Impacts of Ecological Perturbations at the Host-Vector-Pathogen Interface under Global Change

Dear Colleagues, 

Global Change, resulting from human-driven processes such as land-use change, species translocations, and extreme climatic variability is exerting unprecedented effects on natural systems. Host–vector–pathogen (HVP) systems are a major threat to human and animal health and may be prone to dramatic alterations associated with Global Change. Many arthropod vectors and reservoir hosts of pathogens are generalist species that occupy a range of niches, allowing them to rapidly adapt to changing conditions. Consequently, existing HVP interactions may restructure, or novel interactions may form in the face of Global Change, with consequences on the broader ecosystem as well as human and animal health. Implementing disease risk mitigation is difficult without adequate knowledge on how HVP systems respond to Global Change. Studies on HVP systems often focus on a single facet and fail to place pathogen, vector, and host interactions into a broader ecological or evolutionary context. Such a context is valuable in understanding the cause–effect mechanisms of HVP interactions, providing us with a better framework to mitigate the subsequent consequences for animal and human health.

In this Special Issue, we welcome manuscripts which investigate changes in host–vector–pathogen systems due to anthropogenic disturbances; in particular, we strongly encourage the submission of studies which investigate interactions within HVP systems whilst integrating environmental, ecological, and evolutionary perspectives.

Dr. Matteo Marcantonio
Prof. Dr. Agustín Estrada-Peña
Prof. Dr. Adriana Troyo
Dr. Andres Mauricio Lopez-Perez
Dr. Emily L. Pascoe
Guest Editors

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