In social species, the transmission and maintenance of infectious diseases depends on the contact patterns between individuals within groups and on the interactions between groups. In southern Africa, the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) is a vector for many pathogens that can infect sympatric livestock. Although intra-group contact patterns of Cape buffalo have been relatively well described, how groups interact with each other and risks for pathogen transmission remain poorly understood. We identified and compared spatial behavior and contact patterns between neighboring groups of Cape buffalo under contrasting environments: within the seasonally flooded environment of the Okavango Delta in Botswana and the semi-arid environment of northern Kruger National Park in South Africa. We used telemetry data collected between 2007 and 2015 from 10 distinct groups. We estimated seasonal overlap and proximity between home ranges of pairwise neighboring groups, and we quantified seasonal contact patterns between these groups. We defined contact patterns within variable spatiotemporal windows compatible with the transmission of diseases carried by the Cape buffalo: bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, and Rift Valley fever (mosquito-borne transmission). We examined the effects of habitat and distance to water on contact location. In both study populations, neighboring buffalo groups were highly spatially segregated in the dry and rainy seasons. Inter-group contact patterns were characterized by very few direct and short-term indirect (within 0–2 days) contacts, lasting on average 1 hour and 2 hours, respectively. Contact patterns were generally consistent across populations and seasons, suggesting species-specific behavior. In the drier study site, the probability of indirect and vector-borne contacts generally decreased during the dry season with increasing distance to water. In the seasonally flooded area, only the probability of vector-borne contact decreased with increasing distance to water. Our results highlight the importance of dry season water availability in influencing the dynamics of indirectly transmitted Cape buffalo pathogens but only in areas with low water availability. The results from this study have important implications for future modeling of pathogen dynamics in a single host, and the ecology and management of Cape buffalo at the landscape level. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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水牛角种群的群体间社会行为、接触模式和病原体传播风险

在社会物种中，传染病的传播和维持取决于群体内个体之间的接触模式以及群体之间的相互作用。在南部非洲，开普水牛（Syncerus caffer caffer) 是许多病原体的载体，可以感染同域家畜。尽管开普水牛的群内接触模式得到了相对较好的描述，但人们对群体之间如何相互作用以及病原体传播的风险仍知之甚少。我们确定并比较了不同环境下角水牛相邻群体之间的空间行为和接触模式：博茨瓦纳奥卡万戈三角洲季节性洪水环境和南非克鲁格国家公园北部的半干旱环境。我们使用了 2007 年至 2015 年间从 10 个不同组收集的遥测数据。我们估计了成对相邻群体的家庭范围之间的季节性重叠和接近度，并量化了这些群体之间的季节性接触模式。我们在与开普水牛携带的疾病传播兼容的可变时空窗口内定义了接触模式：牛结核病、布鲁氏菌病和裂谷热（蚊媒传播）。我们检查了栖息地和与水的距离对接触位置的影响。在这两个研究种群中，相邻的水牛群在旱季和雨季在空间上高度隔离。组间接触模式的特点是直接和短期间接（0-2 天内）接触很少，分别平均持续 1 小时和 2 小时。不同种群和季节的接触模式总体上是一致的，这表明物种特定的行为。在较干燥的研究地点，在旱季，随着与水的距离增加，间接接触和媒介传播接触的可能性普遍降低。在季节性洪水泛滥的地区，只有媒介传播的接触概率随着与水的距离的增加而降低。我们的结果强调了旱季可用水在影响间接传播的水牛角病原体动态方面的重要性，但仅限于可用水量低的地区。这项研究的结果对未来单一宿主中病原体动力学的建模以及水牛角在景观水平上的生态和管理具有重要意义。© 2021 作者。我们的研究结果强调了旱季可用水在影响间接传播的水牛角病原体动态方面的重要性，但仅限于可用水量低的地区。这项研究的结果对未来单一宿主中病原体动力学的建模以及水牛角在景观水平上的生态和管理具有重要意义。© 2021 作者。我们的研究结果强调了旱季可用水在影响间接传播的水牛角病原体动态方面的重要性，但仅限于可用水量低的地区。这项研究的结果对未来单一宿主中病原体动力学的建模以及水牛角在景观水平上的生态和管理具有重要意义。© 2021 作者。由 Wiley Periodicals LLC 代表野生动物协会出版的《野生动物管理杂志》。