| 1. |
- Ducatez, S., et al.
(författare)
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Behavioural plasticity is associated with reduced extinction risk in birds
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-334X. ; 4, s. 788-793
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Behavioural plasticity is believed to reduce species vulnerability to extinction, yet global evidence supporting this hypothesis is lacking. We address this gap by quantifying the extent to which birds are observed behaving in novel ways to obtain food in the wild; based on a unique dataset of >3,800 novel behaviours, we show that species with a higher propensity to innovate are at a lower risk of global extinction and are more likely to have increasing or stable populations than less innovative birds. These results mainly reflect a higher tolerance of innovative species to habitat destruction, the main threat for birds. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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| 2. |
- Ducatez, S., et al.
(författare)
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Host Cognition and Parasitism in Birds: A Review of the Main Mechanisms
- 2020
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-701X. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parasites can have important detrimental effects on host fitness, thereby influencing their ecology and evolution. Hosts can, in turn, exert strong selective pressures on their parasites, affecting eco-evolutionary dynamics. Although the reciprocal pressures that hosts and parasites exert on each other have long been recognized, the mechanisms are insufficiently understood. Here, we discuss the role of host cognition in host–parasite eco-evolutionary dynamics. Theoretical advances have acknowledged the importance of behavior in shaping these dynamics, but how and why host cognition should affect and/or be affected by parasites is less clear. We propose three scenarios that may create causal and non-causal links between cognition and the richness, prevalence and intensity of parasites. First, host cognition may change the probability of exposure to parasites, either increasing (e.g., altering the relationship with the environment via innovative behaviors) or decreasing (e.g., influencing decision-making to avoid infected conspecifics) exposure. Second, parasites may change host cognitive performance, for example, by reducing host condition. Finally, host cognition and parasites can be associated via common causal factors (e.g., shared molecular pathways), energetic constraints generating trade-offs between cognition and immunocompetence, or trait co-evolution with life history, ecological, or social strategies. The existence of such a variety of non-mutually exclusive mechanisms suggests that host cognition has a great potential to affect and be affected by parasites. However, it also implies that progress in understanding these effects will only be possible if we distinguish between causal and non-causal links. © Copyright © 2020 Ducatez, Lefebvre, Sayol, Audet and Sol.
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| 3. |
- El Zowalaty, Mohamed E., et al.
(författare)
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Influenza A viruses are likely highly prevalent in South African swine farms
- 2022
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Ingår i: Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1865-1674 .- 1865-1682. ; 69:4, s. 2373-2383
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Growth in pork production during the last decade in South Africa has escalated the risk of zoonotic pathogen emergence. This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate evidence for transmission of influenza A virus between pigs and swine workers. Between February and October 2018, samples from swine workers and pigs were collected from three farms in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Workers nasal washes and serum samples, and swine oral secretion samples (rope sampling method) were studied for evidence of swine influenza A virus infection using molecular and serological methods. Among 84 human nasal washes and 51 swine oral secretion specimens, 44 (52.4%) and 6 (11.8%) had molecular evidence of influenza A virus. Microneutralization assays with workers' enrolment sera against swine H1N1 and H3N2 viruses revealed a high prevalence of elevated antibodies. Multivariate risk factor analysis showed that male workers from the age-group quartile 23-32 years, who self-reported a recent history of exposure to someone with influenza disease and seldom use of personal protective equipment were at highest risk of molecular detection of influenza A virus. These pilot study data suggest that influenza A viruses are likely highly prevalent in South African swine farms. South Africa would benefit from periodic surveillance for novel influenza viruses in swine farms as well as education and seasonal influenza vaccine programmes for swine workers.
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| 4. |
- Martinossi-Allibert, I., 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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Does habitat specialization shape the evolutionary potential of wild bird populations?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Avian Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0908-8857 .- 1600-048X. ; 48:8, s. 1158-1165
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Because specialist species evolved in more temporally and spatially homogeneous environments than generalist species, they are supposed to experience less fluctuating selection. For this reason, we expect specialists to show lower overall genetic variation as compared to generalists. We also expect populations from specialist species to be smaller and more fragmented, with lower neutral genetic diversity. We tested these hypotheses by investigating patterns of genetic diversity along a habitat specialization gradient in wild birds, based on estimates of heritability, coefficients of variation of additive genetic variance, and heterozygosity available in the literature. We found no significant effect of habitat specialization on any of the quantitative genetic estimators but generalists had higher heterozygosity. This effect was mainly a consequence of the larger population size of generalists. Our results suggest that evolutionary potential does not differ at the population level between generalist and specialist species, but the trend observed in heterozygosity levels and population sizes may explain their difference in susceptibility to extinction.
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| 5. |
- Sayol, Ferran, et al.
(författare)
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Larger brains spur species diversification in birds
- 2019
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Ingår i: Evolution. - : Wiley. - 0014-3820 .- 1558-5646. ; 73:10, s. 2085-2093
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evidence is accumulating that species traits can spur their evolutionary diversification by influencing niche shifts, range expansions, and extinction risk. Previous work has shown that larger brains (relative to body size) facilitate niche shifts and range expansions by enhancing behavioral plasticity but whether larger brains also promote evolutionary diversification is currently backed by insufficient evidence. We addressed this gap by combining a brain size dataset for >1900 avian species worldwide with estimates of diversification rates based on two conceptually different phylogenetic-based approaches. We found consistent evidence that lineages with larger brains (relative to body size) have diversified faster than lineages with relatively smaller brains. The best supported trait-dependent model suggests that brain size primarily affects diversification rates by increasing speciation rather than decreasing extinction rates. In addition, we found that the effect of relatively brain size on species-level diversification rate is additive to the effect of other intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Altogether, our results highlight the importance of brain size as an important factor in evolution and reinforce the view that intrinsic features of species have the potential to influence the pace of evolution.
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