Trait-Based Modeling of Multihost Pathogen Transmission: Plant-Pollinator Networks.

ABSTRACT: Epidemiological models for multihost pathogen systems often classify individuals taxonomically and use species-specific parameter values, but in species-rich communities that approach may require intractably many parameters. Trait-based epidemiological models offer a potential solution but have not accounted for within-species trait variation or between-species trait overlap. Here we propose and study trait-based models with host and vector communities represented as trait distributions without regard to species identity. To illustrate this approach, we develop susceptible-infectious-susceptible models for disease spread in plant-pollinator networks with continuous trait distributions. We model trait-dependent contact rates in two common scenarios: nested networks and specialized plant-pol

SUBMITTER: Truitt LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6729129 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature