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Abstract Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) due to agricultural expansion, commercial land management and other human‐driven modifications significantly influence the ecology of pathogens and vectors. This underscores the urgent need to understand how these respond to rapid and dynamic land use changes in these ecosystems and, critically, to identify strategies for mitigating their impacts.In tropical Central and South America, palm trees serve as primary habitats forRhodniuskissing bugs, vectors ofTrypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. This study investigates how LULC, weather and traits of the palmAttalea butyraceapredict the occurrence and infection ofRhodnius pallescens, integrating field data collection, molecular detection and spatial and hierarchical analyses across a rural landscape in Panama.Rhodnius pallescenswere collected from 46 palms in 11 communities with different landscape compositions including native forests, grasslands, successional forests and artificial structures. Robust occupancy modelling using land cover data at 10 m2resolution revealed that successional forest cover at 300 m spatial scale predicted greater occurrence ofR. pallescens, whereas native forest predicted lower occurrence. Quadratic models outperformed linear models, indicating occupancy peaks at intermediate land covers and palm tree traits.Real‐time PCR assays detectedTrypanosomainfections in 70% ofR. pallescensacross communities. Spatial autocorrelation analyses showed significant spatial clustering forT. cruzibut not forTrypanosoma rangeli. We used generalized additive mixed models to assess the influence of palm‐level and landscape‐scale attributes on parasite infection and identified significant nonlinear positive associations betweenT.cruziinfection and native forest and grassland, with high predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.90).Synthesis and applications. Findings here show that successional forest predicts greater kissing bug infestation risk in palm trees, whereas native forest predicts lower kissing bug occurrence but greater infection withT. cruzi. These insights can guide land use planning towards vegetation management practices that help minimizeT. cruzitransmission risks for rural communities. Importantly, vector surveillance should target forest‐grassland ecotones and consider forest successional stages near settlements, with intensified monitoring after disturbances; this approach is applicable to other vector‐borne pathogen systems shaped by land use change.
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Promoting landscapes with a low zoonotic disease risk through forest restoration: The need for comprehensive guidelines
Abstract Zoonotic diseases represent 75% of emerging infectious diseases worldwide, and their emergence is mainly attributed to human‐driven changes in landscapes. Land use change, especially the conversion of natural areas to agricultural use, has the potential to impact hosts and vector dynamics, affecting pathogen transmission risk. While these links are becoming better understood, very few studies have investigated the opposite question—how native vegetation restoration affects zoonotic disease outbreaks.We reviewed the existing evidence linking native vegetation restoration with zoonotic transmission risk, identified knowledge gaps, and, by focusing on tropical areas, proposed forest restoration strategies that could help in limiting the spread of zoonotic diseases.We identified a large gap in information on the effects of native vegetation restoration on zoonotic diseases, especially within tropical regions. In addition, the few studies that exist do not consider environmental aspects that can affect the outcomes of restoration on disease risk, such as the land use history and landscape structural characteristics (as composition and configuration of native habitats). Our conceptual framework raises two important points: (1) the effects of forest restoration may depend on the context of the existing landscape, especially the percentage of native vegetation existing at the beginning of the restoration; and (2) these effects will also be dependent on the spatial arrangement of the restored area within the existing landscape. Furthermore, we propose important topics to be studied in the coming years to integrate zoonotic disease risk as a criterion in restoration planning.Synthesis and application. Our results contribute to a more comprehensive forest restoration planning, comprising multiple ecosystem services and resulting in healthier landscapes for both people and nature. Our framework could be integrated into the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework targets.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2225023
- PAR ID:
- 10437563
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Applied Ecology
- Volume:
- 60
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 0021-8901
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1510-1521
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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