Host life-history traits predict haemosporidian parasite prevalence in tanagers (Aves: Thraupidae)

Vector-borne parasites are important ecological drivers influencing life-history evolution in birds by increasing host mortality or susceptibility to new diseases. Therefore, understanding why vulnerability to infection varies within a host clade is a crucial task for conservation biology and for understanding macroecological life-history patterns. Here, we studied the relationship of avian life-history traits and climate on the prevalence of Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus parasites. We sampled 3569 individual birds belonging to 53 species of the family Thraupidae. Individuals were captured from 2007 to 2018 at 92 locations. We created 2 phylogenetic generalized least-squares models with Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus prevalence as our response variables, and with the following predictor variables: climate PC1, climate PC2, body size, mixed-species flock participation, incubation period, migration, nest height, foraging height, forest cover, and diet. We found that Parahaemoproteus and Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species inhabiting open habitats. Tanager species with longer incubation periods had higher Parahaemoproteus prevalence as well, and we hypothesize that these longer incubation periods overlap with maximum vector abundances, resulting in a higher probability of infection among adult hosts during their incubation period and among chicks. Lastly, we found that Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species without migratory behaviour, with mixed-species flock participation, and with an omnivorous or animal-derived diet. We discuss the consequences of higher infection prevalence in relation to life-history traits in tanagers.Fil: Aguiar de Souza Penha, Victor. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Maia Chaves Bicalho Domingos, Fabricius. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Fecchio, Alan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica; ArgentinaFil: Bell, Jeffrey A.. University of South Dakota; Estados UnidosFil: Weckstein, Jason D.. No especifíca;Fil: Ricklefs, Robert E.. University of Missouri; Estados UnidosFil: Martins Braga, Erika. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: de Abreu Moreira, Patrícia. Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; BrasilFil: Soares, Leticia. University of Western Australia; AustraliaFil: Latta, Steven. No especifíca;Fil: Tolesano Pascoli, Graziela. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Alquezar, Renata Duarte. Universidade do Brasília; BrasilFil: Del Claro, Kleber. Universidade Federal de Uberlandia; BrasilFil: Tonelli Manica, Lilian. Universidade Federal do Paraná; Brasi

Variação geográfica na morfologia de Gymnodactylus amarali (Squamata, Gekkonidae)

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Ecologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, 2009.As diferenças de folidose entre populações geograficamente distintas no Cerrado brasileiro de Gymnodactylus amarali (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae) e suas relações com variáveis ambientais de clima e altitude foram investigadas. Foi realizada também uma busca por autocorrelação espacial destes caracteres. Dados de folidose foram obtidos de 1044 espécimes de 44 localidades diferentes tombados em coleções herpetológicas, consistindo de 21 caracteres merísticos e oito (8) qualitativos. Análises de correspondência canônica (CCA) foram conduzidas, em três passos consecutivos: 1, busca por autocorrelação espacial; 2, busca por variáveis ambientais que expliquem a variação nos dados morfológicos, utilizando 56 variáveis retiradas do banco de dados WordlClim; 3, CCA final utilizando os componentes selecionados anteriormente. Não foi observada autocorrelação espacial para caracteres morfológicos utilizados. Duas variáveis ambientais (TMAX9 - temperatura máxima do mês de setembro, e TSeasonality sazonalidade térmica, desvio padrão da média anual das médias de temperatura semanais) melhor explicam a variação dos caracteres. Possivelmente a capacidade de se adaptar a variações e/ou transições de temperatura possui forte caráter seletivo nestes organismos, mais do que a simples adaptação a situações extremas de aridez, especialmente para o Cerrado onde ocorrem enormes flutuações climáticas ao longo do ano. Um total de 12,69% da variação morfológica foi constringida pela análise, indicando que podem explicar em termos adaptativos parte da variação morfológica observada. Análises filogeográficas de G. amarali seriam fundamentais na tentativa de explicar as influências históricas envolvidas no restante da variação. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTFolidosis differences among geographically distinct populations of Gymnodactylus amarali (Squamata, Phyllodactylidae) in the Brazilian Cerrado and their relationships with environmental variables of climate and altitude were investigated. Folidosis data were obtained from 1044 specimens of 44 different locations in herpetological collections, consisting of 21 meristic and eight (8) qualitative characters. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were performed in three consecutive steps: 1, searching for spatial autocorrelation; 2, searching for environmental variables that explain the variation in the morphological data, using 56 variables from the database WordlClim; 3, last CCA using the previously selected components. There was no spatial autocorrelation for the morphological characters used. Two environmental variables (TMAX9 - maximum temperature of September, and TSeasonality - tempeature seasonality, the standard deviation of the annual mean of the weeks temperatures means) better explain the characters variation. Possibly, there are a strong selection acting in the ability to adapt to changes and/or temperature transitions in these organisms, showing more than a simple adaptation to situations of extreme dryness, especially for Cerrado, where huge climate fluctuations during the year occurs. A total of 12.69% of the morphological variation was constrained by the analysis, indicating that adaptation may in part explain the morphological variation observed. Phylogeographical analysis of G. amarali would play an important role explaining the historical factors involved in the remained variation

