Vector abundance determines Trypanosoma prevalence in nestling blue tits
Theeffect of insect vectors on avian exposure to infection by pathogens remains poorly studied. Here, we used an insect repellent treatment toreduce the numberof blood-sucking flying insects in blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nests andexamined its effectonnestlinghealthstatusmeasuredasbodymass,nestling...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2013 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:digitalcsic_::ca04b01c38a345e54b84cac8f49836aa |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/77867 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Biting midge Culicoides Black flies leucotyzoon PHA response |
| Sumario: | Theeffect of insect vectors on avian exposure to infection by pathogens remains poorly studied. Here, we used an insect repellent treatment toreduce the numberof blood-sucking flying insects in blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus nests andexamined its effectonnestlinghealthstatusmeasuredasbodymass,nestlingphytohaemagglutinin(PHA)responseandbloodparasite prevalence.Wefoundthat(i) theinsectrepellent treatmentsignificantlyreducedthenumberofblood-suckingflyinginsects in nests and (ii) the numberof blood-sucking flying insects had a significant effect on the prevalence of the blood parasite Trypanosoma independently of the treatment. In addition, we found support for an adverse effect of parasite infections on nestlingPHAresponse. Nestlings infected byTrypanosomamounteda weaker response against PHAthan non-parasitized ones. In addition, the number of blowflies in the nest was negatively associated with nestling PHAresponse. Overall, we found support for the hypothesis that blood-sucking flying insects attacking nestlings increase their exposure to parasite infections. Ourresults further substantiate the adverse effect of parasites on nestling condition. |
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