Research Lucinda Kirkpatrick

Abstract

Restoring Ecosystems to Stop the Threat Of (Re-)Emerging Infectious Diseases: There is a growing body of evidence that landscape degradation is linked to zoonotic spillover risk. Large scale restoration is increasingly being touted as an effective solution for mitigating against a range of anthropogenic impacts and is also hypothesised to protect against zoonotic disease spillover. However, little is known about the mechanisms with which restoration may provide this protection. It is commonly assumed that restoration mirrors in reverse the processes that occur during degradation; however, it is likely that this relationship is in fact asymmetric. Rarely can restored landscapes be returned to a state similar to that of pristine ecosystems, and often restored landscapes need to fulfil a range of environmental and socioeconomic requirements that inherently prevent them from doing so. Additionally, the spatiotemporal scale necessary to effect positive change is context dependent, and the type of restoration necessary to protect against zoonotic spillover is currently unknown. Ecosystem restoration can vary widely in type, scale and context and can also change how humans interact with their environment, which may have unexpected consequences for zoonotic disease spillover. Given the complexity of these interactions and their effect on disease, it is vital that we understand how restoration specifically might impact wildlife disease and emergent spillover risk

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Leirs Herwig
• Co-promoter: Kirkpatrick Lucinda

Research team(s)

• Evolutionary ecology group (EVECO)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Epidemics and pandemics- most of them caused by zoonotic and vector-borne emerging diseases- are globally threatening our health and welfare at an alarming pace. Prevention of future disease outbreaks will be pivotal to secure human welfare and demands transformative change. "Biodiversity-is-good-for-our-health" has become a new paradigm in disease risk mitigation. Consequently, nature restoration targeting biodiversity recovery - isolated or in combination with public health interventions - has been identified as a major disease risk mitigation tool. While there are thousands of ongoing and planned nature restoration projects globally, we lack knowledge a) if such restorations indeed interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and mitigate disease risk, b) or if they rather amplify the risk and c) on success factors characterizing restorations that mitigate disease risk. BEPREP will fill this lack in knowledge and provide practical guidance. In spatially and temporally replicated field studies and experiments in case studies in Europe and the tropics, we will study a)-c) and reveal the causal mechanisms of infection dynamics and of drivers along the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade. BEPREP's participatory and transsectorial approach by actively involving indigenous and local communities will enable the identification of success factors of best practice restorations and interventions, incl. nature-based solutions, to guide future biodiversity recovery measures that promote healthy ecosystems. These success factors will contribute to a) interrupt the infect-shed-spill-spread cascade and b) ultimately prevent disease outbreaks. The results of BEPREP help to create a European society prepared and responsive to disease risk. BEPREP will hence accelerate the ecological transition required to meet EU's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 as a core part of EU's Green Deal and support a green recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Leirs Herwig
• Co-promoter: Kirkpatrick Lucinda

Research team(s)

• Evolutionary ecology group (EVECO)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In order to understand biological processes such as migration, dispersal and disease transmission, we need to know where animals are moving and who they are meeting. While this has been achieved for a lot of larger animals, the vast majority of animals are too small to effectively monitor without compromising on data accuracy or acquisition rates. This has implications not only for research into animal movement and behaviour, but also for applied applications such as better welfare for captive animals and livestock, and environmental monitoring. The recent advances in the Internet of Things (IoT) which has revolutionized various aspects of daily life have enormous potential in the field of wildlife tracking, but as yet have been little exploited, particularly when considering miniaturized options. We developed ProxLogs, an integrated, flexible and accessible monitoring system for small animals, based around recent improvements to Bluetooth Low Energy protocols. This project aims to develop the Minimum Viable Product, test it in operational environments, and investigate the appropriate business model of the system. This will be a state-of-the-art system which will allow the monitoring of far smaller wild and domestic animals at a greatly improved spatiotemporal scale than has previously been achieved, all while ensuring the system remains low cost and accessible for end users through our use of the widely available Bluetooth protocols. In this project we will further validate the prototype and investigate different potential business models.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Weyn Maarten
• Co-promoter: Berkvens Rafael
• Co-promoter: Kirkpatrick Lucinda
• Co-promoter: Leirs Herwig

Research team(s)

• Internet Data Lab (IDLab)

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Outbreaks of zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals; e.g. Ebola) in recent years have highlighted the important role that wildlife may play in disease transmission. This is particularly true in situations where humans and animals live in close proximity, and where animals are stressed due to habitat modification. Transmission depends on whether an infected individual contacts a susceptible individual and the likelihood that a susceptible individual is then infected. Habitat alteration changes resource availability and distribution, with consequences for how often animals contact each other, and can increase stress, with consequences for disease susceptibility. Therefore, understanding how environmental stress is going to change disease transmission is of fundamental interest in disease ecology. Here, I propose to use the multimammate mouse to explore how environmental stress influences survival, behaviour and virus transmission. I will use a range of approaches to assess physiological responses to stress in both laboratory and field experiments, combined with state of the art devices to record behaviour in wild, free living rodents. A prolific breeder, the multimammate mouse hosts several zoonotic diseases, and thrives in human dominated landscapes. Therefore , not only is this a pioneering study which will deliver exciting fundamental insights, but understanding how disturbance influences transmission in this species is also of applied interest

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Leirs Herwig
• Fellow: Kirkpatrick Lucinda

Research team(s)

• Evolutionary ecology group (EVECO)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Many animal species carry diseases which can spill over to humans, with severe health and economic consequences. Therefore, there is considerable interest in understanding how these diseases are maintained in wild animal populations. Like humans, many animals do not mix randomly with others, yet accurately quantifying contact behaviour data is hard, even for large or observable species, and often requires substantial investment of both time and money. For small, nocturnal species such as rodents, surveying contact behaviour in the wild has been impossible. We have developed cutting edge Social Contact Network (SCoNe) loggers that weigh less than 1.5g, can be attached as a collar for up to 28 days and can log interactions between up to 70 animals at a time. We will use these to investigate contact behaviour in the multimammate mouse in Tanzania to understand virus transmission. These mice transmit diseases such as Lassa fever and plague, and can have several litters a year of more than 20 young. As a result, they become extremely abundant, causing huge crop damage. Understanding how mice behaviour varies through population changes, and how this influences transmission will help protect crop yields and inform public health strategies, as well as answering fundamental questions about disease transmission. Due to their small size and open source design, SCoNe loggers will be easily adapted by other researchers, shedding light on behavioural interactions for a range of species.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kirkpatrick Lucinda

Research team(s)

• Evolutionary ecology group (EVECO)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Understanding the processes underpinning behaviour such as competition, predation, sociality or disease transmission requires the ability to monitor in great detail the nature of interactions between individuals. Until recently, this has been restricted to large, captive or easily observable species. However, new advances in miniaturisation mean that it is now possible to gather datasets of unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution for ever smaller animals. Such systems need to be tested and calibrated to ensure that they do not fundamentally alter individual behaviour, and to ensure that data collected from such systems is free from bias.We have developed miniature tags which simultaneously transmit, and detect and log the transmissions of other tags. This project will allow us to test methods of tag attachment (ensuring that any stress to the animal is kept to a minimum), monitor physiological or behavioural changes caused by the tags (should be minimal to prevent changes to rodent behaviour after being tagged) and to calibrate the tags in a field realistic setting. We will use the tags to conduct a large, field realistic study which will parametrise highly detailed disease transmission models; design and construction of the tags will be open source to allow other researchers to also use the technology on other taxa.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kirkpatrick Lucinda

Research team(s)

• Evolutionary ecology group (EVECO)

Project type(s)

• Research Project