Disease-mediated bottom-up regulation: An emergent virus affects a keystone prey, and alters the dynamics of trophic webs

Monterroso, Pedro; Garrote, Germán; Serronha, Ana; Santos, Emídio; Delibes‐Mateos, Miguel; Abrantes, Joana; Ayala, Ramón Pérez de; Silvestre, Fernando; Carvalho, João; Vasco, Inês Conde; Lopes, Ana M.; Maio, Elisa; Magalhães, Maria João; Mills, L. Scott; Esteves, Pedro J.; Simón, Miguel Ángel; Alves, Paulo C.

doi:10.1038/srep36072

Cited by 70 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(91 reference statements)

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“…These findings closely resemble the situation in Australia, where rabbit numbers were heavily suppressed by RHD between 1995 and 2002, but increased 5 − 10‐fold between 2003 and 2010 . Our findings also show that in 2013 the available online information related to rabbit damage fell sharply, which seems to be only explicable by the population crash caused by a new variant of the RHD virus . It is very likely that the decline in rabbits observed in agricultural areas resulted in reduced rabbit damage, which was reflected in the lower number of websites addressing this issue.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

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A large‐scale assessment of European rabbit damage to agriculture in Spain

Delibes‐Mateos

Farfán

Rouco

et al. 2017

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND: Numerous small and medium-sized mammal pests cause widespread and economically significant damage to crops all over the globe. However, most research on pest species has focused on accounts of the level of damage. There are fewer studies concentrating on the description of crop damage caused by pests at large geographical scales, or on analysis of the ecological and anthropogenic factors correlated with these observed patterns. We investigated the relationship between agricultural damage by the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and environmental and anthropogenic variables throughout Spain. RESULTS: Rabbit damage was mainly concentrated within the central-southern regions of Spain. We found that rabbit damage increased significantly between the early 2000s and 2013. Greater losses were typical of those areas where farming dominated and natural vegetation was scarce, where main railways and highways were present, and where environmental conditions were generally favourable for rabbit populations to proliferate.CONCLUSION: From our analysis, we suggest that roads and railway lines act as potential corridors along which rabbits can spread. The recent increase in Spain of such infrastructure may explain the rise in rabbit damage reported in this study. Our approach is valuable as a method for assessing drivers of wildlife pest damage at large spatial scales, and can be used to propose methods to reduce human − wildlife conflict.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Interestingly, the number of websites reporting rabbit damage increased considerably between 2013 and 2014 (Fig. ), which suggests that rabbit populations might have recovered at least in some agricultural areas, although in natural areas rabbit numbers were still very low …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A large‐scale assessment of European rabbit damage to agriculture in Spain

Delibes‐Mateos

Farfán

Rouco

et al. 2017

Pest Management Science

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“…However, declines across several wildcat populations in Iberia have been reported (Lozano, Virgós, Cabezas‐Díaz, & Mangas, ; Sarmento, Cruz, Eira, & Fonseca, ; Sobrino, Acevedo, Escudero, Marco, & Gortázar, ), which prompted its conservation status to “Vulnerable” in Portugal (Cabral et al., ), and “Near Threatened” in Spain (López‐Martín et al ). Moreover, the recent emergence of a new variant of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus ( Lagovirus europaeus /GI.2) is reducing the availability the European wildcats’ main prey in the Mediterranean ecosystems (Monterroso et al., ). Another threat to the conservation of European wildcats is hybridization with con‐specific domestic cats ( F. silvestris catus ), which is documented throughout Europe (Mattucci et al., ; Yamaguchi et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Females know better: Sex‐biased habitat selection by the European wildcat

