Sauer Erin L
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.
J Anim Ecol. 2024 Dec;93(12):1841-1844. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.14208. Epub 2024 Oct 31.
Research Highlight: Knutie, S., Bahouth, R., Bertone, M., Webb, C., Mehta, M., Nahom, M., Barta, R., Ghai, S., Love, A., Horan, S., Soldo, A., Cochrane, E., Bartholomew, J., Cowan, E., Bjerke, H., Balenger, S., Butler, M., Cornell, A., Kennedy, A., Rolland, V., Schultz, E., Stanback, M., Taff, C., Albery, G. (2024). Understanding spatiotemporal effects of food supplementation on host-parasite interactions using community-based science. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14155. Wildlife have become increasingly dependent on anthropogenic food supplementation, resulting in altered nutritional intake and inter- and intraspecific interactions. Subsequently, supplemental feeding can affect both the immunological function of individuals and transmission dynamics among individuals and species. The magnitude of the effect supplemental feeding has on disease is likely to vary across time and space with the nutritional demands of hosts. However, the broad temporal or spatial scale effects of supplementation are poorly understood. Recently, Knutie et al. (2024) introduced their citizen science program, the Nest Parasite Community Project, a broadscale coordinated effort by scientists and the public to monitor box nesting wild birds and their ectoparasites across the eastern United States. The authors amassed an impressive 4-year data set with hundreds of nests spanning the entire US breeding range of Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). In the first study to come from the project, the authors demonstrate that the effects of food supplementation on host-parasite interactions vary across time and space and do not consistently influence host-parasite outcomes, highlighting that host-parasite interactions are often context dependent and influenced by many environmental factors (e.g. weather and habitat quality). The authors also found that supplemental feeding increases host fitness, regardless of parasitism. The study provides strong evidence that citizen science projects can help broaden our understanding of how human food sources influence wildlife disease in various environmental contexts.
克努蒂，S.，巴胡思，R.，贝尔托内，M.，韦伯，C.，梅塔，M.，纳霍姆，M.，巴尔塔，R.，加伊，S.，洛夫，A.，霍兰，S.，索尔托，A.，科克伦，E.，巴塞洛缪，J.，考恩，E.，比耶克，H.，巴伦杰，S.，巴特勒，M.，康奈尔，A.，肯尼迪，A.，罗兰，V.，舒尔茨，E.，斯坦巴克，M.，塔夫，C.，阿尔伯里，G.（2024年）。利用基于社区的科学理解食物补充对宿主 - 寄生虫相互作用的时空影响。《动物生态学杂志》。https://doi.org/10.1111/1365 - 2656.14155。野生动物越来越依赖人为的食物补充，这导致了营养摄入以及种间和种内相互作用的改变。随后，补充喂养会影响个体的免疫功能以及个体和物种之间的传播动态。补充喂养对疾病产生的影响程度可能会随着时间和空间的变化以及宿主的营养需求而有所不同。然而，人们对补充喂养在广泛的时间或空间尺度上的影响了解甚少。最近，克努蒂等人（2024年）介绍了他们的公民科学项目——巢寄生虫社区项目，这是科学家和公众为监测美国东部筑巢的野生鸟类及其体外寄生虫而进行的一项大规模协调努力。作者们积累了一个令人印象深刻的4年数据集，其中包含数百个跨越东部蓝鸲（蓝喉歌鸲）在美国整个繁殖范围的巢穴。在该项目的第一项研究中，作者们证明了食物补充对宿主 - 寄生虫相互作用的影响会随时间和空间而变化，并且不会始终如一地影响宿主 - 寄生虫的结果，这突出表明宿主 - 寄生虫相互作用通常取决于环境背景，并受到许多环境因素（如天气和栖息地质量）的影响。作者们还发现，无论是否存在寄生虫，补充喂养都会提高宿主的适应性。这项研究提供了有力证据，表明公民科学项目有助于拓宽我们对人类食物来源如何在各种环境背景下影响野生动物疾病的理解。
