The Role of Complex Vector Movement and Behavior in Disease Dynamics

​Vectored disease systems are ideal for connecting complex systems and ecological dynamics. At minimum, they require understanding the dynamics of and interplay between three agents: the host, vector, and pathogen. Combining mathematical modeling with experiments, I explore how incorporating vector behavior, movement dynamics, and preference fundamentally alters our expectations of disease systems. In collaboration with Allison Shaw, Eric Seabloom, and Elizabeth Borer, I use the Barley yellow dwarf virus system to examine these questions and, additionally, to understand how vectored-disease alters the underlying host community. The Barely yellow dwarf virus is commonly found in California grasslands, and may play a key role in allowing Eurasian annual grasses to invade a previously perennial grassland ecosystem.

---