Examinando por Autor "Duclos, Melanie"

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    First Detection of Benign Rabbit Caliciviruses in Chile
    (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2024-03) Smertina, Elena; Keller, Luca M. Commonwealth Scientific; Huang, Nina; Flores-Benner, Gabriela; Correa-Cuadros, Jennifer Paola; Duclos, Melanie; Jaksic, Fabian M.; Briceño, Cristóbal; Ramirez, Victor Neira; Díaz-Gacitúa, Miguel; Carrasco-Fernández, Sebastián; Smith, Ina L.; Strive, Tanja; Jenckel, Maria
    Pathogenic lagoviruses (Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus, RHDV) are widely spread across the world and are used in Australia and New Zealand to control populations of feral European rabbits. The spread of the non-pathogenic lagoviruses, e.g., rabbit calicivirus (RCV), is less well studied as the infection results in no clinical signs. Nonetheless, RCV has important implications for the spread of RHDV and rabbit biocontrol as it can provide varying levels of cross-protection against fatal infection with pathogenic lagoviruses. In Chile, where European rabbits are also an introduced species, myxoma virus was used for localised biocontrol of rabbits in the 1950s. To date, there have been no studies investigating the presence of lagoviruses in the Chilean feral rabbit population. In this study, liver and duodenum rabbit samples from central Chile were tested for the presence of lagoviruses and positive samples were subject to whole RNA sequencing and subsequent data analysis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a novel RCV variant in duodenal samples that likely originated from European RCVs. Sequencing analysis also detected the presence of a rabbit astrovirus in one of the lagovirus-positive samples.
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    The ecological roles of the European rabbit in the Magellanic/Fuegian ecosystem of southernmost Chile
    (Nature Research, 2024-12) Mann-Vollrath, Francisca; Correa-Cuadros, Jennifer Paola; Ávila-Thieme, M. Isidora; Duclos, Melanie; Jaksic, Fabian M.
    The European rabbit has invaded numerous ecosystems worldwide, but rarely steppes. Since its various introduction attempts into the ecosystems of the Magallanes/Fuegian region, the rabbit has become a key player, interacting with species at different trophic levels and generating impacts on ecosystems. To better understand the role of the rabbit in steppe and scrub ecosystems, we characterised the food web in the Magallanes/Fuegian region to understand the identity of their interacting species, the mechanisms and complexities of their interactions to demonstrate that rabbit management may become more complex than just controlling a single species. Based on a bibliographic review and wildlife specialists’ opinions, we built the Magellanic/Fuegian food web, evaluated their topological properties and performed a rabbit extinction simulation to assess the possible short-term ecological mechanisms operating in the community. We found that the network had 206 nodes (64% native, 13% exotic, and 22% mixed) and 535 links among nodes. The European rabbit was the most connected node of the food web, had the second largest dietary breadth, and ranked as the seventh prey item with more predators. A rabbit extinction simulation shows a possible release of herbivory pressure on plants, including that on several native plants (e.g., Gunnera tinctoria, Pratia repens, Gavilea lutea, Tetroncium magellanicus), and a possible release of competition for some herbivores that share resources with the rabbit (e.g., Ovis aries, Lama guanicoe, Bos taurus). Although rabbit predators have a broad and generalist diet, some such as the native Galicitis cuja, could face a 20% reduction in their trophic width and could intensify predation on alternative prey. These results show that the European rabbit is strongly embedded in the Magellanic/Fuegian ecosystem and linked to several native species. Therefore, rabbit management should consider ecosystem approaches accompanied by monitoring programs on native fauna and experimental pilot studies on native flora to conserve the Chilean Patagonia community. © The Author(s) 2024.