1
|
Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy Analysis to Predict Diet Composition of a Mountain Ungulate Species. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11051449. [PMID: 34070176 PMCID: PMC8158497 DOI: 10.3390/ani11051449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 05/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Ungulates are characterized by their ability to modify or maintain habitats through their impact on plant species composition and the structure of vegetation. Assessing the diet composition of ungulates is therefore important to understand their role in the ecosystem integrity and to develop monitoring and population management plans. The diet composition of free-ranging ungulates has most often been assessed by time-consuming and cost-intensive approaches such as the direct observation of animals, chemical analysis, molecular approaches or microhistological analysis of fecal samples. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy analysis would be a quick, economic and non-destructive alternative to assess diet composition using fecal samples. In this work, we evaluated the use of this spectroscopy method to assess the diet composition of the Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica), a medium-size subalpine ungulate with a broad dietary niche. Our results support the reliability of the fecal spectroscopy analysis to monitor diet composition of free-ranging ungulates. Abstract The diet composition of ungulates is important to understand not only their impact on vegetation, but also to understand the consequences of natural and human-driven environmental changes on the foraging behavior of these mammals. In this work, we evaluated the use of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy analysis (NIRS), a quick, economic and non-destructive method, to assess the diet composition of the Pyrenean chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica. Fecal samples (n = 192) were collected from two chamois populations in the French and Spanish Pyrenees. Diet composition was initially assessed by fecal cuticle microhistological analysis (CMA) and categorized into four functional groups, namely: woody, herbaceous, graminoid and Fabaceae plants. Regressions of modified partial least squares and several combinations of scattering correction and derivative treatments were tested. The results showed that models based on the second derivative processing obtained the higher determination coefficient for woody, herbaceous and graminoid plants (R2CAL, coefficient of determination in calibration, ranged from 0.86 to 0.91). The Fabaceae group, however, was predicted with lower accuracy (R2CAL = 0.71). Even though an agreement between NIRS and CMA methods was confirmed by a Bland–Altman analysis, confidence limits of agreement differed by up to 25%. Our results support the viability of fecal NIRS analysis to study spatial and temporal variations of the Pyrenean chamois’ diets in summer and winter when differences in the consumption of woody and annual plants are the greatest. This new use for the NIRS technique would be useful to assess the consequences of global change on the feeding behavior of this mountain ungulate and also in other ungulate counterparts.
Collapse
|
2
|
Cosgrove CL, Wells J, Nolin AW, Putera J, Prugh LR. Seasonal influence of snow conditions on Dall's sheep productivity in Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0244787. [PMID: 33561149 PMCID: PMC7872280 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Dall's sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) are endemic to alpine areas of sub-Arctic and Arctic northwest America and are an ungulate species of high economic and cultural importance. Populations have historically experienced large fluctuations in size, and studies have linked population declines to decreased productivity as a consequence of late-spring snow cover. However, it is not known how the seasonality of snow accumulation and characteristics such as depth and density may affect Dall's sheep productivity. We examined relationships between snow and climate conditions and summer lamb production in Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska over a 37-year study period. To produce covariates pertaining to the quality of the snowpack, a spatially-explicit snow evolution model was forced with meteorological data from a gridded climate re-analysis from 1980 to 2017 and calibrated with ground-based snow surveys and validated by snow depth data from remote cameras. The best calibrated model produced an RMSE of 0.08 m (bias 0.06 m) for snow depth compared to the remote camera data. Observed lamb-to-ewe ratios from 19 summers of survey data were regressed against seasonally aggregated modelled snow and climate properties from the preceding snow season. We found that a multiple regression model of fall snow depth and fall air temperature explained 41% of the variance in lamb-to-ewe ratios (R2 = .41, F(2,38) = 14.89, p<0.001), with decreased lamb production following deep snow conditions and colder fall temperatures. Our results suggest the early establishment and persistence of challenging snow conditions is more important than snow conditions immediately prior to and during lambing. These findings may help wildlife managers to better anticipate Dall's sheep recruitment dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher L. Cosgrove
- College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States of America
| | - Jeff Wells
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Tok, AK, United States of America
| | - Anne W. Nolin
- College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States of America
- Department of Geography, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV, United States of America
| | - Judy Putera
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and Central Alaska Inventory & Monitoring Network, AK, United States of America
| | - Laura R. Prugh
