Small mammals at the edge of deforestation in Cambodia: Transient community dynamics and potential pathways to pathogen emergence

Conversion of forest to agricultural land results in rapid and profound changes in ecosystems and biodiversity loss and increases the risk of pathogen emergence. However, insights into the underlying ecological processes linking deforestation and pathogen spillover are required to anticipate and mitigate new pathogen spillovers.Here, we studied small mammal communities and zoonotic pathogens in nine sites in Cambodia where the spatiotemporal deforestation edge was represented by three zones—forest, disturbed, and cleared—within each site.Complete turnover of the small mammal community and species overlap in disturbed forest may provide opportunities for spillover on the spatiotemporal front of forest disturbance. Concurrently, boom-and-bust dynamics of synanthropic species in agricultural landscapes may support the amplification of pathogens in proximity to human settlements.This combination of spillover and amplification may be a key mechanism involved in deforestation-induced pathogen spillovers, highlighting the global health threats of encroaching into natural areas.