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Liebing J, Völker I, Curland N, Wohlsein P, Baumgärtner W, Braune S, Runge M, Moss A, Rautenschlein S, Jung A, Ryll M, Raue K, Strube C, Schulz J, Heffels-Redmann U, Fischer L, Gethöffer F, Voigt U, Lierz M, Siebert U. Health status of free-ranging ring-necked pheasant chicks (Phasianus colchicus) in North-Western Germany. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0234044. [PMID: 32544211 PMCID: PMC7297342 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Being a typical ground-breeding bird of the agricultural landscape in Germany, the pheasant has experienced a strong and persistent population decline with a hitherto unexplained cause. Contributing factors to the ongoing negative trend, such as the effects of pesticides, diseases, predation, increase in traffic and reduced fallow periods, are currently being controversially discussed. In the present study, 62 free-ranging pheasant chicks were caught within a two-year period in three federal states of Germany; Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. The pheasant chicks were divided into three age groups to detect differences in their development and physical constitution. In addition, pathomorphological, parasitological, virological, bacteriological and toxicological investigations were performed. The younger chicks were emaciated, while the older chicks were of moderate to good nutritional status. However, the latter age group was limited to a maximum of three chicks per hen, while the youngest age class comprised up to ten chicks. The majority of chicks suffered from dermatitis of the periocular and caudal region of the head (57-94%) of unknown origin. In addition, intestinal enteritis (100%), pneumonia (26%), hepatitis (24%), perineuritis (6%), tracheitis (24%), muscle degeneration (1%) and myositis (1%) were found. In 78% of the cases, various Mycoplasma spp. were isolated. Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) was not detected using an MG-specific PCR. Parasitic infections included Philopteridae (55%), Coccidia (48%), Heterakis/Ascaridia spp. (8%) and Syngamus trachea (13%). A total of 8% of the chicks were Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) positive using RT-PCR, 16% positive for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) using RT-PCR, and 2% positive for haemorrhagic enteritis virus (HEV) using PCR. All samples tested for avian encephalomyelitis virus (AEV), infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) or infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) were negative. The pool samples of the ten chicks were negative for all acid, alkaline-free and derivative substances, while two out of three samples tested were positive for the herbicide glyphosate. Pheasant chick deaths may often have been triggered by poor nutritional status, probably in association with inflammatory changes in various tissues and organs as well as bacterial and parasitic pathogens. Theses impacts may have played a major role in the decline in pheasant populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Liebing
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - I. Völker
- Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - N. Curland
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - P. Wohlsein
- Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - W. Baumgärtner
- Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - S. Braune
- Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Food and Veterinary Institute Braunschweig/Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - M. Runge
- Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Food and Veterinary Institute Braunschweig/Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - A. Moss
- Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Food and Veterinary Institute Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - S. Rautenschlein
- Clinic for Poultry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - A. Jung
- Clinic for Poultry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - M. Ryll
- Clinic for Poultry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - K. Raue
- Institute for Parasitology, Centre for Infection Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - C. Strube
- Institute for Parasitology, Centre for Infection Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - J. Schulz
- Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - U. Heffels-Redmann
- Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - L. Fischer
- Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - F. Gethöffer
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - U. Voigt
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - M. Lierz
- Clinic for Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians and Fish, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - U. Siebert
- Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
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Pirie MD, Oliver EGH, Mugrabi de Kuppler A, Gehrke B, Le Maitre NC, Kandziora M, Bellstedt DU. The biodiversity hotspot as evolutionary hot-bed: spectacular radiation of Erica in the Cape Floristic Region. BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:190. [PMID: 27639849 PMCID: PMC5027107 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0764-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The disproportionate species richness of the world's biodiversity hotspots could be explained by low extinction (the evolutionary "museum") and/or high speciation (the "hot-bed") models. We test these models using the largest of the species rich plant groups that characterise the botanically diverse Cape Floristic Region (CFR): the genus Erica L. We generate a novel phylogenetic hypothesis informed by nuclear and plastid DNA sequences of c. 60 % of the c. 800 Erica species (of which 690 are endemic to the CFR), and use this to estimate clade ages (using RELTIME; BEAST), net diversification rates (GEIGER), and shifts in rates of diversification in different areas (BAMM; MuSSE). RESULTS The diversity of Erica species in the CFR is the result of a single radiation within the last c. 15 million years. Compared to ancestral lineages in the Palearctic, the rate of speciation accelerated across Africa and Madagascar, with a further burst of speciation within the CFR that also exceeds the net diversification rates of other Cape clades. CONCLUSIONS Erica exemplifies the "hotbed" model of assemblage through recent speciation, implying that with the advent of the modern Cape a multitude of new niches opened and were successively occupied through local species diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Pirie
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
- Institut für Spezielle Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzelweg 9a, 55099, Mainz, Germany.
| | - E G H Oliver
- Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
| | - A Mugrabi de Kuppler
- INRES Pflanzenzüchtung, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Katzenburgweg 5, 53115, Bonn, Germany
| | - B Gehrke
- Institut für Spezielle Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzelweg 9a, 55099, Mainz, Germany
| | - N C Le Maitre
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
| | - M Kandziora
- Institut für Spezielle Botanik und Botanischer Garten, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Anselm-Franz-von-Bentzelweg 9a, 55099, Mainz, Germany
| | - D U Bellstedt
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
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