Data for: Host infection dynamics and disease induced mortality modify species contributions to the environmental reservoir

Environmental pathogen reservoirs exist for many globally important
diseases and can fuel epidemics, influence pathogen evolution, and
increase the threat of host extinction. Species composition can be an
important factor that shapes reservoir dynamics and ultimately determines
the outcome of a disease outbreak. However, disease-induced mortality can
change species communities, indicating that species responsible for
environmental reservoir maintenance may change over time. Here we examine
reservoir dynamics of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the
fungal pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome in bats. We quantified
changes in pathogen shedding, infection prevalence and intensity, host
abundance, and the subsequent propagule pressure imposed by each species
over time. We find that highly shedding species are important during
pathogen invasion, but contribute less over time to environmental
contamination as they also suffer the greatest declines. Less infected
species remain more abundant, resulting in equivalent or higher propagule
pressure. More broadly, we demonstrate that high infection intensity and
subsequent mortality during disease progression can reduce the
contributions of high-shedding species to long-term pathogen maintenance.