Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L008041/1
Understanding how environmental variation regulates infectious disease emergence in a host community
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor MC Fisher, Imperial College London, School of Public Health
- Grant held at:
- Imperial College London, School of Public Health
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Freshwater
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- Diseases caused by emerging fungal pathogens are on the increase both in Britain and worldwide. One such fungus, the amphibian-infecting chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is now widespread across Europe and in certain regions is causing large-scale population declines. Research by our group has shown that the amount of disease caused by Bd occurring within amphibian communities is highly dependant on both abiotic (temperature) and biotic (microbial predatory) factors. By using data from our long-term field studies in the Pyrenean mountain range, we have found that the seasonal prevalence of Bd-infection is determined to a large extent by the onset of spring: late-thaw years lead to less disease than warmer early-thaw years. This PhD study will focus on answering why this relationship occurs, and what this means within the context of changing climates across this region. We have been collaborating on the Pyrenean Bd project with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) for the past 7 years, and our last joint Imperial/ZSL CASE student is approaching her final year. We wish to continue the project without a break by collecting a further 3-years of field data from the system in order to determine the direct and indirect factors that are influencing the numbers of diseased amphibians. In addition to field-work, the student will also approach the question by manipulating the overwintering hibernation regimes of amphibians ex-situ, providing a direct test of field-based hypotheses. Specifically, the student will examine the degree to which seasonality exerts a direct effect on disease, by determining its impact on amphibian body condition. Conversely, seasonality may indirectly affect disease by determining the density of aquatic microbes that predate Bd, thus lowering pathogen loads. By combining field-based ecological data with controlled laboratory infections using a common-toad model, the student will disentangle the relative importance of these direct- and indirect-factors. This will lead to a refined understanding of the host-Bd dynamic, enabling the development of sophisticated climate-sensitive predictive epidemiological models for this emerging infection.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L008041/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £91,515
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - Student Stipend | Total - RTSG |
|---|---|---|
| £16,226 | £64,292 | £11,000 |
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