Intestinal microbiota of Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds vary more over seasons and years than between host species

Seasonal migration of Nearctic-Neotropical passerine birds may have profound effects on the diversity and abundance of their host-associated microbiota. Migratory birds experience seasonal change in environments and diets throughout the course of the annual cycle that, along with recurrent biological events such as reproduction, may significantly impact their microbiota. In this study, we characterize the intestinal microbiota of four closely related species of migratory Catharus thrushes at three time points of their migratory cycle: during spring migration, on the summer breeding territories and during fall migration. Using observations replicated over 3 years, we determined that microbial community diversity of Catharus thrushes was significantly different across distinct time periods of the annual cycle, whereas community composition was more similar within than across years. Elevated alpha diversity in the summer birds compared to either migratory period indicated that birds may harbour a reduced microbiota during active migration. We also found that community composition of the microbiota did not substantially differ between host species. Finally, we recovered two phyla, Cyanobacteria and Planctomycetota, which are not commonly described from birds, that were in relatively high abundance in specific years. This study contributes to our growing understanding of how microbiota in wild birds vary throughout disparate ecological conditions and reveals potential axes across which an animal's microbial flexibility adapts to variable environments and recurrent biological conditions throughout the annual cycle

Data supporting a molecular phylogeny of the hyper-diverse genus Brueelia

Data is presented in support of a phylogenetic reconstruction of one of the largest, and most poorly understood, groups of lice: the Brueelia-complex (Bush et al., 2015 [1]). Presented data include the voucher information and molecular data (GenBank accession numbers) of 333 ingroup taxa within the Brueelia-complex and 30 outgroup taxa selected from across the order Phthiraptera. Also included are phylogenetic reconstructions based on Bayesian inference analyses of combined COI and EF-1α sequences for Brueelia-complex species and outgroup taxa

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

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

Comparative Analyses of Vertebrate Gut Microbiomes Reveal Convergence between Birds and Bats.

Diet and host phylogeny drive the taxonomic and functional contents of the gut microbiome in mammals, yet it is unknown whether these patterns hold across all vertebrate lineages. Here, we assessed gut microbiomes from ∼900 vertebrate species, including 315 mammals and 491 birds, assessing contributions of diet, phylogeny, and physiology to structuring gut microbiomes. In most nonflying mammals, strong correlations exist between microbial community similarity, host diet, and host phylogenetic distance up to the host order level. In birds, by contrast, gut microbiomes are only very weakly correlated to diet or host phylogeny. Furthermore, while most microbes resident in mammalian guts are present in only a restricted taxonomic range of hosts, most microbes recovered from birds show little evidence of host specificity. Notably, among the mammals, bats host especially bird-like gut microbiomes, with little evidence for correlation to host diet or phylogeny. This suggests that host-gut microbiome phylosymbiosis depends on factors convergently absent in birds and bats, potentially associated with physiological adaptations to flight. Our findings expose major variations in the behavior of these important symbioses in endothermic vertebrates and may signal fundamental evolutionary shifts in the cost/benefit framework of the gut microbiome.IMPORTANCE In this comprehensive survey of microbiomes of >900 species, including 315 mammals and 491 birds, we find a striking convergence of the microbiomes of birds and animals that fly. In nonflying mammals, diet and short-term evolutionary relatedness drive the microbiome, and many microbial species are specific to a particular kind of mammal, but flying mammals and birds break this pattern with many microbes shared across different species, with little correlation either with diet or with relatedness of the hosts. This finding suggests that adaptation to flight breaks long-held relationships between hosts and their microbes

Global drivers of avian haemosporidian infections vary across zoogeographical regions

