Project Details
Projekt
Response of birds to forest management and host-parasite-vector interactions
Subject Area
Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
Term
from 2014 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 252018624
The effects of human land use on complex ecological processes and species interactions are poorly understood. Parasitism is an important and complex ecological process; nevertheless, an ecological framework is still missing with regard to the impact of indirect and variable effects of land use intensity on the interaction triad of host-vector-parasites. The assessment of land use effects on birds and their parasitation is an essential step toward understanding whether variable effects of parasites are directly or indirectly explicable by variation in land use intensity. We will measure spatial variability of Haemosporidian infections (parasite prevalence, abundance), host health status (immunoreaction of hosts to infection), and vector abundance (transmission risks to hosts) from local to regional scales and across the Biodiversity Exploratories for six model host species in relation to land use. We specifically expect to be able to understand the role of vectors as a risk factor for parasite transmissions in association with land use intensity on parasitation processes in bird populations.We will capture birds in 75 Experimental Plots representing various levels land use intensity in three Biodiversity Exploratories. We will take blood samples from each bird captured and sample all ticks from the birds. We will determine Haemosporidian parasite prevalence and intensity by counting all blood parasites visible in microscope scans of prepared blood smears and by PCR detection methods. Further, we will determine a standardized infection response (e.g., H/L ratio) and long-term response to costs of immunoreactions of blood-parasites by allocation of resources in the immunoreaction (e.g., asymmetric development of extremities). We will determine dipteran vector abundance through standardized vector capturing on the plots with CO2-baited traps. We will screen the blood meals of the captured vectors for Haemosporidians (PCR) and the sampled ticks for bacterial infections. The infection of vectors should yield an approximation of infection risks for birds in relation to land use. With the data obtained, we will develop a framework concerning the effect of land use intensity on the interaction triad of host-vector-parasites.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
Subproject of
SPP 1374:
Biodiversity Exploratories
