Which chick is tasty to parasites? The importance of host immunology versus parasite life history
Détails
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Accès restreint UNIL
Etat: Public
Version: de l'auteur⸱e
ID Serval
serval:BIB_ED1787BEDC0D
Type
Article: article d'un périodique ou d'un magazine.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Titre
Which chick is tasty to parasites? The importance of host immunology versus parasite life history
Périodique
Journal of Animal Ecology
ISSN
0021-8790
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2003
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
72
Numéro
1
Pages
75-81
Langue
anglais
Résumé
1. The Tasty Chick Hypothesis (TCH) proposes that hatching asynchrony evolved as an antiparasite strategy. Hosts would benefit if ectoparasites aggregate more on the offspring that are of lowest reproductive value within a brood, i.e. on the last-hatched chicks, because offspring reproductive value generally decreases with hatching rank. The poor body condition of the later-hatched chicks would impair parasite resistance and render them especially attractive to ectoparasites. Thus, the TCH predicts a decline in chick parasite load with hatching order in avian broods.
2. We investigated the main assumption of the TCH that junior chicks are less immunocompetent than their senior siblings. We also examine the prediction of the TCH that junior chicks bear more ectoparasites than their senior siblings.
3. Conform to the assumption of the TCH for hosts, junior chicks in broods of the barn owl (Tyto alba L.) showed a lower humoral immune response than their senior siblings. In contrast, the cell-mediated immune response of senior chicks in broods of the great tit (Parus major L.) was not significantly greater than that of their junior siblings.
4. In line with the prediction of the TCH for the distribution of parasites among hosts, the fly Carnus haemapterus Nitzsch infested junior chicks in larger numbers than senior chicks in both barn owl and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.) broods.
5. In conflict with the TCH, ticks (Ixodes ricinus L.) were distributed randomly with respect to hatching rank in broods of the barn owl and the great tit. Moreover, louse-flies Crataerina melbae Rondani infested mainly senior chicks instead of junior chicks in the Alpine swift (Apus melba L.).
6. Summarizing, the present descriptive study indicates that the distribution of ectoparasites within-broods is not generally governed by rank-related variation in host defence of chicks as initially suggested by the TCH. We argue that specific aspects of the morphology, life history and ecological requirements of various ectoparasite species need more consideration as to explain the dynamics and evolution of host-parasite interactions.
2. We investigated the main assumption of the TCH that junior chicks are less immunocompetent than their senior siblings. We also examine the prediction of the TCH that junior chicks bear more ectoparasites than their senior siblings.
3. Conform to the assumption of the TCH for hosts, junior chicks in broods of the barn owl (Tyto alba L.) showed a lower humoral immune response than their senior siblings. In contrast, the cell-mediated immune response of senior chicks in broods of the great tit (Parus major L.) was not significantly greater than that of their junior siblings.
4. In line with the prediction of the TCH for the distribution of parasites among hosts, the fly Carnus haemapterus Nitzsch infested junior chicks in larger numbers than senior chicks in both barn owl and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.) broods.
5. In conflict with the TCH, ticks (Ixodes ricinus L.) were distributed randomly with respect to hatching rank in broods of the barn owl and the great tit. Moreover, louse-flies Crataerina melbae Rondani infested mainly senior chicks instead of junior chicks in the Alpine swift (Apus melba L.).
6. Summarizing, the present descriptive study indicates that the distribution of ectoparasites within-broods is not generally governed by rank-related variation in host defence of chicks as initially suggested by the TCH. We argue that specific aspects of the morphology, life history and ecological requirements of various ectoparasite species need more consideration as to explain the dynamics and evolution of host-parasite interactions.
Mots-clé
age hierarchy, ectoparasites, hatching asynchrony, host defence, immunocompetence, Tasty Chick Hypothesis
Web of science
Open Access
Oui
Création de la notice
24/01/2008 18:42
Dernière modification de la notice
20/08/2019 17:15