Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure
A common assumption is that pathogens more readily destabilize their host populations, leading to an elevated risk of driving both the host and pathogen to extinction. This logic underlies many strategies in conservation biology and pest and disease management. Yet, the interplay between pathogens a...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AIMS Press
2023-11-01
|
| Series: | Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2023901?viewType=HTML |
| _version_ | 1797403710766186496 |
|---|---|
| author | Jessica L. Hite André M. de Roos |
| author_facet | Jessica L. Hite André M. de Roos |
| author_sort | Jessica L. Hite |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A common assumption is that pathogens more readily destabilize their host populations, leading to an elevated risk of driving both the host and pathogen to extinction. This logic underlies many strategies in conservation biology and pest and disease management. Yet, the interplay between pathogens and population stability likely varies across contexts, depending on the environment and traits of both the hosts and pathogens. This context-dependence may be particularly important in natural consumer-host populations where size- and stage-structured competition for resources strongly modulates population stability. Few studies, however, have examined how the interplay between size and stage structure and infectious disease shapes the stability of host populations. Here, we extend previously developed size-dependent theory for consumer-resource interactions to examine how pathogens influence the stability of host populations across a range of contexts. Specifically, we integrate a size- and stage-structured consumer-resource model and a standard epidemiological model of a directly transmitted pathogen. The model reveals surprisingly rich dynamics, including sustained oscillations, multiple steady states, biomass overcompensation, and hydra effects. Moreover, these results highlight how the stage structure and density of host populations interact to either enhance or constrain disease outbreaks. Our results suggest that accounting for these cross-scale and bidirectional feedbacks can provide key insight into the structuring role of pathogens in natural ecosystems while also improving our ability to understand how interventions targeting one may impact the other. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:42:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-78ec01ed0069438eb4932594ea6d8af3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1551-0018 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:42:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | AIMS Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-78ec01ed0069438eb4932594ea6d8af32023-12-06T01:23:13ZengAIMS PressMathematical Biosciences and Engineering1551-00182023-11-012012203782040410.3934/mbe.2023901Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structureJessica L. Hite0André M. de Roos11. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Madison, Wisconsin, USA2. Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USAA common assumption is that pathogens more readily destabilize their host populations, leading to an elevated risk of driving both the host and pathogen to extinction. This logic underlies many strategies in conservation biology and pest and disease management. Yet, the interplay between pathogens and population stability likely varies across contexts, depending on the environment and traits of both the hosts and pathogens. This context-dependence may be particularly important in natural consumer-host populations where size- and stage-structured competition for resources strongly modulates population stability. Few studies, however, have examined how the interplay between size and stage structure and infectious disease shapes the stability of host populations. Here, we extend previously developed size-dependent theory for consumer-resource interactions to examine how pathogens influence the stability of host populations across a range of contexts. Specifically, we integrate a size- and stage-structured consumer-resource model and a standard epidemiological model of a directly transmitted pathogen. The model reveals surprisingly rich dynamics, including sustained oscillations, multiple steady states, biomass overcompensation, and hydra effects. Moreover, these results highlight how the stage structure and density of host populations interact to either enhance or constrain disease outbreaks. Our results suggest that accounting for these cross-scale and bidirectional feedbacks can provide key insight into the structuring role of pathogens in natural ecosystems while also improving our ability to understand how interventions targeting one may impact the other.https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2023901?viewType=HTMLstage-structureeco-epidemiological feedbacksvirulenceovercompensationbistabilityhydra effect |
| spellingShingle | Jessica L. Hite André M. de Roos Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering stage-structure eco-epidemiological feedbacks virulence overcompensation bistability hydra effect |
| title | Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| title_full | Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| title_fullStr | Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| title_short | Pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| title_sort | pathogens stabilize or destabilize depending on host stage structure |
| topic | stage-structure eco-epidemiological feedbacks virulence overcompensation bistability hydra effect |
| url | https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2023901?viewType=HTML |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jessicalhite pathogensstabilizeordestabilizedependingonhoststagestructure AT andremderoos pathogensstabilizeordestabilizedependingonhoststagestructure |