Spatial modelling of Hypsignathus monstrosus movement and habitat use to explore the risk of Ebola virus transmission

Animal movement is a complex process in animal populations influenced by factors ranging at the individual (e.g. physiology), population (e.g. reproduction) and landscape (e.g. location of resources) level. New advances on tracking technologies of individual animals and on methodological approaches can help to better understand the causes (e.g. what motivates animals to move) and consequences (e.g. how it is related to other ecological processes such as disease transmission) of this behaviour. A great variety of ecosystems are being impacted by anthropogenic activities. In particular, tropical rainforests have undergone rapid change during the last decades, with great extensions being logged or converted for agriculture. Such landscape modifications can alter animal movement and therefore affect disease transmission dynamics. Here we study how land cover changes affect the movement in a fruit bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus) that is considered a potential reservoir host for Ebola virus. Using an agent-based, spatially explicit model, BatMove, we simulate bats' movements in six different scenarios from a forested (i.e. over 90% suitable habitat) to a savannah-like (50% unsuitable habitat) landscape. We focus on two behaviours that influence bat decisions to move and that are important for virus transmission: roosting and foraging. We used published ecological knowledge and data from a recent tracking study to define the parameters used in the model. Preliminary results of our simulations suggest that land cover changes do not affect roosting and foraging behaviour of this species in the same way, and that it may be resilient to a certain amount of habitat fragmentation. How this species responds to changes in the landscape may be relevant to its potential for the virus spread within the population and to other potential host species. Spatially explicit models, such as BatMove are useful tools to explore how different factors, such as environmental or climatic variables, influence animal movement, and can be used to study the links between animal movement and other ecological processes, including disease transmission dynamics.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Lee Cruz, Larisa, Lenormand, Maxime, Degenne, Pascal, Schloesing, Elodie, Cappelle, Julien, Caron, Alexandre, De Nys, Hélène, Roger, François, Tran, Annelise
Format:	conference_item biblioteca
Language:	eng
Published:	GRC
Online Access:	http://agritrop.cirad.fr/607560/ http://agritrop.cirad.fr/607560/3/607560_poster.pdf
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