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Disease hazard identification and assessment associated with wildlife population declines
Author(s) -
Pacioni Carlo,
Eden Paul,
Reiss Andrea,
Ellis Trevor,
Knowles Graeme,
Wayne Adrian F.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
ecological management and restoration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.472
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1442-8903
pISSN - 1442-7001
DOI - 10.1111/emr.12155
Subject(s) - wildlife , wildlife disease , disease , population , biology , risk assessment , epidemiology , geography , environmental health , ecology , medicine , computer security , pathology , computer science
Summary Disease is increasingly being recognised as a risk factor in declining wildlife populations around the globe. However, there are limited protocols to assess disease risks in declining wildlife. Using epidemiological principles, we define a step‐by‐step framework to complete this complex and critical task. As an example, we assessed the potential role of diseases in relation to the decline of the woylie or brush‐tailed bettong ( B ettongia penicillata ogilbyi) in W estern A ustralia. Between 1999 and 2006, woylie populations declined by 90%. The wildlife disease risk assessment began with a list of all known or suspected diseases to which the woylie, a species of macropod, is susceptible. This list was assessed against the spatial, temporal and demographic characteristics of the decline. Diseases causing widespread and high mortalities or debilitation leading to predation received high scores. Based on this assessment, priority diseases or pathogens for investigation identified were haemoparasites, gastrointestinal helminths, N eospora caninum , T oxoplasmosis ( T oxoplasma gondii ), E ncephalomyocarditis virus , M acropod O rbiviruses ( W allal virus and W arrego virus ), M acropod H erpesviruses ( M acropodid herpesvirus 1 and 2 ) and S almonella spp.