Devils and disease in the landscape: the impact of disease on devils in the wild and on the Tasmanian ecosystem
Author(s)
Jones, Menna
Hamede, Rodrigo
Hollings, Tracey
McCallum, Hamish
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2019
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
When populations of animals encounter a novel infectious disease, the effects can be devastating both for individuals and the population as a whole. Mortality is frequently high, outpacing breeding, leading to severe population decline. An extreme example is the devastation of native American populations from smallpox, a disease native to Europe, across vast regions of the Americas following the arrival of the Spanish in the 1600s (Mann 2005). A similar scenario has played out over the last 20 years since devil facial tumour disease emerged in Tasmania.When populations of animals encounter a novel infectious disease, the effects can be devastating both for individuals and the population as a whole. Mortality is frequently high, outpacing breeding, leading to severe population decline. An extreme example is the devastation of native American populations from smallpox, a disease native to Europe, across vast regions of the Americas following the arrival of the Spanish in the 1600s (Mann 2005). A similar scenario has played out over the last 20 years since devil facial tumour disease emerged in Tasmania.
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Book Title
Saving the Tasmanian Devil Recovery through Science-based Management
Publisher URI
Subject
Terrestrial ecology
Science