Aim: Macroecological analyses provide valuable insights into factors that influence how parasites are distributed across space and among hosts. Amid large uncertainties that arise when generalizing from local and regional findings, hierarchical approaches applied to global datasets are required to determine whether drivers of parasite infection patterns vary across scales. We assessed global patterns of haemosporidian infections across a broad diversity of avian host clades and zoogeographical realms to depict hotspots of prevalence and to identify possible underlying drivers. Location: Global. Time period: 1994–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon and Parahaemoproteus). Methods: We amalgamated infection data from 53,669 individual birds representing 2,445 species world-wide. Spatio-phylogenetic hierarchical Bayesian models were built to disentangle potential landscape, climatic and biotic drivers of infection probability while accounting for spatial context and avian host phylogenetic relationships. Results: Idiosyncratic responses of the three most common haemosporidian genera to climate, habitat, host relatedness and host ecological traits indicated marked variation in host infection rates from local to global scales. Notably, host ecological drivers, such as migration distance for Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus, exhibited predominantly varying or even opposite effects on infection rates across regions, whereas climatic effects on infection rates were more consistent across realms. Moreover, infections in some low-prevalence realms were disproportionately concentrated in a few local hotspots, suggesting that regional-scale variation in habitat and microclimate might influence transmission, in addition to global drivers. Main conclusions: Our hierarchical global analysis supports regional-scale findings showing the synergistic effects of landscape, climate and host ecological traits on parasite transmission for a cosmopolitan and diverse group of avian parasites. Our results underscore the need to account for such interactions, in addition to possible variation in drivers across regions, to produce the robust inference required to predict changes in infection risk under future scenarios.Fil: Fecchio, Alan. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Clark, Nicholas J.. University of Queensland; Australia. The University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Bell, Jeffrey A.. University Of North Dakota; Estados UnidosFil: Skeen, Heather R.. Field Museum Of Natural History; Estados Unidos. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: Lutz, Holly L.. Field Museum Of Natural History; Estados Unidos. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: De La Torre, Gabriel M.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Vaughan, Jefferson A.. University Of North Dakota; Estados UnidosFil: Tkach, Vasyl V.. University Of North Dakota; Estados UnidosFil: Schunck, Fabio. Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos; BrasilFil: Ferreira, Francisco C.. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Braga, Érika M.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Lugarini, Camile. Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservacao Da Biodiversidade; BrasilFil: Wamiti, Wanyoike. National Museums Of Kenya; KeniaFil: Dispoto, Janice H.. Drexel University; Estados UnidosFil: Galen, Spencer C.. The University Of Scranton; Estados UnidosFil: Kirchgatter, Karin. Superintendencia de Controle de Endemias; Brasil. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Sagario, Maria Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Provincia del Neuquén. Subsecretaría de Producción y Recursos Naturales. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Neuquén; ArgentinaFil: Cueto, Víctor. 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: González Acuña, Daniel. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Inumaru, Mizue. Nihon University; JapónFil: Sato, Yukita. Nihon University; JapónFil: Schumm, Yvonne R.. Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen; AlemaniaFil: Quillfeldt, Petra. Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen; AlemaniaFil: Pellegrino, Irene. Università Degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro"; ItaliaFil: Dharmarajan, Guha. University of Georgia; Estados UnidosFil: Gupta, Pooja. University of Georgia; Estados UnidosFil: Robin, V. V.. Indian Institute Of Science Education And Research; IndiaFil: Ciloglu, Arif. Erciyes Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Yildirim, Alparslan. Erciyes Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Huang, Xi. Beijing Normal University; Chin

Global drivers of avian haemosporidian infections vary across zoogeographical regions

Aim Macroecological analyses provide valuable insights into factors that influence how parasites are distributed across space and among hosts. Amid large uncertainties that arise when generalizing from local and regional findings, hierarchical approaches applied to global datasets are required to determine whether drivers of parasite infection patterns vary across scales. We assessed global patterns of haemosporidian infections across a broad diversity of avian host clades and zoogeographical realms to depict hotspots of prevalence and to identify possible underlying drivers. Location Global. Time period 1994-2019. Major taxa studied Avian haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon and Parahaemoproteus). Methods We amalgamated infection data from 53,669 individual birds representing 2,445 species world-wide. Spatio-phylogenetic hierarchical Bayesian models were built to disentangle potential landscape, climatic and biotic drivers of infection probability while accounting for spatial context and avian host phylogenetic relationships. Results Idiosyncratic responses of the three most common haemosporidian genera to climate, habitat, host relatedness and host ecological traits indicated marked variation in host infection rates from local to global scales. Notably, host ecological drivers, such as migration distance for Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus, exhibited predominantly varying or even opposite effects on infection rates across regions, whereas climatic effects on infection rates were more consistent across realms. Moreover, infections in some low-prevalence realms were disproportionately concentrated in a few local hotspots, suggesting that regional-scale variation in habitat and microclimate might influence transmission, in addition to global drivers. Main conclusions Our hierarchical global analysis supports regional-scale findings showing the synergistic effects of landscape, climate and host ecological traits on parasite transmission for a cosmopolitan and diverse group of avian parasites. Our results underscore the need to account for such interactions, in addition to possible variation in drivers across regions, to produce the robust inference required to predict changes in infection risk under future scenarios