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Ben C. Sheldon - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Details of the capture sessions of great tits in Wytham Woods (May 2009–November 2011).
2013Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:* Trapping intensity gives the proportion of days within each capture session when trapping occurred.†‘trend’ = time since initial disease occurrence (in years). Also shown are the number of individuals captured, the apparent prevalence of pox per capture session (* indicates breeding seasons), and the number of diseased individuals of other Paridae species captured during the study (see Table 2 for more details).
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Emergence of a Novel Avian Pox Disease in British Tit Species
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Becki Lawson, Katie M Colvile, Shelly Lachish, Chris Durrant, Kirsi M. Peck, Mike P. Toms, Ben C. Sheldon, Andrew A. CunninghamAbstract:Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006–2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.
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Epidemiology of the emergent disease Paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (
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Individual and population-level impacts of an emerging poxvirus disease in a wild population of great tits.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Michael B. Bonsall, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can have severe effects on host populations and constitute a pressing problem for biodiversity conservation. Paridae pox is an unusually severe form of avipoxvirus infection that has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease particularly affecting an abundant songbird, the great tit (Parus major), in Great Britain. In this study, we study the invasion and establishment of Paridae pox in a long-term monitored population of wild great tits to (i) quantify the impact of this novel pathogen on host fitness and (ii) determine the potential threat it poses to population persistence. We show that Paridae pox significantly reduces the reproductive output of great tits by reducing the ability of parents to fledge young successfully and rear those young to independence. Our results also suggested that pathogen transmission from diseased parents to their offspring was possible, and that disease entails severe mortality costs for affected chicks. Application of multistate mark-recapture modelling showed that Paridae pox causes significant reductions to host survival, with particularly large effects observed for juvenile survival. Using an age-structured population model, we demonstrate that Paridae pox has the potential to reduce population growth rate, primarily through negative impacts on host survival rates. However, at currently observed prevalence, significant disease-induced population decline seems unlikely, although pox prevalence may be underestimated if capture probability of diseased individuals is low. Despite this, because pox-affected model populations exhibited lower average growth rates, this emerging infectious disease has the potential to reduce the resilience of populations to other environmental factors that reduce population size.
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epidemiology of the emergent disease paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population
PLOS ONE, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (<1%) in sympatric populations of several other closely related, abundant Paridae species. Nonlinear smoothing models revealed that the temporal pattern of prevalence among great tits was characterised by within-year fluctuations indicative of seasonal forcing of infection rates, which was likely driven by multiple environmental and demographic factors. There was individual heterogeneity in the course of infection and, although recovery was possible, diseased individuals were far less likely to be recaptured than healthy individuals, suggesting a survival cost of infection. This study demonstrates the value of long-term monitoring for obtaining key epidemiological data necessary to understand disease dynamics, spread and persistence in natural populations.
Andrew A. Cunningham - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Nested PCR for Suttonella ornithocola reveals widespread infection in British Paridae species
European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2017Co-Authors: Gabriela Peniche, Chris Durrant, Andrew A. Cunningham, Shaheed K. Macgregor, Shinto K. John, Julia Rodriguez-ramos Fernandez, Becki LawsonAbstract:Suttonella ornithocola , a bacterium in the Cardiobacteriaceae family, is postulated to act as a pathogen targeting the respiratory tract of wild birds in the tit families (Paridae and Aegithalidae). This organism has fastidious culture requirements, which might lead to missed detection; thus, a nested PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene was designed to provide an additional detection tool. DNA was extracted from combined lung and trachea samples from 114 birds in the Paridae and five in the Aegithalidae. These wild birds were found dead across England and Wales, 2005–2012 inclusive, and examined post-mortem. The PCR detected S. ornithocola in 15 birds from the Paridae family only: 11 blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ), three great tits ( Parus major ) and one coal tit ( Periparus ater ). Derived sequences of the 16S rRNA gene had 100% identity to S. ornithocola from previous studies. Positive cases had a widespread geographical distribution across the study period with recurrent spring seasonality, consistent with an endemic infection. Incident history and pathological findings indicated that S. ornithocola infection was likely to be a significant contributory factor to the deaths of at least two birds (from two sites), was of equivocal significance in four birds (from four sites) and was an incidental finding in nine birds (from eight sites). Nested PCR detected S. ornithocola in ten birds for which microbiological examination of the lung was culture-negative for the bacterium. A combination of molecular, microbiological and histopathological examinations is recommended to further investigate the epidemiology and significance of S. ornithocola infection.
