Title
Detecting the impact of West Nile virus in wild bird populations
Speaker
Shannon LaDeau, Smithsonian Institution and The Ohio State University
Abstract
The amplification of invasive pathogens and how they interact with native communities is an important and challenging focus of ecological research. Pathogen populations can only be monitored in nature through their interactions with other species. In many cases this means waiting for large scale die-offs of host populations. Identifying and quantifying the impacts of pathogens on host communities is frustrated by difficulties associated with defining sampling scales appropriate to invasion dynamics, obtaining host population data prior to the invasion and estimating population sizes from census data. The aim of this research is to synthesize large datasets from diverse sources to evaluate key spatial and temporal components of a successful pathogen invasion: West Nile virus emergence in U.S. avifauna.
Meet the speaker in Room 212 Cockins Hall at 4:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
