Over thousands of years, wildlife has coexisted with domestic animals in dynamic systems. The domestic-wildlife interfaces are those physical spaces where wild and domestic species overlap and potentially interact through direct and indirect contact, with the inherent risk of pathogen transmission. The nature of this interface is complex and can significantly vary over time and across landscapes throughout the world. Over the last centuries, processes such as human intervention on agriculture and animal husbandry, industrialization, or globalization have altered ecosystems. These changes often lead to more interconnected interfaces and increased opportunities for the emergence and spread of pathogens because the human population is increasing and expanding, livestock production is therefore increasing to supply the growing food demand, and wildlife, often under the pressure of habitat reduction, is becoming more exposed to these new interfaces. The domestic-wildlife interface is often perceived as a source of conflict in which environmentalist and anthropocentric views clash. In many developed countries, the presence of wildlife is considered a direct threat for human activities such as livestock farming, risking economic losses, disease transmission, crop damages to agriculture, vehicle collisions, among others. However, at the same time, populations of some wild species are promoted and exploited for recreational purposes (i.e., sport hunting), food production or other sources of income. In the tropics, the conflicts often emerge from the progressive encroaching of natural areas through deforestation, land fragmentation and urbanization, that strongly impact biodiversity, reduce the number of species and habitats, and create new scenarios for the emergence and spread of diseases. In better preserved contexts with a reduced human influence, the main problems are linked with human-wildlife conflicts: attacks of large carnivores, livestock predation as well as crop damages by herbivores. In addition, zoonotic risks are also frequent due to the manipulation of natural resources for food and the overlapping habitats of humans, wildlife, and domestic animals.
This research topic aims to promote integrative research at domestic-wildlife interfaces over the world in order to characterize and understand their specific eco-epidemiological drivers to support subsequent interventions and strategies for disease management and control. The main areas to be included regarding the different domestic-wildlife interfaces (but not exclusively limited to) are: socioeconomic and biogeographic approaches to characterize the interface, ecologic and anthropogenic drivers of interactions, eco-epidemiological surveys of pathogens from a One Health perspective, conflicts between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans that can have an impact on disease transmission and spread, and management practices: interventions and control measures to reduce disease spread.
To gather further insights into the complex dynamics at the domestic-wildlife interface, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Socioeconomic and biogeographic approaches to characterize the interface.
- Ecologic and anthropogenic drivers of interactions.
- Eco-epidemiological surveys of pathogens from a One Health perspective.
- Conflicts between wildlife, domestic animals, and humans that can have an impact on disease transmission and spread.
- Management practices: interventions and control measures to reduce disease spread.
Pathogen Transmission at the Domestic-Wildlife Interface: A Growing Challenge that Requires Integrated Solutions - Volume I