue penetration, (ii) help the bacteria to evade the immune system and, as a consequence, (iii) permitLeptospirato reach secondary sites of infection.

The direct and indirect effects of temperature on a predator–prey relationship

2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 1834-1841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T Anderson ◽  
Joseph M Kiesecker ◽  
Douglas P Chivers ◽  
Andrew R Blaustein
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Prey Mass ◽  
Effects Of Temperature ◽  
Logistic Regression Equation ◽  
Probability Of Capture

Abiotic factors may directly influence community structure by influencing biotic interactions. In aquatic systems, where gape-limited predators are common, abiotic factors that influence organisms' growth rates potentially mediate predator–prey interactions indirectly through effects on prey size. We tested the hypothesis that temperature influences interactions between aquatic size-limited insect predators (Notonecta kirbyi) and their larval anuran prey (Hyla regilla) beyond its indirect effect on prey size. Notonecta kirbyi and H. regilla were raised and tested in predator–prey trials at one of three experimentally maintained temperatures, 9.9, 20.7, or 25.7°C. Temperature strongly influenced anuran growth and predator success; mean tadpole mass over time was positively related to temperature, while the number of prey caught was negatively related. At higher temperatures tadpoles attained greater mass more quickly, allowing them to avoid capture by notonectids. However, the probability of capture is a function of both mass and temperature; temperature was a significant explanatory variable in a logistic regression equation predicting prey capture. For a given prey mass, tadpoles raised in warmer water experienced a higher probability of capture by notonectids. Thus, rather than being static, prey size refugia are influenced directly by abiotic factors, in this case temperature. This suggests that temperature exerts differential effects on notonectid and larval anurans, leading to differences in the probability of prey capture for a given prey mass. Therefore, temperature can influence predator–prey interactions via indirect effects on prey size and direct effects on prey.

scholarly journals Predator–Prey model with Holling response function of type II and SIS infectious disease

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 4825-4841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Jules Tewa ◽  
Valaire Yatat Djeumen ◽  
Samuel Bowong
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Response Function ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Predator Prey Model ◽  
Prey Model

scholarly journals Proactive strategies to avoid infectious disease

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1583) ◽  
pp. 3361-3363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Stevenson ◽  
Trevor I. Case ◽  
Megan J. Oaten
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Immune Responses ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Healthy Individuals ◽  
Disease Avoidance ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Shaping Process ◽  
Treatment Of Infection ◽  
Selection Of

Infectious disease exerts a large selective pressure on all organisms. One response to this has been for animals to evolve energetically costly immune systems to counter infection, while another—the focus of this theme issue—has been the evolution of proactive strategies primarily to avoid infection. These strategies can be grouped into three types, all of which demonstrate varying levels of interaction with the immune system. The first concerns maternal strategies that function to promote the immunocompetence of their offspring. The second type of strategy influences mate selection, guiding the selection of a healthy mate and one who differs maximally from the self in their complement of antigen-coding genes. The third strategy involves two classes of behaviour. One relates to the capacity of the organisms to learn associations between cues indicative of pathogen threat and immune responses. The other relates to prevention and even treatment of infection through behaviours such as avoidance, grooming, quarantine, medicine and care of the sick. In humans, disease avoidance is based upon cognition and especially the emotion of disgust. Human disease avoidance is not without its costs. There is a propensity to reject healthy individuals who just appear sick—stigmatization—and the system may malfunction, resulting in various forms of psychopathology. Pathogen threat also appears to have been a highly significant and unrecognized force in shaping human culture so as to minimize infection threats. This cultural shaping process—moralization—can be co-opted to promote human health.

scholarly journals Predator-prey nutrient competition undermines predator coexistence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Klauschies ◽  
Ursula Gaedke
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Limitation ◽  
Uptake Rate ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Logistic Growth ◽  
Nutrient Competition ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Prey System ◽  
Flow Through

AbstractContemporary theory of predator coexistence through relative non-linearity in their functional responses strongly relies on the Rosenzweig-MacArthur equations (1963) in which the (autotrophic) prey exhibits logistic growth in the absence of the predators. This implies that the prey is limited by a resource which availability is independent of the predators. This assumption does not hold under nutrient limitation where both prey and predators bind resources such as nitrogen or phosphorus in their biomass. Furthermore, the prey’s resource uptake-rate is assumed to be linear and the predator-prey system is considered to be closed. All these assumptions are unrealistic for many natural systems. Here, we show that predator coexistence on a single prey is strongly hampered when the prey and predators indirectly compete for the limiting resource in a flow-through system. In contrast, a non-linear resource uptake rate of the prey slightly promotes predator coexistence. Our study highlights that predator coexistence does not only depend on differences in the curvature of their functional responses but also on the type of resource constraining the growth of their prey. This has far-reaching consequences for the relative importance of fluctuation-dependent and -independent mechanisms of species coexistence in natural systems where autotrophs experience light or nutrient limitation.

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