Ventilation of multi-entranced rodent burrows by boundary layer eddies

Brickner-Braun, Inbal; Zucker-Milwerger, Daniel; Braun, Avi; Turner, J. Scott; Pinshow, Berry; Berliner, Pedro

doi:10.1242/jeb.114231

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Fleas living in burrows, for example, are negatively affected in all aspects of their lifecycle (fecundity, development, survival, and activity) in environments with a 100-fold higher level of fractional CO 2 than the atmospheric fraction 82 . This link to ventilation can explain the role of soil characteristics: a poorly ventilated burrow (impermeable, non-sandy soil) may reach up to 65-fold higher level of fractional CO 2 , whereas a unventilated permeable (sandy) soil would only reach up to 25-fold higher levels, and a well-ventilated permeable soil would only reach up to 7-fold higher 83 . Likewise, soil mineral content could have downstream effects on the homeostasis of virulence-related minerals in the body of the host.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plague risk in the western United States over seven decades of environmental change

Carlson

Bevins

Schmid

2021

Preprint

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After several pandemics over the last two millennia, the wildlife reservoirs of plague (Yersinia pestis) now persist around the world, including in the western United States. Routine surveillance in this region has generated comprehensive records of human cases and animal seroprevalence, creating a unique opportunity to test how plague reservoirs are responding to environmental change. Here, we develop a new method to detect the signal of climate change in infectious disease distributions, and test whether plague reservoirs and spillover risk have shifted since 1950. We find that plague foci are associated with high-elevation rodent communities, and soil biochemistry may play a key role in the geography of long-term persistence. In addition, we find that human cases are concentrated only in a small subset of endemic areas, and that spillover events are driven by higher rodent species richness (the amplification hypothesis) and climatic anomalies (the trophic cascade hypothesis). Using our detection model, we find that due to the changing climate, rodent communities at high elevations have become more conducive to the establishment of plague reservoirs - with suitability increasing up to 40% in some places - and that spillover risk to humans at mid-elevations has increased as well, although more gradually. These results highlight opportunities for deeper investigation of plague ecology, the value of integrative surveillance for infectious disease geography, and the need for further research into ongoing climate change impacts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plague risk in the western United States over seven decades of environmental change

Carlson

Bevins

Schmid

2021

Preprint

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“…Studies of burrow-dwelling animals, including rodents, report that the architecture of the animals' burrow may reduce the buildup of CO 2 in some cases (Vogel et al, 1973;Kleineidam and Roces, 2000;Brickner-Braun et al, 2014). Indeed, this behavior is expected if there are costs associated with high F CO2 , because burrows are the product of natural selection acting on the builder (Turner, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flea fitness is reduced by high fractional concentrations of CO2 that simulate levels found in their hosts' burrows

Downs

Pinshow

Khokhlova

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Nidicolous ectoparasites such as fleas and gamasid mites that feed on small and medium-sized mammals spend much of their time in their hosts' burrows, which provide an environment for living, and often feeding, to their pre-imaginal and/or adult stages. Thus, these ectoparasites should be adapted to environmental conditions in burrows, including high fractional concentrations of CO 2 (F CO2 ). We examined how a high F CO2 (0.04) affected survival and reproductive success of a hematophagous ectoparasite of burrowing rodents using fleas Xenopsylla ramesis and Sundevall's jirds Meriones crassus. In the first experiment, fleas fed on hosts housed in high-CO 2 (F CO2 =0.04) or atmospheric-CO 2 (F CO2 ≈0.0004) air, and were allowed to breed. In a second experiment, fleas were maintained in high CO 2 or CO 2 -free air with no hosts to determine how CO 2 levels affect survival and activity levels. We found that at high F CO2 fleas laid fewer eggs, reducing reproductive success. In addition, at high F CO2 , activity levels and survival of fleas were reduced. Our results indicate that fleas do not perform well in the F CO2 used in this experiment. Previous research indicated that the type and intensity of the effects of CO 2 concentration on the fitness of an insect depend on the F CO2 used, so we advise caution when generalizing inferences drawn to insects exposed to other F CO2 . If, however, F CO2 found in natural mammal burrows brings about reduced fitness in fleas in general, then burrowing hosts may benefit from reduced parasite infestation if burrow air F CO2 is high.

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“…Burrows protect their occupants from predators and parasites [ 2 ], provide shelter during periods of vulnerability, such as during molting or when rearing young [ 3 ], and buffer their occupants from the vagaries of the environment, including from events like fire, flooding, and rain [ 4 , 5 ]. Also, these structures can serve as adaptive interfaces for managing fluxes of gases and energy between the inhabitant(s) and their physical environment [ 1 , 6 ]. Burrows are ubiquitous structures, and, on land, are dug by animals whose size ranges from small arthropods (e.g., ants and spiders) to large mammals (e.g., aardvarks and warthogs) [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…due to limited ventilation and thus affect its normal physiological functions. This is, however, not necessarily the case, and several ventilation mechanisms have been reported in the literature for relatively large bi-entrance [ 6 , 9 ] and single entrance burrows [ 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Temperature and Humidity at the Bottom of Desert Wolf Spider Burrows Are Not Affected by Surface Conditions

Steves

Berliner

Pinshow

2021

Insects

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Burrows are animal-built structures that can buffer their occupants against the vagaries of the weather and provide protection from predators. We investigated whether the trapdoors of wolf spider (Lycosa sp.; temporary working name "L. hyraculus") burrows in the Negev Desert serve to maintain favorable environmental conditions within the burrow by removing trapdoors and monitoring the ensuing temperature and relative humidity regime within them. We also monitored the behavioral responses of “L. hyraculus” to trapdoor removal at different times of the day and in different seasons. “L. hyraculus” often spun silk mesh in their burrow entrances in response to trapdoor removal during the day, possibly to deter diurnal predators. The frequency of web-spinning peaked on summer mornings, but spiders began spinning webs sooner after trapdoor removal later in the day. In addition, we monitored temperature and relative humidity in artificial burrows in the summer during the morning and at midday. At noon, air temperature (Ta) at the bottom of open burrows increased by <1 °C more than in covered burrows, but water vapor pressure in burrows did not change. The relatively small increase in Ta in uncovered burrows at midday can probably be ascribed to the penetration of direct solar radiation. Thus, air temperature and humidity at the bottom of the burrow are apparently decoupled from airflow at the surface.

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Ventilation of multi-entranced rodent burrows by boundary layer eddies

Cited by 15 publications

References 43 publications

Plague risk in the western United States over seven decades of environmental change

Plague risk in the western United States over seven decades of environmental change

Flea fitness is reduced by high fractional concentrations of CO2 that simulate levels found in their hosts' burrows

Air Temperature and Humidity at the Bottom of Desert Wolf Spider Burrows Are Not Affected by Surface Conditions

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