Infection of the fittest: devil facial tumour disease has greatest effect on individuals with highest reproductive output

Konstans Wells; Rodrigo K Hamede; Douglas H Kerlin; Andrew Storfer; Paul A Hohenlohe; Menna E Jones; Hamish I McCallum; Vanessa Ezenwa

doi:10.1111/ele.12776

Back

Infection of the fittest: devil facial tumour disease has greatest effect on individuals with highest reproductive output

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Infection of the fittest: devil facial tumour disease has greatest effect on individuals with highest reproductive output

Konstans Wells, Rodrigo K Hamede, Douglas H Kerlin, Andrew Storfer, Paul A Hohenlohe, Menna E Jones, Hamish I McCallum and Vanessa Ezenwa

Ecology letters, Vol.20(6), pp.770-778

06/2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12776

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/116461

PMCID: PMC6759051

PMID: 28489304

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12776View

Published (Version of record) Open

Abstract

pathogenesis

transmissible cancer

individual fitness

disease burden

disease progression

disease risk

Bayesian capture–recapture

tumour growth

fecundity

Emerging infectious diseases rarely affect all members of a population equally and determining how individuals’ susceptibility to infection is related to other components of their fitness is critical to understanding disease impacts at a population level and for predicting evolutionary trajectories. We introduce a novel state‐space model framework to investigate survival and fecundity of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) affected by a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumour disease. We show that those devils that become host to tumours have otherwise greater fitness, with higher survival and fecundity rates prior to disease‐induced death than non‐host individuals that do not become infected, although high tumour loads lead to high mortality. Our finding that individuals with the greatest reproductive value are those most affected by the cancer demonstrates the need to quantify both survival and fecundity in context of disease progression for understanding the impact of disease on wildlife populations.

Metrics

8 Record Views

See more details

Details

Title: Infection of the fittest: devil facial tumour disease has greatest effect on individuals with highest reproductive output
Creators: Konstans Wells - Griffith University
Rodrigo K Hamede - University of Tasmania
Douglas H Kerlin - Griffith University
Andrew Storfer - Washington State University
Paul A Hohenlohe - University of Idaho
Menna E Jones - University of Tasmania
Hamish I McCallum - Griffith University
Vanessa Ezenwa
Publication Details: Ecology letters, Vol.20(6), pp.770-778
Academic Unit: Biological Sciences, School of
Number of pages: 9
Grant note: National Science Foundation (DEB 1316549) Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (DE170101116) Australian Research Council Discovery (DP110102656; LP0561120) Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT100100250)
Identifiers: 99900547990501842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article