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Details of the capture sessions of great tits in Wytham Woods (May 2009–November 2011).
2013Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:* Trapping intensity gives the proportion of days within each capture session when trapping occurred.†‘trend’ = time since initial disease occurrence (in years). Also shown are the number of individuals captured, the apparent prevalence of pox per capture session (* indicates breeding seasons), and the number of diseased individuals of other Paridae species captured during the study (see Table 2 for more details).
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Emergence of a Novel Avian Pox Disease in British Tit Species
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Becki Lawson, Katie M Colvile, Shelly Lachish, Chris Durrant, Kirsi M. Peck, Mike P. Toms, Ben C. Sheldon, Andrew A. CunninghamAbstract:Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006–2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.
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Epidemiology of the emergent disease Paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (
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Individual and population-level impacts of an emerging poxvirus disease in a wild population of great tits.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Michael B. Bonsall, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can have severe effects on host populations and constitute a pressing problem for biodiversity conservation. Paridae pox is an unusually severe form of avipoxvirus infection that has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease particularly affecting an abundant songbird, the great tit (Parus major), in Great Britain. In this study, we study the invasion and establishment of Paridae pox in a long-term monitored population of wild great tits to (i) quantify the impact of this novel pathogen on host fitness and (ii) determine the potential threat it poses to population persistence. We show that Paridae pox significantly reduces the reproductive output of great tits by reducing the ability of parents to fledge young successfully and rear those young to independence. Our results also suggested that pathogen transmission from diseased parents to their offspring was possible, and that disease entails severe mortality costs for affected chicks. Application of multistate mark-recapture modelling showed that Paridae pox causes significant reductions to host survival, with particularly large effects observed for juvenile survival. Using an age-structured population model, we demonstrate that Paridae pox has the potential to reduce population growth rate, primarily through negative impacts on host survival rates. However, at currently observed prevalence, significant disease-induced population decline seems unlikely, although pox prevalence may be underestimated if capture probability of diseased individuals is low. Despite this, because pox-affected model populations exhibited lower average growth rates, this emerging infectious disease has the potential to reduce the resilience of populations to other environmental factors that reduce population size.
Shelly Lachish - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Details of the capture sessions of great tits in Wytham Woods (May 2009–November 2011).
2013Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:* Trapping intensity gives the proportion of days within each capture session when trapping occurred.†‘trend’ = time since initial disease occurrence (in years). Also shown are the number of individuals captured, the apparent prevalence of pox per capture session (* indicates breeding seasons), and the number of diseased individuals of other Paridae species captured during the study (see Table 2 for more details).
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Emergence of a Novel Avian Pox Disease in British Tit Species
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Becki Lawson, Katie M Colvile, Shelly Lachish, Chris Durrant, Kirsi M. Peck, Mike P. Toms, Ben C. Sheldon, Andrew A. CunninghamAbstract:Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006–2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.
-
Epidemiology of the emergent disease Paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (
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Individual and population-level impacts of an emerging poxvirus disease in a wild population of great tits.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Michael B. Bonsall, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can have severe effects on host populations and constitute a pressing problem for biodiversity conservation. Paridae pox is an unusually severe form of avipoxvirus infection that has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease particularly affecting an abundant songbird, the great tit (Parus major), in Great Britain. In this study, we study the invasion and establishment of Paridae pox in a long-term monitored population of wild great tits to (i) quantify the impact of this novel pathogen on host fitness and (ii) determine the potential threat it poses to population persistence. We show that Paridae pox significantly reduces the reproductive output of great tits by reducing the ability of parents to fledge young successfully and rear those young to independence. Our results also suggested that pathogen transmission from diseased parents to their offspring was possible, and that disease entails severe mortality costs for affected chicks. Application of multistate mark-recapture modelling showed that Paridae pox causes significant reductions to host survival, with particularly large effects observed for juvenile survival. Using an age-structured population model, we demonstrate that Paridae pox has the potential to reduce population growth rate, primarily through negative impacts on host survival rates. However, at currently observed prevalence, significant disease-induced population decline seems unlikely, although pox prevalence may be underestimated if capture probability of diseased individuals is low. Despite this, because pox-affected model populations exhibited lower average growth rates, this emerging infectious disease has the potential to reduce the resilience of populations to other environmental factors that reduce population size.
