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Killen SS, Cortese D, Cotgrove L, Jolles JW, Munson A, Ioannou CC. The Potential for Physiological Performance Curves to Shape Environmental Effects on Social Behavior. Front Physiol 2021; 12:754719. [PMID: 34858209 PMCID: PMC8632012 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.754719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
As individual animals are exposed to varying environmental conditions, phenotypic plasticity will occur in a vast array of physiological traits. For example, shifts in factors such as temperature and oxygen availability can affect the energy demand, cardiovascular system, and neuromuscular function of animals that in turn impact individual behavior. Here, we argue that nonlinear changes in the physiological traits and performance of animals across environmental gradients—known as physiological performance curves—may have wide-ranging effects on the behavior of individual social group members and the functioning of animal social groups as a whole. Previous work has demonstrated how variation between individuals can have profound implications for socially living animals, as well as how environmental conditions affect social behavior. However, the importance of variation between individuals in how they respond to changing environmental conditions has so far been largely overlooked in the context of animal social behavior. First, we consider the broad effects that individual variation in performance curves may have on the behavior of socially living animals, including: (1) changes in the rank order of performance capacity among group mates across environments; (2) environment-dependent changes in the amount of among- and within-individual variation, and (3) differences among group members in terms of the environmental optima, the critical environmental limits, and the peak capacity and breadth of performance. We then consider the ecological implications of these effects for a range of socially mediated phenomena, including within-group conflict, within- and among group assortment, collective movement, social foraging, predator-prey interactions and disease and parasite transfer. We end by outlining the type of empirical work required to test the implications for physiological performance curves in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaun S Killen
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Daphne Cortese
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Lucy Cotgrove
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Jolle W Jolles
- Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), Campus de Bellaterra (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Amelia Munson
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Christos C Ioannou
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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Granroth-Wilding HMV, Burthe SJ, Lewis S, Herborn KA, Takahashi EA, Daunt F, Cunningham EJA. Indirect effects of parasitism: costs of infection to other individuals can be greater than direct costs borne by the host. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:rspb.2015.0602. [PMID: 26156765 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasitic infection has a direct physiological cost to hosts but may also alter how hosts interact with other individuals in their environment. Such indirect effects may alter both host fitness and the fitness of other individuals in the host's social network, yet the relative impact of direct and indirect effects of infection are rarely quantified. During reproduction, a host's social environment includes family members who may be in conflict over resource allocation. In such situations, infection may alter how resources are allocated, thereby redistributing the costs of parasitism between individuals. Here, we experimentally reduce parasite burdens of parent and/or nestling European shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) infected with Contracaecum nematodes in a factorial design, then simultaneously measure the impact of an individual's infection on all family members. We found no direct effect of infection on parent or offspring traits but indirect effects were detected in all group members, with both immediate effects (mass change and survival) and longer-term effects (timing of parents' subsequent breeding). Our results show that parasite infection can have a major impact on individuals other than the host, suggesting that the effect of parasites on population processes may be greater than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna M V Granroth-Wilding
- Wellcome Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Sarah J Burthe
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0QB, UK
| | - Sue Lewis
- Wellcome Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Katherine A Herborn
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Jarrett Building, Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
| | - Emi A Takahashi
- Wellcome Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Francis Daunt
- NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian EH26 0QB, UK
| | - Emma J A Cunningham
- Wellcome Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Building, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK
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Larcombe S, Bichet C, Cornet S, Faivre B, Sorci G. Food availability and competition do not modulate the costs of Plasmodium infection in dominant male canaries. Exp Parasitol 2013; 135:708-14. [PMID: 24184773 DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2013.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Revised: 09/24/2013] [Accepted: 10/23/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the different factors that may influence parasite virulence is of fundamental interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists. It has recently been demonstrated that parasite virulence may occur partly through manipulation of host competitive ability. Differences in competitive ability associated with the social status (dominant or subordinate) of a host may determine the extent of this competition-mediated parasite virulence. We proposed that differences between subordinate and dominant birds in the physiological costs of infection may change depending on the level of competition in social groups. We observed flocks of domestic canaries to determine dominant or subordinate birds, and modified competition by providing restricted (high competition) or ad libitum food (low competition). Entire flocks were then infected with either the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum or a control. Contrary to our predictions we found that the level of competition had no effect on the outcome of infection for dominant or subordinate birds. We found that dominant birds appeared to suffer greater infection mediated morbidity in both dietary treatments, with a higher and more sustained reduction in haematocrit, and higher parasitaemia, than subordinates. Our results show that dominance status in birds can certainly alter parasite virulence, though the links between food availability, competition, nutrition and virulence are likely to be complex and multifaceted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Larcombe
- Edward Grey Institute, Dept. of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, United Kingdom.
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