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Valldeperes M, Granados JE, Pérez JM, Castro I, Ráez-Bravo A, Fandos P, López-Olvera JR, Serrano E, Mentaberre G. How sensitive and specific is the visual diagnosis of sarcoptic mange in free-ranging Iberian ibexes? Parasit Vectors 2019; 12:405. [PMID: 31416471 PMCID: PMC6694496 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3665-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Sarcoptic mange is a broadly distributed parasitic disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei that affects wild mammals from all over the world, including the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica). Selective culling of the scabietic individuals is the main management measure for disease control in Iberian ibex populations. Although visual identification of mange-compatible lesions is the reference method to decide the target individual, both false negative and positive cases are common in the wild. The aim of this work is to determine the sensitivity (SE), and the specificity (SP) of selective culling after evaluating 403 ibexes hunted in the Sierra Nevada Nature Space for sarcoptic mange control between 2002 and 2015. Methods A combination of skin scrapings and potassium hidroxide (KOH) skin digestion was used for sarcoptic mange diagnosis. Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to assess the effects of sex, age (juveniles and adults) and period of the year (wet and dry periods) on the SE and SP of the visual diagnosis method. Results The SE obtained for the visual determination of scabietic ibexes was 87.14%, whereas the SP was 60.71%. According to our model selection, SE of the visual diagnosis was explained by the additive effects of age and the period of the year. In fact, SE was lower in juveniles (64.76%) than in adults (94.26%) and during the dry period (73.44%) as compared to the wet period (92.09%). On the other hand, SP was best explained by the GLM including the additive effects of sex and the period of the year. The visual diagnosis of sarcoptic mange resulted less specific in females (22.73%) than in males (74.19%) and during the wet (55.22%) than in the dry period (82.35%). Conclusions Maximizing SE and SP is essential to achieving a high rate of removal of affected individuals from the environment without eliminating potentially resistant individuals. Selective culling must be conservative during the wet period and with females due to the lower SP. Conversely, visual diagnosis of scabietic juveniles and during the dry period has to be improved, due to the lower SE.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marta Valldeperes
- Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08190, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Enrique Granados
- Espacio Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7, Pinos Genil, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Jesús María Pérez
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n, 23071, Jaén, Spain
| | - Inmaculada Castro
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n, 23071, Jaén, Spain
| | - Arián Ráez-Bravo
- Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08190, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Paulino Fandos
- Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía, 41092, Isla de la Cartuja,, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Jorge Ramón López-Olvera
- Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08190, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Emmanuel Serrano
- Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08190, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. .,Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie, Universitá di Torino, Grugliasco, Torino, Italy.
| | - Gregorio Mentaberre
- Wildlife Ecology & Health group (WE&H) and Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08190, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament de Ciència Animal, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria Agraria (ETSEA), Universitat de Lleida (UdL), 25098, Lleida, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Flores-Saavedra W, Espunyes J, Fernández-Aguilar X, Colom-Cadena A, Velarde R, Mentaberre G, Lavín S, López-Olvera JR, Serrano E. Fat reserve assessment in Pyrenean chamois using body measurements. Mamm Biol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
5
|
López-Olvera JR, Serrano E, Armenteros A, Pérez JM, Fandos P, Carvalho J, Velarde R, Cano-Manuel FJ, Ráez A, Espinosa J, Soriguer RC, Granados JE. Sex-biased severity of sarcoptic mange at the same biological cost in a sexually dimorphic ungulate. Parasit Vectors 2015; 8:583. [PMID: 26555065 PMCID: PMC4641373 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1186-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In sexually dimorphic species, male susceptibility to parasite infection and mortality is frequently higher than in females. The Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) is a sexually dimorphic mountain ungulate endemic to the Iberian Peninsula commonly affected by sarcoptic mange, a chronic catabolic skin disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei. Since 1992, sarcoptic mange affects the Iberian ibex population of the Sierra Nevada Natural Space (SNNS). This study aims at exploring whether mange severity, in terms of prevalence and its effects on body condition, is male-biased in Iberian ibex. Findings One thousand and seventy-one adult Iberian ibexes (439 females and 632 males) were randomly shot-harvested in the SNNS from May 1995 to February 2008. Sarcoptic mange stage was classified as healthy, mildly infected or severely infected. Sex-biased prevalence of severe mange was evaluated by a Chi-square test whereas the interaction between mange severity and sex on body condition was assessed by additive models. Among scabietic individuals, the prevalence of severely affected males was 1.29 times higher than in females. On the other hand, both sexes were not able to take profit of a higher availability of seasonal food resources when sarcoptic, particularly in the severe stages. Conclusions Sarcoptic mange severity is male-biased in Iberian ibex, though not mange effects on body condition. Behavioural, immunological and physiological characteristics of males may contribute to this partial sex-biased susceptibility to sarcoptic mange.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jorge R López-Olvera
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Bellaterra, E-08193, Spain.