Toward the integration of speciation research

Acknowledgements: We thank the staff of the Tvärminne Zoological Station (University of Helsinki) for their hospitality during the workshop. We are also grateful to everyone who applied to attend the workshop.Funder: European Society for Evolutionary Biology; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100013632Abstract Speciation research—the scientific field focused on understanding the origin and diversity of species—has a long and complex history. While relevant to one another, the specific goals and activities of speciation researchers are highly diverse, and scattered across a collection of different perspectives. Thus, our understanding of speciation will benefit from efforts to bridge scientific findings and the diverse people who do the work. In this paper, we outline two ways of integrating speciation research: (i) scientific integration, through the bringing together of ideas, data, and approaches; and (ii) social integration, by creating ways for a diversity of researchers to participate in the scientific process. We then discuss five challenges to integration: (i) the multidisciplinary nature of speciation research, (ii) the complex language of speciation; (iii) a bias toward certain study systems; (iv) the challenges of working across scales; and (v) inconsistent measures and reporting standards. We provide practical steps that individuals and groups can take to help overcome these challenges, and argue that integration is a team effort in which we all have a role to play.</jats:p

Toward the integration of speciation research

International audienceSpeciation research—the scientific field focused on understanding the origin and diversity of species—has a long and complex history. While relevant to one another, the specific goals and activities of speciation researchers are highly diverse, and scattered across a collection of different perspectives. Thus, our understanding of speciation will benefit from efforts to bridge scientific findings and the diverse people who do the work. In this paper, we outline two ways of integrating speciation research: (i) scientific integration, through the bringing together of ideas, data, and approaches; and (ii) social integration, by creating ways for a diversity of researchers to participate in the scientific process. We then discuss five challenges to integration: (i) the multidisciplinary nature of speciation research, (ii) the complex language of speciation; (iii) a bias toward certain study systems; (iv) the challenges of working across scales; and (v) inconsistent measures and reporting standards. We provide practical steps that individuals and groups can take to help overcome these challenges and argue that integration is a team effort in which we all have a role to play

Toward the integration of speciation research

Acknowledgements: We thank the staff of the Tvärminne Zoological Station (University of Helsinki) for their hospitality during the workshop. We are also grateful to everyone who applied to attend the workshop.Funder: European Society for Evolutionary Biology; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100013632Speciation research—the scientific field focused on understanding the origin and diversity of species—has a long and complex history. While relevant to one another, the specific goals and activities of speciation researchers are highly diverse, and scattered across a collection of different perspectives. Thus, our understanding of speciation will benefit from efforts to bridge scientific findings and the diverse people who do the work. In this paper, we outline two ways of integrating speciation research: (i) scientific integration, through the bringing together of ideas, data, and approaches; and (ii) social integration, by creating ways for a diversity of researchers to participate in the scientific process. We then discuss five challenges to integration: (i) the multidisciplinary nature of speciation research, (ii) the complex language of speciation; (iii) a bias toward certain study systems; (iv) the challenges of working across scales; and (v) inconsistent measures and reporting standards. We provide practical steps that individuals and groups can take to help overcome these challenges, and argue that integration is a team effort in which we all have a role to play

Toward the integration of speciation research

Acknowledgements: We thank the staff of the Tvärminne Zoological Station (University of Helsinki) for their hospitality during the workshop. We are also grateful to everyone who applied to attend the workshop.Funder: European Society for Evolutionary Biology; DOI: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100013632Speciation research—the scientific field focused on understanding the origin and diversity of species—has a long and complex history. While relevant to one another, the specific goals and activities of speciation researchers are highly diverse, and scattered across a collection of different perspectives. Thus, our understanding of speciation will benefit from efforts to bridge scientific findings and the diverse people who do the work. In this paper, we outline two ways of integrating speciation research: (i) scientific integration, through the bringing together of ideas, data, and approaches; and (ii) social integration, by creating ways for a diversity of researchers to participate in the scientific process. We then discuss five challenges to integration: (i) the multidisciplinary nature of speciation research, (ii) the complex language of speciation; (iii) a bias toward certain study systems; (iv) the challenges of working across scales; and (v) inconsistent measures and reporting standards. We provide practical steps that individuals and groups can take to help overcome these challenges, and argue that integration is a team effort in which we all have a role to play