2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Primate and parasite community assemblages as indicators of a transitioning environment
| Project/Area Number |
16H06181
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Research Field |
Physical anthropology
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
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| Keywords | Primatology / Infectious Disease / Parasitology / Conservation / Biodiversity / Ecology |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This research characterized primate and parasite communities in the Kinabatangan region of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Results fill a key knowledge gap about parasites infecting primates in Southeast Asia, which has historically been under studied despite being a biodiverse region with high degrees of human disturbance of natural areas and thus high risk of disease emergence.
Combining primate censuses with sampling and analysis of primate feces across a fragmented landscape, this study demonstrates that habitat disturbance can both enhance and reduce the risk of parasite infection in the community, largely depending on parasite traits like its mode of transmission and whether or not it can infect multiple host species. This study also found evidence of potentially pathogenic and even zoonotic parasites in the community, so future work will need to investigate these in greater detail to better assess risks to primate conservation and public health.
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| Free Research Field |
Primatology
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
Parasites are everywhere in nature, and can increase the risk of extinction in endangered animals or "spill over" into human populations. Parasitism is thus a conservation and public health concern, so understanding how human disturbance of nature influences wildlife parasites is clearly important.
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