| | - Emmanuel Serrano
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Bellaterra, E-08193, Spain. .,CESAM, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal.
| | - Anna Armenteros
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Bellaterra, E-08193, Spain.
| | - Jesús M Pérez
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., Jaén, E-23071, Spain.
| | - Paulino Fandos
- Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, E-41092, Spain.
| | - João Carvalho
- CESAM, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitario de Santiago, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal.
| | - Roser Velarde
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Bellaterra, E-08193, Spain.
| | - Francisco J Cano-Manuel
- Espacio Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7, Pinos Genil, Granada, E-18071, Spain.
| | - Arián Ráez
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Bellaterra, E-08193, Spain.
| | - José Espinosa
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., Jaén, E-23071, Spain.
| | - Ramón C Soriguer
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio, s.n., Sevilla, E-41092, Spain.
| | - José E Granados
- Espacio Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7, Pinos Genil, Granada, E-18071, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Carvalho J, Granados JE, López-Olvera JR, Cano-Manuel FJ, Pérez JM, Fandos P, Soriguer RC, Velarde R, Fonseca C, Ráez A, Espinosa J, Pettorelli N, Serrano E. Sarcoptic mange breaks up bottom-up regulation of body condition in a large herbivore population. Parasit Vectors 2015; 8:572. [PMID: 26546209 PMCID: PMC4636837 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-015-1188-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2015] [Accepted: 10/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Both parasitic load and resource availability can impact individual fitness, yet little is known about the interplay between these parameters in shaping body condition, a key determinant of fitness in wild mammals inhabiting seasonal environments. Methods Using partial least square regressions (PLSR), we explored how temporal variation in climatic conditions, vegetation dynamics and sarcoptic mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) severity impacted body condition of 473 Iberian ibexes (Capra pyrenaica) harvested between 1995 and 2008 in the highly seasonal Alpine ecosystem of Sierra Nevada Natural Space (SNNS), southern Spain. Results Bottom-up regulation was found to only occur in healthy ibexes; the condition of infected ibexes was independent of primary productivity and snow cover. No link between ibex abundance and ibex body condition could be established when only considering infected individuals. Conclusions The pernicious effects of mange on Iberian ibexes overcome the benefits of favorable environmental conditions. Even though the increase in primary production exerts a positive effect on the body condition of healthy ibexes, the scabietic individuals do not derive any advantage from increased resource availability. Further applied research coupled with continuous sanitary surveillance are needed to address remaining knowledge gaps associated with the transmission dynamics and management of sarcoptic mange in free-living populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- João Carvalho
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal. .,Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - José E Granados
- Espacio Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7, E-18071, Pinos Genil, Granada, Spain.
| | - Jorge R López-Olvera
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | - Jesús M Pérez
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., E-23071, Jaén, Spain.
| | - Paulino Fandos
- Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua, Isla de la Cartuja, E-41092, Sevilla, Spain.
| | - Ramón C Soriguer
- Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Av. Américo Vespucio, s.n., E-41092, Sevilla, Spain.
| | - Roser Velarde
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Carlos Fonseca
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Arian Ráez
- Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. .,Espacio Natural Sierra Nevada, Carretera Antigua de Sierra Nevada, Km 7, E-18071, Pinos Genil, Granada, Spain.
| | - José Espinosa
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, s.n., E-23071, Jaén, Spain.
| | - Nathalie Pettorelli
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK.