-
epidemiology of the emergent disease paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population
PLOS ONE, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (<1%) in sympatric populations of several other closely related, abundant Paridae species. Nonlinear smoothing models revealed that the temporal pattern of prevalence among great tits was characterised by within-year fluctuations indicative of seasonal forcing of infection rates, which was likely driven by multiple environmental and demographic factors. There was individual heterogeneity in the course of infection and, although recovery was possible, diseased individuals were far less likely to be recaptured than healthy individuals, suggesting a survival cost of infection. This study demonstrates the value of long-term monitoring for obtaining key epidemiological data necessary to understand disease dynamics, spread and persistence in natural populations.
Becki Lawson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Nested PCR for Suttonella ornithocola reveals widespread infection in British Paridae species
European Journal of Wildlife Research, 2017Co-Authors: Gabriela Peniche, Chris Durrant, Andrew A. Cunningham, Shaheed K. Macgregor, Shinto K. John, Julia Rodriguez-ramos Fernandez, Becki LawsonAbstract:Suttonella ornithocola , a bacterium in the Cardiobacteriaceae family, is postulated to act as a pathogen targeting the respiratory tract of wild birds in the tit families (Paridae and Aegithalidae). This organism has fastidious culture requirements, which might lead to missed detection; thus, a nested PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene was designed to provide an additional detection tool. DNA was extracted from combined lung and trachea samples from 114 birds in the Paridae and five in the Aegithalidae. These wild birds were found dead across England and Wales, 2005–2012 inclusive, and examined post-mortem. The PCR detected S. ornithocola in 15 birds from the Paridae family only: 11 blue tits ( Cyanistes caeruleus ), three great tits ( Parus major ) and one coal tit ( Periparus ater ). Derived sequences of the 16S rRNA gene had 100% identity to S. ornithocola from previous studies. Positive cases had a widespread geographical distribution across the study period with recurrent spring seasonality, consistent with an endemic infection. Incident history and pathological findings indicated that S. ornithocola infection was likely to be a significant contributory factor to the deaths of at least two birds (from two sites), was of equivocal significance in four birds (from four sites) and was an incidental finding in nine birds (from eight sites). Nested PCR detected S. ornithocola in ten birds for which microbiological examination of the lung was culture-negative for the bacterium. A combination of molecular, microbiological and histopathological examinations is recommended to further investigate the epidemiology and significance of S. ornithocola infection.
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Details of the capture sessions of great tits in Wytham Woods (May 2009–November 2011).
2013Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:* Trapping intensity gives the proportion of days within each capture session when trapping occurred.†‘trend’ = time since initial disease occurrence (in years). Also shown are the number of individuals captured, the apparent prevalence of pox per capture session (* indicates breeding seasons), and the number of diseased individuals of other Paridae species captured during the study (see Table 2 for more details).
