Prevalence of Hematozoa Infections Among Breeding and Wintering Rusty Blackbirds

Barnard, William H.; Mettke-Hofmann, Claudia; Matsuoka, Steven M.

doi:10.1525/cond.2010.100143

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Past studies have generally found low prevalence of blood parasites in taxa sampled at northern arctic and sub-arctic tundra landscapes [1]–[4] in contrast to higher rates of infection detected in birds sampled throughout forested habitats of Alaska and northern Canada [2], [5]–[6]. Low apparent prevalence of hematozoa in wild birds using tundra habitats may be due to lack of tree cover and concomitant high wind speeds that limit the availability of hosts to suitable vectors [2], or lower daily temperatures that inhibit hematozoa development [7]–[8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Molecular Detection of Hematozoa Infections in Tundra Swans Relative to Migration Patterns and Ecological Conditions at Breeding Grounds

et al. 2012

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Tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) are broadly distributed in North America, use a wide variety of habitats, and exhibit diverse migration strategies. We investigated patterns of hematozoa infection in three populations of tundra swans that breed in Alaska using satellite tracking to infer host movement and molecular techniques to assess the prevalence and genetic diversity of parasites. We evaluated whether migratory patterns and environmental conditions at breeding areas explain the prevalence of blood parasites in migratory birds by contrasting the fit of competing models formulated in an occupancy modeling framework and calculating the detection probability of the top model using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). We described genetic diversity of blood parasites in each population of swans by calculating the number of unique parasite haplotypes observed. Blood parasite infection was significantly different between populations of Alaska tundra swans, with the highest estimated prevalence occurring among birds occupying breeding areas with lower mean daily wind speeds and higher daily summer temperatures. Models including covariates of wind speed and temperature during summer months at breeding grounds better predicted hematozoa prevalence than those that included annual migration distance or duration. Genetic diversity of blood parasites in populations of tundra swans appeared to be relative to hematozoa prevalence. Our results suggest ecological conditions at breeding grounds may explain differences of hematozoa infection among populations of tundra swans that breed in Alaska.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Molecular Detection of Hematozoa Infections in Tundra Swans Relative to Migration Patterns and Ecological Conditions at Breeding Grounds

et al. 2012

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“…To determine the extent to which migratory birds may disperse parasites, one must quantify the prevalence and diversity of lineages at different stages of the annual cycle (Wood & Cosgrove, ). For most resident and migratory birds from the temperate zone, prevalence and diversity of blood parasites are greater during the breeding period (Cornelius, Zylberberg, Breuner, Gleiss, & Hahn, ; Cosgrove et al., ; Valkiūnas, ) although this is not always the case (Barnard, Mettke‐Hofmann, & Matsuoka, ; Deviche, Fokidis, Lerbour, & Greiner, ; Dunn et al., ). Temporal patterns in prevalence are likely lineage‐specific due to particular host–parasite dynamics and variation in migratory strategy (Hellgren et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For most resident and migratory birds from the temperate zone, prevalence and diversity of blood parasites are greater during the breeding period (Cornelius, Zylberberg, Breuner, Gleiss, & Hahn, 2014;Cosgrove et al, 2008;Valkiūnas, 2005) although this is not always the case (Barnard, Mettke-Hofmann, & Matsuoka, 2010;Deviche, Fokidis, Lerbour, & Greiner, 2010;Dunn et al, 2014). Temporal patterns in prevalence are likely lineage-specific due to particular host-parasite dynamics and variation in migratory strategy .…”

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confidence: 99%

Migratory birds as vehicles for parasite dispersal? Infection by avian haemosporidians over the year and throughout the range of a long‐distance migrant