| | - Emmanuel Serrano
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal. .,Servei d'Ecopatologia de Fauna Salvatge (SEFaS), Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Distinguishing disease effects from environmental effects in a mountain ungulate: seasonal variation in body weight, hematology, and serum chemistry among Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) affected by sarcoptic mange. J Wildl Dis 2015; 51:148-56. [PMID: 25380360 DOI: 10.7589/2014-01-008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Our study focuses on the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica) from the Sierra Nevada Natural Space (southern Spain), where sarcoptic mange is an endemic disease and animals are affected by a highly seasonal environment. Our aim was to distinguish between disease and environmental influences on seasonal variation in body weight, hematology, and serum biochemistry in Iberian ibex. We sampled 136 chemically immobilized male ibexes. The single effect of mange influenced hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, leukocytes, band neutrophils, monocytes, cholesterol, urea, creatine, and aspartate aminotransferase. Both mange and the period of the year also affected values of mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, neutrophils, glucose, and serum proteins. Scabietic animals showed a marked reduction in body weight (21.4 kg on average), which was more pronounced in winter. These results reveal that 1) infested animals are anemic, 2) secondary infections likely occur, and 3) sarcoptic mange is catabolic.
Collapse
|
8
|
Ossi F, Gaillard JM, Hebblewhite M, Cagnacci F. Snow sinking depth and forest canopy drive winter resource selection more than supplemental feeding in an alpine population of roe deer. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-014-0879-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|
9
|
Williams CM, Henry HAL, Sinclair BJ. Cold truths: how winter drives responses of terrestrial organisms to climate change. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 90:214-35. [PMID: 24720862 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 324] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Revised: 02/24/2014] [Accepted: 03/06/2014] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Winter is a key driver of individual performance, community composition, and ecological interactions in terrestrial habitats. Although climate change research tends to focus on performance in the growing season, climate change is also modifying winter conditions rapidly. Changes to winter temperatures, the variability of winter conditions, and winter snow cover can interact to induce cold injury, alter energy and water balance, advance or retard phenology, and modify community interactions. Species vary in their susceptibility to these winter drivers, hampering efforts to predict biological responses to climate change. Existing frameworks for predicting the impacts of climate change do not incorporate the complexity of organismal responses to winter. Here, we synthesise organismal responses to winter climate change, and use this synthesis to build a framework to predict exposure and sensitivity to negative impacts. This framework can be used to estimate the vulnerability of species to winter climate change. We describe the importance of relationships between winter conditions and performance during the growing season in determining fitness, and demonstrate how summer and winter processes are linked. Incorporating winter into current models will require concerted effort from theoreticians and empiricists, and the expansion of current growing-season studies to incorporate winter.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Caroline M Williams
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Gálvez-Cerón A, Serrano E, Bartolomé J, Mentaberre G, Fernández-Aguilar X, Fernández-Sirera L, Navarro-González N, Gassó D, López-Olvera JR, Lavín S, Marco I, Albanell E. Predicting seasonal and spatial variations in diet quality of Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) using near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-012-0672-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
|
11
|
Sarasa M, Serrano E, Soriguer RC, Granados JE, Fandos P, Gonzalez G, Joachim J, Pérez JM. Negative effect of the arthropod parasite, Sarcoptes scabiei, on testes mass in Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica. Vet Parasitol 2010; 175:306-12. [PMID: 21074328 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2010.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2010] [Revised: 10/11/2010] [Accepted: 10/12/2010] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Testes mass is a key factor in male reproductive success and is potentially exposed to so-called 'parasitic castration'. This is the result of the direct destruction or alteration of reproductive cell lineages (parasitic castration sensu stricto), or the indirect detrimental effects - for example, via body condition - on the ability of progenitors to produce or rear offspring (parasitic castration sensu lato). There are enormous gaps in our knowledge on the effects of parasites on the testes of wild mammals and in an attempt to rectify this dearth of data we examined the relationship between the skin parasite Sarcoptes scabiei and testes mass in Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica. We considered data from 222 males that were culled in the population from the Sierra Nevada in Spain. Our results provide evidence that sarcoptic mange is associated with reduced size-corrected testes mass in Iberian ibex which supports the hypothesis that parasitism is a determining factor in gonad plasticity in male mammals. We discuss several hypothetical causes of this relationship and highlight the need to deepen the sub-lethal effects of pathogens if we are to accurately understand their modulator effects on host population dynamics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Sarasa
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Jaén, E-23071 Jaén, Spain.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|