Demographic buffering and compensatory recruitment promotes the persistence of disease in a wildlife population.
Ecol Lett
; 19(4): 443-9, 2016 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-26868206
ABSTRACT
Demographic buffering allows populations to persist by compensating for fluctuations in vital rates, including disease-induced mortality. Using long-term data on a badger (Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758) population naturally infected with Mycobacterium bovis, we built an integrated population model to quantify impacts of disease, density and environmental drivers on survival and recruitment. Badgers exhibit a slow life-history strategy, having high rates of adult survival with low variance, and low but variable rates of recruitment. Recruitment exhibited strong negative density-dependence, but was not influenced by disease, while adult survival was density independent but declined with increasing prevalence of diseased individuals. Given that reproductive success is not depressed by disease prevalence, density-dependent recruitment of cubs is likely to compensate for disease-induced mortality. This combination of slow life history and compensatory recruitment promotes the persistence of a naturally infected badger population and helps to explain the badger's role as a persistent reservoir of M. bovis.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Tuberculose
/
Mustelidae
/
Animais Selvagens
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2016
Tipo de documento:
Article