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A strong association between immune responsiveness and natal dispersal in a songbird.

ABSTRACT: Because parasite faunas typically show considerable spatio-temporal variation, and because parasites can have important fitness consequences, host defence mechanisms, including the immune system, can be expected to coevolve with natal dispersal, i.e. the movement of a newborn individual from its site of birth to its first site of reproduction. We demonstrate that immigrant individuals show a significantly higher humoral immune response towards a novel antigen than do local recruits in two independent populations of the great tit (Parus major). There was no effect of age, sex, tarsus length or body mass on immune responsiveness. Our results are consistent with the idea that phenotype-dependent dispersal and/or dispersal-by-phenotype-dependent selection establish a relation between immune responsiveness and natal dispersal.

SUBMITTER: Snoeijs T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1810036 | biostudies-literature | 2004 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A strong association between immune responsiveness and natal dispersal in a songbird.

Snoeijs T T Van de Casteele T T Adriaensen F F Matthysen E E Eens M M

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20040501

Because parasite faunas typically show considerable spatio-temporal variation, and because parasites can have important fitness consequences, host defence mechanisms, including the immune system, can be expected to coevolve with natal dispersal, i.e. the movement of a newborn individual from its site of birth to its first site of reproduction. We demonstrate that immigrant individuals show a significantly higher humoral immune response towards a novel antigen than do local recruits in two indepe ...[more]

PMID: 15252983

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Project description:Anthropogenic mortality of wildlife is typically inferred from measures of the absolute decline in population numbers. However, increasing evidence suggests that indirect demographic effects including changes to the age, sex, and social structure of populations, as well as the behavior of survivors, can profoundly impact population health and viability. Specifically, anthropogenic mortality of wildlife (especially when unsustainable) and fragmentation of the spatial distribution of individuals (home-ranges) could disrupt natal dispersal mechanisms, with long-term consequences to genetic structure, by compromising outbreeding behavior and gene flow. We investigate this threat in African leopards (Panthera pardus pardus), a polygynous felid with male-biased natal dispersal. Using a combination of spatial (home-range) and genetic (21 polymorphic microsatellites) data from 142 adult leopards, we contrast the structure of two South African populations with markedly different histories of anthropogenically linked mortality. Home-range overlap, parentage assignment, and spatio-genetic autocorrelation together show that historical exploitation of leopards in a recovering protected area has disrupted and reduced subadult male dispersal, thereby facilitating opportunistic male natal philopatry, with sons establishing territories closer to their mothers and sisters. The resultant kin-clustering in males of this historically exploited population is comparable to that of females in a well-protected reserve and has ultimately led to localized inbreeding. Our findings demonstrate novel evidence directly linking unsustainable anthropogenic mortality to inbreeding through disrupted dispersal in a large, solitary felid and expose the genetic consequences underlying this behavioral change. We therefore emphasize the importance of managing and mitigating the effects of unsustainable exploitation on local populations and increasing habitat fragmentation between contiguous protected areas by promoting in situ recovery and providing corridors of suitable habitat that maintain genetic connectivity.

Dataset Information

A strong association between immune responsiveness and natal dispersal in a songbird.

Publications

A strong association between immune responsiveness and natal dispersal in a songbird.

Similar Datasets

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