title: Functional Diversity as a New Framework for Understanding the Ecology of an Emerging Generalist Pathogen.
abstract: Emerging infectious disease outbreaks are increasingly suspected to be a consequence of human pressures exerted on natural ecosystems. Previously, host taxonomic communities have been used as indicators of infectious disease emergence, and the loss of their diversity has been implicated as a driver of increased presence. The mechanistic details in how such pathogen-host systems function, however, may not always be explained by taxonomic variation or loss. Here we used machine learning and methods based on Gower's dissimilarity to quantify metrics of invertebrate functional diversity, in addition to functional groups and their taxonomic diversity at sites endemic and non-endemic for the model generalist pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer. Changes in these metrics allowed the rapid categorisation of the ecological niche of the mycobacterium's hosts and the ability to relate specific host traits to its presence in aquatic ecosystems. We found that taxonomic diversity of hosts and overall functional diversity loss and evenness had no bearing on the mycobacterium's presence, or whether the site was in an endemic area. These findings, however, provide strong evidence that generalist environmentally persistent bacteria such as M. ulcerans can be associated with specific functional traits rather than taxonomic groups of organisms, increasing our understanding of emerging disease ecology and origin.
authors.affiliation: Bournemouth University, School of Applied Sciences, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK. almorris@rvc.ac.uk.|UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, Montpellier, France. almorris@rvc.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guégan
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: M Eric
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Benbow
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
authors.forename: Pamela L C
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Small
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Department, Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quaye
authors.affiliation: Parasitology Department, Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boakye
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Merritt
authors.affiliation: Bournemouth University, School of Applied Sciences, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK.|UMR MIVEGEC IRD-CNRS-Université de Montpellier, B.P. 64501, Montpellier, France.|UMR BOREA IRD-MNHN-Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 47 rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Rodolphe E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gozlan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D054312:Buruli Ulcer; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D007448:Invertebrates; D019911:Mycobacterium ulcerans
keywords: Buruli ulcer; biodiversity; dilution effect; functional diversity; mycobacterium