A Coupled Human and Natural Systems Framework to Characterize Emerging Infectious Diseases-The Case of Fibropapillomatosis in Marine Turtles

Abstract:

In a fast-changing world, it is highly important to consider the possible consequences of human-driven effects that can alter natural ecosystems. In this review, we built a framework focused on risk factors associated with new wildlife diseases, such as immune system suppression, pathogen transmission between different animal species (also called “spillover”), and disease spread. Our conceptual framework describes major potential interactions between humans and nature that might occur in coupled human and natural systems, those systems where humans and wildlife are tightly linked, conceptually and geographically. Such interactions consist of certain anthropogenic effects (such as pollution, climate change, unsustainable farming, and more) which we distributed across our conceptual framework to identify their relevance to the wildlife infectious disease risk factors that this manuscript examines. Our developed framework can be applied to many new wildlife diseases, and we provide an application example with an emerging tumoral disease of marine turtles, called Fibropapillomatosis. Our work shows how crucial it is to analyze conservation issues beyond what is immediately apparent, and for science to operate through research collaboration and synergy.