Research roundup: How do the marking behaviors and territory overlap of solitary animals impact disease spread?

Animals often acquire pathogens — bacteria, viruses, parasites — as they move through their environments. Researchers use computer modeling to simulate the spread of pathogens in relation to animal movement patterns and behaviors. Understanding animal host-disease relationships in a given landscape improves the management of disease, animal populations, and ecosystems. Associate Professor Meggan Craft, PhD, recently collaborated on a study led by Lauren White, PhD, postdoctoral associate at the University of Maryland, to develop a computer model to understand how territory establishment and marking behaviors of solitary animals affect the spread of disease. The researchers concluded that population density, territorial marking behaviors, and territory overlap of these animals influenced pathogen strength and prevalence. They also saw that well-defined territoriality curbed animal encounters and opportunities for disease spread. While they saw limited disease spread where home ranges did not overlap, they found that pathogens in these isolated home ranges may evolve to stay in the environment longer. And as pathogens evolve, the scientists suspect the animal hosts may subsequently develop stronger marking scents or behaviors. The team says additional studies are needed to better understand the relationship between marking behaviors in territorial host animals, the pathogens these animals carry, and the resulting disease spread in a given landscape. 

Read more in the June 11 paper published in PLOS Computational Biology.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash