Environmental Parasitism Risk and Host Infection Status Affect Patch Use in Foraging Wild Mice

Hou, Ching Ho; Shaner, Pei Jen L.; Hsiao, Chun Jui; Lin, Yu Teh Kirk

doi:10.1111/eth.12521

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Another study on this A. semotus population has demonstrated that ivermectin‐treated adults preferred food patches without conspecific feces (Hou et al. ). Although the same study did not find the mice to discriminate between food patches with low‐FEC vs. high‐FEC feces, it still suggests that A. semotus can use conspecific feces as cues to make decisions on patch choice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…To confirm ivermectin efficacy and quantify environmental infection risks, we performed fecal egg count (FEC, the number of strongyle nematode eggs per gram of feces) following Hou et al. ().…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The juveniles, and the adults captured at the last trapping session, were not given any treatment. To confirm ivermectin efficacy and quantify environmental infection risks, we performed fecal egg count (FEC, the number of strongyle nematode eggs per gram of feces) following Hou et al (2016).…”

Section: Anthelmintic Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spacing behaviors and spatial recruitment of a wild rodent in response to parasitism

Shaner

et al. 2017

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Host spacing may benefit the parasites (e.g., enhance parasite transmission) or the hosts (e.g., reduce host infection), with profound consequences in epidemiology and host-parasite dynamics. In this study, we tested parasitism effects of intestinal nematodes on spacing behaviors and spatial recruitment of the Taiwan field mouse (Apodemus semotus). We tracked the locations of resident mice for 84% of the host population, with half of them experimentally reduced of their parasitic infection. We interpolated geo-tagged data on parasite egg counts of the resident mice to create an infection risk landscape and extracted the risks to the locations of newly recruited mice. We performed parentage analysis to identify mother-offspring pairs, which allowed us to test whether in situ recruits moved toward lower-risk areas during natal dispersal. We found that the less-infected mice became spatially aggregated compared to the more heavily infected, and the juvenile recruits occurred preferentially in lower-risk areas compared to the landscape, the residents, and their natal places. The spatial aggregation of less-infected resident mice and the association of juvenile recruits with lower-risk areas could hinder parasite transmission. This study provided some empirical support for a potential link between host recruitment process and parasitism risks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spacing behaviors and spatial recruitment of a wild rodent in response to parasitism

Shaner

et al. 2017

Ecosphere

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“…The site was on a river terrace isolated from other forested areas by rivers, paved roads, and orchards. The physical isolation of the site from other suitable habitats helped to ensure a high capture rate (c. 99%; Hou et al, 2016) that is critical to parentage analysis. A 9-ha grid comprised of 332 trapping stations (15 m between adjacent stations; Figure S1) was set up to cover the entire site.…”

Section: Study Site and Mouse Trappingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent

Shaner

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Food and parasitism can have complex effects on small mammal reproduction. In this study, we tested the effects of sex, food, and parasitism on reproductive performance of the Taiwan field mouse (Apodemus semotus). In a field experiment, we increased food availability for a portion of the mice in the population by providing sorghum seeds to a set of food stations. We reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We determined the number and quality of offspring for the mice using paternity analysis. We quantified seed consumption with stable carbon isotope values of mouse plasma and parasite intensity with fecal egg counts of intestinal nematodes and cestodes (FEC). In a laboratory experiment, we reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We quantified their immune functions by total white blood cell count, percent granulocyte count, and percent lymphocyte count through hematological analyses. We measured the FEC and energy intake of the mice. From the field experiment, the number of offspring in A. semotus increased with increasing seed consumption. Due to the trade‐off between number and quality of offspring, the offspring quality decreased with increasing seed consumption for the females. The ivermectin treatment did not affect offspring number or quality. However, the FEC was positively correlated with number of offspring. In the laboratory experiment, the percent lymphocyte/granulocyte count changed with parasite intensity at low energy intake, which was relaxed at high energy intake. This study demonstrated positive effects of food availability and neutral effects of parasitism on A. semotus reproduction. However, the benefits of food availability for the females need to take into account the offspring number–quality trade‐off, and at high infection intensity, parasitism might negatively affect offspring quality for the males. We suggest that food availability could mediate the relationships between parasite intensity and immune responses.

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“…Similarly, parasite avoidance should be most pronounced when infection risk is aggregated and detectable. Hosts can flee from biting vectors (Hart 1994) and some skin‐penetrating infective stages (Karvonen et al , Taylor et al ), but for passively ingested (or otherwise undetectable) infectious stages, avoidance depends on associated cues, such as odor (Kavaliers and Colwell , Poirotte et al ), a carcass (Capinera et al , Turner et al ) or feces (Cooper et al 2000, Hou et al ). Human disgust towards feces is nearly universal and likely protects against disease (Curtis and Biran , Curtis ); however, we know relatively little about the extent to which wild animals detect and react to such indirect cues about parasitism risk, in part because it can be difficult to measure how transmission risk varies across a landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of feces? Tradeoffs between disease risk and foraging drive animal activity around raccoon latrines

Weinstein

Moura

Mendez

et al. 2018

Oikos

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Fear of predation alters prey behavior, which can indirectly alter entire landscapes. A parasite‐induced ecology of fear might also exist if animals avoid parasite‐contaminated resources when infection costs outweigh foraging benefits. To investigate whether animals avoid parasite contaminated sites, and if such avoidance balances disease costs and foraging gains, we monitored animal behavior at raccoon latrines – sites that concentrate both seeds and pathogenic parasite eggs. Using wildlife cameras, we documented over 40 potentially susceptible vertebrate species in latrines and adjacent habitat. Latrine contact rates reflected background activity, diet preferences and disease risk. Disease‐tolerant raccoons and rats displayed significant site attraction, while susceptible birds and small mammals avoided these high‐risk sites. This suggests that parasites, like predators, might create a landscape of fear for vulnerable hosts. Such non‐consumptive parasite effects could alter disease transmission, population dynamics, and even ecosystem structure.

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Environmental Parasitism Risk and Host Infection Status Affect Patch Use in Foraging Wild Mice

Cited by 8 publications

References 34 publications

Spacing behaviors and spatial recruitment of a wild rodent in response to parasitism

Spacing behaviors and spatial recruitment of a wild rodent in response to parasitism

The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent

Fear of feces? Tradeoffs between disease risk and foraging drive animal activity around raccoon latrines

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