D. J. Becker

Environmental and ecological signals predict periods of nutritional stress for Eastern Australian flying fox populations.

The paper uses explainable AI to predict food shortages in Eastern Australian flying foxes, identifying environmental and bat-level features that predict nutritional stress with high accuracy.

Viral genomic features predict orthopoxvirus reservoir hosts

The paper uses machine learning to predict orthopoxvirus reservoir hosts by integrating viral genomic features and host ecological data, identifying high-risk regions for zoonotic OPV emergence.

Ecological and Evolutionary Characteristics of Anthropogenic Roosting Ability in Bats of the World

The paper identifies trait profiles and evolutionary patterns of anthropogenic roosting in bats globally, linking it to habitat generalism, small body size, and other ecological factors.

Bat cellular immunity varies by year and dietary habit in an increasingly fragmented landscape

The paper examines how habitat fragmentation and dietary habits affect cellular immunity and infection risk in three Neotropical bat species over three years.

Novel Rickettsia spp. in two common overwintering North American passerines

The paper identifies novel Rickettsia species in American robins and dark-eyed juncos, suggesting they may disperse these pathogens during spring migration.

Sampling strategies and pre-pandemic surveillance gaps for bat coronaviruses

This study analyzes bat coronavirus sampling strategies and identifies pre-pandemic surveillance gaps that may hinder understanding of zoonotic coronavirus origins.

Urban-adapted mammal species have more known pathogens

This study finds urban-adapted mammals host more known zoonotic parasites, but much of this is due to research effort rather than urban adaptation itself.

Plasticity in female timing may explain current shifts in breeding phenology of a North American songbird

This study shows that female dark-eyed juncos breed earlier in response to warmer springs, with plasticity in timing playing a key role in phenological shifts due to climate change.

Data proliferation, reconciliation, and synthesis in viral ecology

The paper synthesizes mammal-virus association data from multiple sources to create a reconciled database, showing improved insights into the mammal virome and advocating for synthetic datasets in viral ecology.

Viral competence data improves rodent reservoir predictions for American orthohantaviruses

This study uses machine learning to predict rodent reservoirs of orthohantaviruses, finding that competence data improves model accuracy over infection data.

Body size affects immune cell proportions in birds and non-volant mammals, but not bats

The paper examines how body size affects immune cell proportions in bats, birds, and non-volant mammals, finding no scaling relationship in bats but strong scaling in birds and non-volant mammals.

Temporal patterns of vampire bat rabies and host connectivity in Belize

This study examines rabies virus dynamics in vampire bats in northern Belize, finding high seroprevalence and asynchronous infection patterns between sites.

Artificial light at night amplifies seasonal relapse of haemosporidian parasites in a widespread songbird

This study shows artificial light at night increases parasitemia and desynchronizes immune responses in dark-eyed juncos, leading to seasonal relapse of chronic haemosporidian infections.

Reactivation of latent infections with migration shapes population-level disease dynamics

This study develops a mechanistic model showing how migratory relapse affects disease dynamics in migratory hosts, finding that relapse timing can increase or decrease infection prevalence depending on pathogen and host traits.

Predicting the presence and titer of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies from low-volume serum samples in low-containment facilities

The paper develops a rapid, low-volume rabies virus neutralizing antibody test for low-containment labs, showing moderate sensitivity and high specificity.

The macroecology and evolution of avian competence for Borrelia burgdorferi

This study identifies ecological and evolutionary factors driving avian competence for Borrelia burgdorferi, finding that half of sampled bird species are competent and predicting novel reservoirs in the Neotropics.

The fine-scale landscape of immunity and parasitism in a wild ungulate population

The paper examines spatial patterns of immunity and parasitism in red deer, finding significant spatial heterogeneity and seasonal variation in antibody levels and helminth infection.