Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host–parasite dynamics in wildlife

Becker, Daniel J.; Hall, Richard J.; Forbes, Kristian M.; Plowright, Raina K.; Altizer, Sonia

doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0086

Cited by 40 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…As a final level of complexity, pathogens in the same host may have opposite responses to provisioning owing to differences in transmission modes or interactions with the immune system [ 2 , 18 ]. Although predicting when provisioning can increase or decrease infection in wildlife is important to manage disease risks [ 19 , 20 ], few studies have explored cross-scale links between food availability, immunity and infection in natural systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles and bacterial infection risk

Becker

Czirják

Volokhov

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Human activities create novel food resources that can alter wildlife–pathogen interactions. If resources amplify or dampen, pathogen transmission probably depends on both host ecology and pathogen biology, but studies that measure responses to provisioning across both scales are rare. We tested these relationships with a 4-year study of 369 common vampire bats across 10 sites in Peru and Belize that differ in the abundance of livestock, an important anthropogenic food source. We quantified innate and adaptive immunity from bats and assessed infection with two common bacteria. We predicted that abundant livestock could reduce starvation and foraging effort, allowing for greater investments in immunity. Bats from high-livestock sites had higher microbicidal activity and proportions of neutrophils but lower immunoglobulin G and proportions of lymphocytes, suggesting more investment in innate relative to adaptive immunity and either greater chronic stress or pathogen exposure. This relationship was most pronounced in reproductive bats, which were also more common in high-livestock sites, suggesting feedbacks between demographic correlates of provisioning and immunity. Infection with both Bartonella and haemoplasmas were correlated with similar immune profiles, and both pathogens tended to be less prevalent in high-livestock sites, although effects were weaker for haemoplasmas. These differing responses to provisioning might therefore reflect distinct transmission processes. Predicting how provisioning alters host–pathogen interactions requires considering how both within-host processes and transmission modes respond to resource shifts.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host–parasite dynamics in wildlife’.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles and bacterial infection risk

Becker

Czirják

Volokhov

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

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“…Alternatively, other variables have been measured by ecological physiologists for decades, but are relatively new in terms of their application to conservation science (e.g. immune function: Norris and Evans, 2000 ; Hing et al , 2016 ; Becker et al , 2018 ). As a result, they require validations regarding their feasibility for use in this novel context, such as their relationship to the demographic parameters that drive population responses to environmental change (e.g.…”

Section: What Do We Have In the Toolbox?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The conservation physiology toolbox: status and opportunities

Madliger

Love

Hultine

et al. 2018

Conservation Physiology

109

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For over a century, physiological tools and techniques have been allowing researchers to characterize how organisms respond to changes in their natural environment and how they interact with human activities or infrastructure. Over time, many of these techniques have become part of the conservation physiology toolbox, which is used to monitor, predict, conserve, and restore plant and animal populations under threat. Here, we provide a summary of the tools that currently comprise the conservation physiology toolbox. By assessing patterns in articles that have been published in ‘Conservation Physiology’ over the past 5 years that focus on introducing, refining and validating tools, we provide an overview of where researchers are placing emphasis in terms of taxa and physiological sub-disciplines. Although there is certainly diversity across the toolbox, metrics of stress physiology (particularly glucocorticoids) and studies focusing on mammals have garnered the greatest attention, with both comprising the majority of publications (>45%). We also summarize the types of validations that are actively being completed, including those related to logistics (sample collection, storage and processing), interpretation of variation in physiological traits and relevance for conservation science. Finally, we provide recommendations for future tool refinement, with suggestions for: (i) improving our understanding of the applicability of glucocorticoid physiology; (ii) linking multiple physiological and non-physiological tools; (iii) establishing a framework for plant conservation physiology; (iv) assessing links between environmental disturbance, physiology and fitness; (v) appreciating opportunities for validations in under-represented taxa; and (vi) emphasizing tool validation as a core component of research programmes. Overall, we are confident that conservation physiology will continue to increase its applicability to more taxa, develop more non-invasive techniques, delineate where limitations exist, and identify the contexts necessary for interpretation in captivity and the wild.

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“…This ubiquitous feeding of wildlife by humans, whether intentional or incidental, has a multitude of consequences for wildlife disease ( 9 , 15 , 62 ). The cross-scale effects of anthropogenic resource subsidies are well-described in a recent theme issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B ( 33 ), but the effects of resources on tolerance (in contrast to effects on resistance) are only discussed in one review ( 70 ) and noted as warranting further research in another ( 9 ). In particular, a number of studies have documented how anthropogenic resources can promote host aggregation and limit host movement in ways that will increase transmission, and theoretically, investment in tolerance ( 61 – 63 ).…”

Section: Merging Empirical and Theoretical Inferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, there have not been any theoretical studies that directly address the question of how resources affect host investment in tolerance to infection ( 9 ), where this investment reduces the fitness cost of infection at some cost to the host. We distinguish this theory from other work that has examined how resource-dependent effects on mortality or transmission affect ecological dynamics ( 15 , 33 ). However, existing theory exploring the implications of investment in tolerance for the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite systems does provide indirect insights into how resources might affect tolerance investment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fueling Defense: Effects of Resources on the Ecology and Evolution of Tolerance to Parasite Infection

Budischak

Cressler

2018

Front. Immunol.

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Resource availability is a key environmental constraint affecting the ecology and evolution of species. Resources have strong effects on disease resistance, but they can also affect the other main parasite defense strategy, tolerance. A small but growing number of animal studies are beginning to investigate the effects of resources on tolerance phenotypes. Here, we review how resources affect tolerance strategies across animal taxa ranging from fruit flies to frogs to mice. Surprisingly, resources (quality and quantity) can increase or reduce tolerance, dependent upon the particular host-parasite system. To explore this seeming contradiction, we recast predictions of models of sterility tolerance and mortality tolerance in a resource-dependent context. Doing so reveals that resources can have very different epidemiological and evolutionary effects, depending on what aspects of the tolerance phenotype are affected. Thus, it is critical to consider both sterility and mortality in future empirical studies of how behavioral and environmental resource availability affect tolerance to infection.

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Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host–parasite dynamics in wildlife

Abstract: One contribution of 14 to a theme issue 'Anthropogenic resource subsidies and hostparasite dynamics in wildlife'.

Cited by 40 publications

References 47 publications

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles and bacterial infection risk

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles and bacterial infection risk

The conservation physiology toolbox: status and opportunities

Fueling Defense: Effects of Resources on the Ecology and Evolution of Tolerance to Parasite Infection

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