title: The macroecology of infectious diseases: a new perspective on global-scale drivers of pathogen distributions and impacts.
abstract: Identifying drivers of infectious disease patterns and impacts at the broadest scales of organisation is one of the most crucial challenges for modern science, yet answers to many fundamental questions remain elusive. These include what factors commonly facilitate transmission of pathogens to novel host species, what drives variation in immune investment among host species, and more generally what drives global patterns of parasite diversity and distribution? Here we consider how the perspectives and tools of macroecology, a field that investigates patterns and processes at broad spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales, are expanding scientific understanding of global infectious disease ecology. In particular, emerging approaches are providing new insights about scaling properties across all living taxa, and new strategies for mapping pathogen biodiversity and infection risk. Ultimately, macroecology is establishing a framework to more accurately predict global patterns of infectious disease distribution and emergence.
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altizer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, 0291, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alonso Aguirre
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA.
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Budischak
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Byers
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Tad A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Dallas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0G4, Canada.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jonathan Davies
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa O
authors.initials: VO
authors.lastname: Ezenwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0G4, Canada.
authors.forename: Maxwell J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gittleman
authors.affiliation: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, 12545, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Biological Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Nunn
authors.affiliation: ITD Data Analysis and Modelling, DuPont Agricultural Biotechnology, Experimental Station E353/317, Wilmington, DE, 19803, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Onstad
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Gonzalo M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Vazquez-Prokopec
authors.affiliation: Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poulin
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions
keywords: Biodiversity; conservation; disease ecology; infectious diseases; macroecology; pathogens