The EU-funded project "BEPREP" aims to investigate the effect of ecosystem restoration on the biodiversity of microorganisms, viruses and antibiotic resistance genes, with a focus on zoonotic pathogens in reservoir systems and the environment. Zoonotic pathogens are agents that are transmitted from animals to humans, either directly through contact or indirectly via the environment.
The underlying hypothesis of the project is that the increased biodiversity, as a result of ecosystem restoration, leads to a lower prevalence or infection rate in wildlife and is therefore associated with a lowered risk of human infection. This hypothesis is described by the term "dilution effect" (DOI: 10.1111/ele.13875).
By restoring anthropogenically disturbed ecosystems in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, the project will investigate whether increasing biodiversity can reduce the risk of infection for local human populations. One of the 12 study sites is the Emscher renaturation area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from which samples of small and large mammals, vectors and the environment will be taken before, during and after renaturation and examined for selected pathogens.
Further information given on project page:
https://www.beprep-project.eu/
Participating scientists:
Prof. Dr. Rainer G. Ulrich (INNT)
Prof. Dr. Sascha Knauf (IITG/OH)
Dr. Stephan Drewes (INNT)
Alina J. Anton (IITG/OH)
Participating institutions:
- Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU) (Coordinator)
Sweden
https://www.slu.se/ - Jyvaskylan Yliopisto (JYU)
Finland
https://www.jyu.fi/en - Lancaster University (LU)
United Kingdom
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ - Umea Universitet (UMU)
Sweden - https://www.umu.se/en/
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE)
France
https://www.inrae.fr/ - Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM)
The Netherlands
https://www.rivm.nl/ - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA)
Brazil
https://www.ufba.br/ - Universiteit Antwerpen (UA)
Belgium
https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/ - TRAFFIC International (TRAF)
United Kingdom
https://www.traffic.org/ - Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut - Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit (FLI)
Germany
https://www.fli.de/de/startseite/ - Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM)
Italy
https://www.fmach.it/eng - Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA)
Tanzania
https://www.sua.ac.tz/ - Universite de Kisangani (UNIKIS)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
http://www.unikis.ac.cd/ - Universidad CES (CES)
Colombia
https://www.ces.edu.co/