Pulgarín‐R

Gómez

Bayly

et al. 2018

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim The role of migratory birds in the spread of parasites is poorly known, in part because migratory strategies and behaviours potentially affecting transmission are not easy to study. We investigated the dynamics of infection by blood parasites through the annual cycle of a long‐distance Nearctic–Neotropical migratory songbird to examine the role of this species in dispersing parasites between continents. Location The Americas. Taxon Grey‐cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus, Aves, Passeriformes, Turdidae), Birds. Methods We used molecular and microscopy screening of haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon) to examine the prevalence, distribution, and diversity of lineages through the annual cycle (breeding, migration, and wintering) of the grey‐cheeked thrush in North and Central America, Santa Marta mountains, the Andes, and the Amazon. We aimed to identify transmission areas, to examine the degree of sharing of haemosporidian lineages with resident birds in various areas and to assess the potential role of immunologically naïve juvenile individuals in parasite transmission. Results Prevalence and lineage diversity of haemosporidians varied significantly over time, being higher during breeding and fall and spring migration, and declining during wintering. Grey‐cheeked thrush shared few parasite lineages with tropical resident birds and slightly more lineages with other migratory and resident boreal species. We detected gametocytes in blood during spring migration stopover, but these were of lineages not found in resident tropical birds, indicating relapses of parasites transmitted elsewhere. Transmission likely occurs mostly on the breeding grounds, where juveniles and adults carried lineages restricted to closely related species of thrushes and other species of boreal birds. Main conclusions Long‐distance migratory songbirds are likely not important dispersers of blood parasites because there are ecological and evolutionary barriers to the interchange of parasites across vastly separated areas. Further work with thorough spatial and temporal sampling across other species, and considering the role of vectors, is necessary to understand the ecological and evolutionary factors explaining the distribution of parasites over broad scales.

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“…Some previous studies have found a pattern of high levels of haemosporidians circulating in the avian blood stream during the spring and summer, with low or undetectable parasite levels during the winter [ 36 – 38 ], suggesting a pattern of winter dormancy. On the other hand, another study found a high haemosporidian prevalence detectable in the bloodstream of rusty blackbirds ( Euphagus carolinus ) during the winter in Mississippi and Arkansas, suggesting that winter dormancy of haemosporidian parasites may not occur in those populations [ 39 ]. Consistent with the Barnard, Mettke-Hofmann [ 39 ] study, our results suggest that winter dormancy in the host organs may not occur in some temperate avian haemosporidian populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedentary songbirds maintain higher prevalence of haemosporidian parasite infections than migratory conspecifics during seasonal sympatry

et al. 2018

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Long-distance migrations influence the physiology, behavior, and fitness of migratory animals throughout their annual cycles, and fundamentally alter their interactions with parasites. Several hypotheses relating migratory behavior to the likelihood of parasitism have entered the literature, making conflicting, testable predictions. To assess how migratory behavior of hosts is associated with parasitism, we compared haemosporidian parasite infections between two closely related populations of a common North American sparrow, the dark-eyed junco, that co-occur in shared habitats during the non-breeding season. One population is sedentary and winters and breeds in the Appalachian Mountains. The other population is migratory and is found in seasonal sympatry with the sedentary population from October through April, but then flies (≥ 900 km) northwards to breed. The populations were sampled in the wild on the shared montane habitat at the beginning of winter and again after confining them in a captive common environment until the spring. We found significantly higher prevalence of haemosporidian parasite infections in the sedentary population. Among infected juncos, we found no difference in parasite densities (parasitemias) between the sedentary and migrant populations and no evidence for winter dormancy of the parasites. Our results suggest that long-distance migration may reduce the prevalence of parasite infections at the population level. Our results are inconsistent with the migratory exposure hypothesis, which posits that long-distance migration increases exposure of hosts to diverse parasites, and with the migratory susceptibility hypothesis, which posits that trade-offs between immune function and migration increase host susceptibility to parasites. However, our results are consistent with the migratory culling hypothesis, which posits that heavily infected animals are less likely to survive long-distance migration, and with the migratory escape hypothesis, which posits that long-distance migration allows host populations to seasonally escape areas of high infection risk.

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Prevalence of Hematozoa Infections Among Breeding and Wintering Rusty Blackbirds

Cited by 15 publications

References 29 publications

Molecular Detection of Hematozoa Infections in Tundra Swans Relative to Migration Patterns and Ecological Conditions at Breeding Grounds

Molecular Detection of Hematozoa Infections in Tundra Swans Relative to Migration Patterns and Ecological Conditions at Breeding Grounds

Migratory birds as vehicles for parasite dispersal? Infection by avian haemosporidians over the year and throughout the range of a long‐distance migrant

Sedentary songbirds maintain higher prevalence of haemosporidian parasite infections than migratory conspecifics during seasonal sympatry

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