Oliveira

Urra

López‐Martín

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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The interactions between animals and their environment vary across species, regions, but also with gender. Sex‐specific relations between individuals and the ecosystem may entail different behavioral choices and be expressed through different patterns of habitat use. Regardless, only rarely sex‐specific traits are addressed in ecological modeling approaches. The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a species of conservation concern in Europe, with a highly fragmented and declining distribution across most of its range. We assessed sex‐specific habitat selection patterns for the European wildcat, at the landscape and home range levels, across its Iberian biogeographic distribution using a multipopulation approach. We developed resource selection functions in a use‐availability framework using radio‐telemetry data from five wildcat populations. At the landscape level, we observed that, while both genders preferentially established home ranges in areas close to broadleaf forests and far from humanized areas, females selected mid‐range elevation areas with some topographic complexity, whereas males used lowland areas. At the home range level, both females and males selected areas dominated by scrublands or broadleaf forests, but habitat features were less important at this level. The strength of association to habitat features was higher for females at both spatial levels, suggesting a tendency to select habitats with higher quality that can grant them enhanced access to shelter and feeding resources. Based on our results, we hypothesize that sex‐biased behavioral patterns may contribute to the resilience of wildcats’ genetic integrity through influencing the directionality of hybridization with domestic cats. Our study provides information about European wildcats’ habitat use in an Iberian context, relevant for the implementation of conservation plans, and highlights the ecological relevance of considering sex‐related differences in environmental preferences.

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“…Before the emergence of the GI.2 lagovirus, free‐ranging European rabbit populations were showing a positive demographic trend, however, after the first GI.2 outbreak wild populations started to decline at a rate of c . 20% per year in Portugal and Spain (Monterroso et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The outbreaks of this new lagovirus are causing important economic losses in rabbitries (Dalton et al., ) and are affecting the conservation of rabbit‐sensitive predators due to the dramatic decline of natural populations (Delibes‐Mateos, Ferreira, Carro, Escudero, & Gortázar, ; Monterroso et al., ). An accurate understanding of the epidemiology of GI.2 is of utmost importance to inform management and conservation strategies aimed at reducing its impact on natural populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of RHDV2 (Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2) in free-living wild European rabbits in Portugal

Rouco

Abrantes

Serronha

et al. 2017

Transbound Emerg Dis

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As the detection of the first outbreak of a novel aetiological agent of rabbit haemorrhagic disease commonly called RHDV2 or RHDVb (Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2, henceforth GI.2) in France in 2010, the virus rapidly spread throughout continental Europe and nearby islands such as Great Britain, Sardinia, Sicily, the Azores and the Canary Islands among others. The outbreaks of this new lagovirus cause important economic losses in rabbitries, and ecological disruptions by affecting the conservation of rabbit-sensitive top predators. We analysed 550 rabbit carcasses collected in the field between May 2013 and March 2016, to investigate the epidemiology of GI.2 in free-living populations and to perform a comparative analysis with the epidemiology of classical rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus forms (RHDV, henceforth GI.1) in Portugal. Rabbits were sexed, aged and liver and blood samples were collected for subsequent RHDV screening and serology. A total of 172 samples were PCR-positive to GI.2, whereas GI.1 strains were not detected in any of the samples. The outbreaks of GI.2 revealed a marked seasonality, with peaks during the breeding season (November-May). We also found that approximately, one-third of free-ranging European rabbits in Portugal have seroconverted to GI.2. We demonstrate that the GI.2 lagovirus is currently widespread in wild populations in Portugal and is affecting a high proportion of adults and juveniles. Therefore, ongoing monitoring and surveillance are required to assess the effects of GI.2 on wild rabbit populations, its evolution, and to guide management actions aimed at mitigating the impacts of rabbit declines in the ecosystem and in rural economies.

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Disease-mediated bottom-up regulation: An emergent virus affects a keystone prey, and alters the dynamics of trophic webs

Cited by 70 publications

References 58 publications

A large‐scale assessment of European rabbit damage to agriculture in Spain

A large‐scale assessment of European rabbit damage to agriculture in Spain

Females know better: Sex‐biased habitat selection by the European wildcat

Epidemiology of RHDV2 (Lagovirus europaeus/GI.2) in free-living wild European rabbits in Portugal

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