Evolutionary Ecology Group

Dave Daversa

Tel: 336627 Fax: +44 (0) 1223 336 676 Email: dd384@cam.ac.uk Position: PhD Student

Research

Research Interests

My deep fascination with the patterns of movement and social behavior of living organisms drives my academic pursuits. What are the spatial and seasonal trends of animal movements? What large-scale patterns in social interaction arise from such movements? These questions shape the general objectives of my work.

Multihost transmission dynamics of the chytrid fungus in amphibian social networks

Much work has been done to improve our understanding of how pathogens are transmitted. Yet whereas most pathogens infect multiple species, the complexity of multihost systems has thus far confined research to single-host interactions.

I am conducting the first-ever comprehensive empirical study defining pathogen transmission dynamics for multiple host species, using an amphibian metacommunity infected with the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) in Central Spain as a focal system.

Bd exhibits pronounced host generality and is primarily transmitted through host contact. Meanwhile, many amphibians susceptible to this pathogen inhabit discrete patchy networks of communities. These concurrent qualities of pathogen and host provide a model system for tracking transmission among multiple species and communities.

My results will provide a new model for estimating multihost pathogen transmission among host communities, which can be applied to epidemiological theory and wildlife conservation alike.

Publications

2012

2011

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