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Deterministic factors that influence the community ecology of picobirnaviruses among wild rhesus macaques in human-impacted environments
  • +10
  • Krishna Balasubramaniam,
  • Isamara Navarrete Macias,
  • Shariful Islam,
  • Anna Sjodin,
  • Heather Wells,
  • Christopher Tubbs,
  • Nistara Randhawa,
  • Melinda Rostal,
  • Jonathan Epstein,
  • Karin Darpel,
  • Daniel Horton,
  • Ariful Islam,
  • Simon Anthony
Krishna Balasubramaniam
Anglia Ruskin University Faculty of Science and Engineering

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Isamara Navarrete Macias
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Shariful Islam
Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR)
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Anna Sjodin
United States Environmental Protection Agency Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling
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Heather Wells
University of California Davis
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Christopher Tubbs
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
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Nistara Randhawa
University of California Davis
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Melinda Rostal
EcoHealth Alliance
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Jonathan Epstein
EcoHealth Alliance
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Karin Darpel
Pirbright Institute
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Daniel Horton
University of Surrey
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Ariful Islam
Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research
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Simon Anthony
University of California Davis
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Abstract

Ecologists are increasingly interested in the deterministic factors that influence microbial communities. Yet in comparison to other microbes, our understanding of viral community ecology is limited. Here we investigated the factors influencing the community ecology of picobirnaviruses among wild rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in Bangladesh. Using co-occurrence networks and species distribution models, we found that macaques’ social organisation and anthropogenic factors (human and livestock densities) had the greatest impact on picobirnavirus communities. Virus phylogenetic relationships, host demographics (sex, age), and host physiological stress (cortisol levels) had less of an impact. We also found a few significant biotic virus-virus associations that impacted community composition, more so at lower host social organisational levels (individual macaques within groups) compared to higher levels (macaque groups within sites). These findings advance our understanding of the deterministic factors shaping viral communities, and contribute to changing perceptions of viruses as embedded components of human-natural ecosystems.