The physiological cost of male-biased parasitism in a nearly monomorphic mammal

Oliver-Guimerá, Arturo; Martínez‐Carrasco, Carlos; Tvarijonaviciute, Asta; Ybáñez, R. Ruiz de; Martínez-Guijosa, Jordi; López‐Olvera, Jorge Ramón; Fernández-Aguilar, Xavier; Colom-Cadena, Andreu; Mentaberre, Gregorio; Velarde, Roser; Gassó, Diana; Garel, Mathieu; Rossi, Luca; Lavı́n, Santiago; Serrano, Emmanuel

doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2060-5

Cited by 21 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Byrne et al, ) and thus provide a proxy of the costs associated with different alternative reproductive tactics. A recent study, however, suggested that males may have developed natural mechanisms to compensate for higher parasite infection during the rut (Oliver‐Guimerá et al, ). If so, ARTs may not suffer different costs of parasitism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasitism and alternative reproductive tactics in Northern chamois

Corlatti

Lorenzetti

Bassano

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs), discrete phenotypic variations evolved to maximize fitness, may entail different cost‐benefit trade‐offs. In large mammals, differences in costs associated with ARTs—including energy expenditure and parasite infection—are typically greatest during the breeding season. Nonetheless, physiological and behavioral differences between ARTs can manifest throughout the year, possibly involving costs that may contribute to maintain ARTs within populations. Using the number of nematode larvae per gram of feces (LPG) as a proxy, we explored the temporal changes in lung parasite infection in territorial and nonterritorial male chamois Rupicapra in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), between 2011 and 2012. We aimed to identify which tactic‐specific physiological and behavioral features (including age, hormonal levels, inter‐ and intrasexual interactions, and space use) or climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) best explained yearly variation in parasite infection within and between ARTs. Generalized additive mixed models showed that the fecal larval counts of lung nematodes underwent strong temporal changes in both male types. Differences between ARTs (with higher LPG values in territorial than nonterritorial males) were greatest during the rut and—to a lesser extent—in spring, respectively, at the peak and at the onset of territoriality. The difference in LPG between tactics was largely explained by the greater levels of hormone metabolites in territorial males during the rut. The other variables did not contribute significantly to explain the different shedding of larvae within and between ARTs. Our analysis suggests that different values of LPG between territorial and nonterritorial males are largely a result of tactic‐specific differences in the secretion of hormone metabolites, but only during the rut. To clarify whether rut‐related parasitism contributes to the maintenance of ARTs, tactic‐specific life history trade‐offs, for example, between reproduction and parasite‐related mortality, must be investigated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasitism and alternative reproductive tactics in Northern chamois

Corlatti

Lorenzetti

Bassano

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…competition for resources among parasite species) only visible under a co-infection approach. The study of these interactions and the price of neglecting parasite group/species when addressing the cost of parasites to host fitness is gaining increasing attention in the disease ecology community [ 74 , 75 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of gastrointestinal helminths in Dall's sheep and the negative association of the abomasal nematode, Marshallagia marshalli, with fitness indicators

et al. 2018

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Gastrointestinal helminths can have a detrimental effect on the fitness of wild ungulates. Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are ideal for the study of host-parasite interactions due to the comparatively simple ecological interactions and limited confounding factors. We used a unique dataset assembled in the early seventies to study the diversity of gastrointestinal helminths and their effect on fitness indicators of Dall’s sheep, Ovis dalli dalli, in the Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada. Parasite diversity included nine species, among which the abomasal nematode Marshallagia marshalli occurred with the highest prevalence and infection intensity. The intensity of M. marshalli increased with age and was negatively associated with body condition and pregnancy status in Dall’s sheep across all the analyses performed. The intensity of the intestinal whipworm, Trichuris schumakovitschi, decreased with age. No other parasites were significantly associated with age, body condition, or pregnancy. Our study suggests that M. marshalli might negatively influence fitness of adult female Dall’s sheep.

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“…moose, Alces alces ) [ 26 ] or negative relationship (e.g. chamois, Dall’s sheep) [ 14 , 27 ] on the health and individual fitness of host with increased parasite richness were reported. This might be explained by the nematode community composition with different levels of pathogenicity among parasites, even among closely phylogenetically related species, and may have synergistic or antagonistic interactions [ 18 , 28 – 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabarcoding in two isolated populations of wild roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) reveals variation in gastrointestinal nematode community composition between regions and among age classes

et al. 2021

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Background Gastrointestinal nematodes are ubiquitous for both domestic and wild ungulates and have varying consequences for health and fitness. They exist as complex communities of multiple co-infecting species, and we have a limited understanding of how these communities vary in different hosts, regions and circumstances or of how this affects their impacts. Methods We have undertaken ITS2 rDNA nemabiome metabarcoding with next-generation sequencing on populations of nematode larvae isolated from 149 fecal samples of roe deer of different sex and age classes in the two isolated populations of Chizé and Trois Fontaines in France not co-grazing with any domestic ungulate species. Results We identified 100 amplified sequence variants (ASVs) that were assigned to 14 gastrointestinal nematode taxa overall at either genus (29%) or species (71%) level. These taxa were dominated by parasites classically found in cervids—e.g. Ostertagia leptospicularis, Spiculopteragia spp. Higher parasite species diversity was present in the Trois Fontaines population than in the Chizé population including the presence of species more typically seen in domestic livestock (Haemonchus contortus, Bunostomum sp., Cooperia punctata, Teladorsagia circumcincta). No differences in parasite species diversity or community composition were seen in the samples collected from three zones of differing habitat quality within the Chizé study area. Young roe deer hosted the highest diversity of gastrointestinal nematodes, with more pronounced effects of age apparent in Trois Fontaines. The effect of host age differed between gastrointestinal nematode species, e.g. there was little effect on O. leptospicularis but a large effect on Trichostrongylus spp. No effect of host sex was detected in either site. Conclusions The presence of some livestock parasite species in the Trois Fontaines roe deer population was unexpected given the isolation of this population away from grazing domestic livestock since decades. Overall, our results illustrate the influence of host traits and the local environment on roe deer nemabiome and demonstrate the power of the nemabiome metabarcoding approach to elucidate the composition of gastrointestinal nematode communities in wildlife. Graphical Abstract

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The physiological cost of male-biased parasitism in a nearly monomorphic mammal

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

Parasitism and alternative reproductive tactics in Northern chamois

Parasitism and alternative reproductive tactics in Northern chamois

Diversity of gastrointestinal helminths in Dall's sheep and the negative association of the abomasal nematode, Marshallagia marshalli, with fitness indicators

Metabarcoding in two isolated populations of wild roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) reveals variation in gastrointestinal nematode community composition between regions and among age classes

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