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Author(s): Felicia Keesing
Org./Source: Nature
Year: 2010

A loss of biodiversity leads to an increase in the spread of disease, which researchers speculate is because some species are better at buffering disease transmission. The study examines 12 diseases from different ecosystems worldwide, including Lyme disease. In eastern North America, the white-footed mouse, which is abundant in low-diversity forest fragments is associated with high levels of lyme disease transmission, while Virginia opossums, which are absent from many low-diversity forest fragments and degraded forests, are poor hosts for the pathogen and kill the vast majority the ticks which spread the disease that attempt to feed on them.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7324/full/natu...

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Item type(s): Report or Research Paper
Topic tags: Economic Benefits of Biodiversity

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