UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Zoonotic host diversity increases in human-dominated ecosystems

Gibb, R; Redding, D; Qing Chin, K; Donnelly, C; Blackburn, T; Newbold, T; Jones, K; (2020) Zoonotic host diversity increases in human-dominated ecosystems. Nature , 584 pp. 398-402. 10.1038/s41586-020-2562-8. Green open access

[thumbnail of Gibbetal_SI_20200520.pdf]
Preview
Text
Gibbetal_SI_20200520.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (836kB) | Preview
[thumbnail of Gibbetal_MS_30062020.pdf]
Preview
Text
Gibbetal_MS_30062020.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (409kB) | Preview

Abstract

Land use change—for example, the conversion of natural habitats to agricultural or urban ecosystems—is widely recognized to influence the risk and emergence of zoonotic disease in humans1,2. However, whether such changes in risk are underpinned by predictable ecological changes remains unclear. It has been suggested that habitat disturbance might cause predictable changes in the local diversity and taxonomic composition of potential reservoir hosts, owing to systematic, trait-mediated differences in species resilience to human pressures3,4. Here we analyse 6,801 ecological assemblages and 376 host species worldwide, controlling for research effort, and show that land use has global and systematic effects on local zoonotic host communities. Known wildlife hosts of human-shared pathogens and parasites overall comprise a greater proportion of local species richness (18–72% higher) and total abundance (21–144% higher) in sites under substantial human use (secondary, agricultural and urban ecosystems) compared with nearby undisturbed habitats. The magnitude of this effect varies taxonomically and is strongest for rodent, bat and passerine bird zoonotic host species, which may be one factor that underpins the global importance of these taxa as zoonotic reservoirs. We further show that mammal species that harbour more pathogens overall (either human-shared or non-human-shared) are more likely to occur in human-managed ecosystems, suggesting that these trends may be mediated by ecological or life-history traits that influence both host status and tolerance to human disturbance5,6. Our results suggest that global changes in the mode and the intensity of land use are creating expanding hazardous interfaces between people, livestock and wildlife reservoirs of zoonotic disease.

Type: Article
Title: Zoonotic host diversity increases in human-dominated ecosystems
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2562-8
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2562-8
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10104553
Downloads since deposit
2,135Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item