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Emergence of a Novel Avian Pox Disease in British Tit Species
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Becki Lawson, Katie M Colvile, Shelly Lachish, Chris Durrant, Kirsi M. Peck, Mike P. Toms, Ben C. Sheldon, Andrew A. CunninghamAbstract:Avian pox is a viral disease with a wide host range. In Great Britain, avian pox in birds of the Paridae family was first diagnosed in a great tit (Parus major) from south-east England in 2006. An increasing number of avian pox incidents in Paridae have been reported each year since, indicative of an emergent infection. Here, we utilise a database of opportunistic reports of garden bird mortality and morbidity to analyse spatial and temporal patterns of suspected avian pox throughout Great Britain, 2006–2010. Reports of affected Paridae (211 incidents) outnumbered reports in non-Paridae (91 incidents). The majority (90%) of Paridae incidents involved great tits. Paridae pox incidents were more likely to involve multiple individuals (77.3%) than were incidents in non-Paridae hosts (31.9%). Unlike the small wart-like lesions usually seen in non-Paridae with avian pox in Great Britain, lesions in Paridae were frequently large, often with an ulcerated surface and caseous core. Spatial analyses revealed strong clustering of suspected avian pox incidents involving Paridae hosts, but only weak, inconsistent clustering of incidents involving non-Paridae hosts. There was no spatial association between Paridae and non-Paridae incidents. We documented significant spatial spread of Paridae pox from an origin in south-east England; no spatial spread was evident for non-Paridae pox. For both host clades, there was an annual peak of reports in August/September. Sequencing of the avian poxvirus 4b core protein produced an identical viral sequence from each of 20 great tits tested from Great Britain. This sequence was identical to that from great tits from central Europe and Scandinavia. In contrast, sequence variation was evident amongst virus tested from 17 non-Paridae hosts of 5 species. Our findings show Paridae pox to be an emerging infectious disease in wild birds in Great Britain, apparently originating from viral incursion from central Europe or Scandinavia.
-
Epidemiology of the emergent disease Paridae pox in an intensively studied wild bird population.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of this novel infection during a disease outbreak. Using captures of >8000 individual birds, we show that, within two years of initial emergence, Paridae pox had become established within the population of great tits (Parus major) reaching relatively high peak prevalence (10%), but was far less prevalent (
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Individual and population-level impacts of an emerging poxvirus disease in a wild population of great tits.
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Shelly Lachish, Becki Lawson, Andrew A. Cunningham, Michael B. Bonsall, Ben C. SheldonAbstract:Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife can have severe effects on host populations and constitute a pressing problem for biodiversity conservation. Paridae pox is an unusually severe form of avipoxvirus infection that has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease particularly affecting an abundant songbird, the great tit (Parus major), in Great Britain. In this study, we study the invasion and establishment of Paridae pox in a long-term monitored population of wild great tits to (i) quantify the impact of this novel pathogen on host fitness and (ii) determine the potential threat it poses to population persistence. We show that Paridae pox significantly reduces the reproductive output of great tits by reducing the ability of parents to fledge young successfully and rear those young to independence. Our results also suggested that pathogen transmission from diseased parents to their offspring was possible, and that disease entails severe mortality costs for affected chicks. Application of multistate mark-recapture modelling showed that Paridae pox causes significant reductions to host survival, with particularly large effects observed for juvenile survival. Using an age-structured population model, we demonstrate that Paridae pox has the potential to reduce population growth rate, primarily through negative impacts on host survival rates. However, at currently observed prevalence, significant disease-induced population decline seems unlikely, although pox prevalence may be underestimated if capture probability of diseased individuals is low. Despite this, because pox-affected model populations exhibited lower average growth rates, this emerging infectious disease has the potential to reduce the resilience of populations to other environmental factors that reduce population size.
Christoph Randler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Subtle variations in mobbing calls are predator-specific in great tits ( Parus major )
Scientific reports, 2019Co-Authors: Nadine Kalb, Fabian Anger, Christoph RandlerAbstract:Many species are known to use vocalizations to recruit con- and heterospecifics to mobbing events. In birds, the vocalizations of the Family Paridae (titmice, tits and chickadees) are well-studied and have been shown to recruit conspecifics and encode information about predation risk. Species use the number of elements within a call, call frequency or call type to encode information. We conducted a study with great tits (Parus major) in the field where we presented taxidermy mounts of two predators of different threat levels (tawny owl, Strix aluco, and sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus) and compared the mobbing calls of these two contexts. We hypothesized, based on results of studies in other paridae species, that tits vary the number or type of elements of a call according to predatory context. We found great tits to vary the number of D elements and the interval between those elements. Great tits produced significantly longer D calls with more elements and longer intervals between elements when confronted with a sparrowhawk (high-threat) compared to a tawny owl (low-threat) mount. Furthermore, birds produced more D calls towards the high-threat predator. This suggests that the basic D calls are varied depending on threat intensity.
