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Host species vary in infection probability, sub-lethal effects, and costs of immune response when exposed to an amphibian parasite.

ABSTRACT: The amphibian parasite Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is regarded as an extreme generalist, infecting over 500 species, but amongst these hosts there exists a great deal of variation in the susceptibility to and the costs of parasite exposure. We use two infection experiments to determine whether inter-specific variation in the sublethal and lethal effects of parasite exposure exist in two host species. We then tested the relative roles of host density and diversity on infection probability of a focal susceptible host. Our results show significant heterogeneity in host species response to parasite exposure, and that both lethal and sub-lethal costs exist in individuals that are able to resist infection, indicating that successful immune response to infection comes at a cost. Further, we show that increasing host density significantly increased the likelihood of susceptible individuals becoming infected with Bd irrespective of host diversity and variation in host susceptibility. These results suggest that populations of resistant species are likely to suffer ill-effects of exposure to Bd regardless of their infection status, and that at the stage of initial infection there was no support for the dilution of transmission events, in contrast to other studies that focus on subsequent transmission of infection.

SUBMITTER: Bielby J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4448222 | biostudies-other | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Monitoring is an integral part of species conservation. Monitoring programs must take imperfect detection of species into account in order to be reliable. Theory suggests that detection probability may be determined by population size but this relationship has not yet been assessed empirically. Population size is particularly important because it may induce heterogeneity in detection probability and thereby cause bias in estimates of biodiversity. We used a site occupancy model to analyse data from a volunteer-based amphibian monitoring program to assess how well different variables explain variation in detection probability. An index to population size best explained detection probabilities for four out of six species (to avoid circular reasoning, we used the count of individuals at a previous site visit as an index to current population size). The relationship between the population index and detection probability was positive. Commonly used weather variables best explained detection probabilities for two out of six species. Estimates of site occupancy probabilities differed depending on whether the population index was or was not used to model detection probability. The relationship between the population index and detectability has implications for the design of monitoring and species conservation. Most importantly, because many small populations are likely to be overlooked, monitoring programs should be designed in such a way that small populations are not overlooked. The results also imply that methods cannot be standardized in such a way that detection probabilities are constant. As we have shown here, one can easily account for variation in population size in the analysis of data from long-term monitoring programs by using counts of individuals from surveys at the same site in previous years. Accounting for variation in population size is important because it can affect the results of long-term monitoring programs and ultimately the conservation of imperiled species.

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Host species vary in infection probability, sub-lethal effects, and costs of immune response when exposed to an amphibian parasite.

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