Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback

ABSTRACT Dispersal can affect individual‐level fitness and population‐level ecological and evolutionary processes. Factors that affect dispersal could therefore have important eco‐evolutionary implications. Here, we investigated the extent to which an inflammation and tissue repair response—peritone...

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Main Authors: Alexis M. Heckley, Daniel I. Bolnick, Francis Dinh, Andrew P. Hendry, Natalie C. Steinel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-12-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70697
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author Alexis M. Heckley
Daniel I. Bolnick
Francis Dinh
Andrew P. Hendry
Natalie C. Steinel
author_facet Alexis M. Heckley
Daniel I. Bolnick
Francis Dinh
Andrew P. Hendry
Natalie C. Steinel
author_sort Alexis M. Heckley
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Dispersal can affect individual‐level fitness and population‐level ecological and evolutionary processes. Factors that affect dispersal could therefore have important eco‐evolutionary implications. Here, we investigated the extent to which an inflammation and tissue repair response—peritoneal fibrosis—which is known to restrict movement, could influence dispersal by conducting a mark‐recapture experiment in a lake in Alaska with threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculatus). A subset of captured stickleback were injected with aluminium phosphate to experimentally induce fibrosis (‘treatment group’), and another subset were injected with saline or received no injection—both of which do not induce fibrosis (‘control group’). We released all fish at one introduction point and re‐sampled stickleback throughout the lake for 8 days. We recaptured 123 individuals (n = 47 fibrosis treatment; n = 76 control) and dissected them to determine fibrosis levels. Overall, fibrosis did not affect dispersal. Some compelling (but not statistically significant) trends suggest that early‐stage inflammation may affect dispersal, providing opportunities for future work. By showing that effects on dispersal are not important side effects of fibrosis, these findings improve our understanding of the ecological implications of immune responses.
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spelling doaj-art-36eba417ca0b4e429d8962438f9341c12025-08-20T02:00:48ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-12-011412n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70697Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine SticklebackAlexis M. Heckley0Daniel I. Bolnick1Francis Dinh2Andrew P. Hendry3Natalie C. Steinel4Department of Biology McGill University Quebec CanadaDepartment of Ecology Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut USADepartment of Biology McGill University Quebec CanadaDepartment of Biology McGill University Quebec CanadaDepartment of Biological Sciences University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell Massachusetts USAABSTRACT Dispersal can affect individual‐level fitness and population‐level ecological and evolutionary processes. Factors that affect dispersal could therefore have important eco‐evolutionary implications. Here, we investigated the extent to which an inflammation and tissue repair response—peritoneal fibrosis—which is known to restrict movement, could influence dispersal by conducting a mark‐recapture experiment in a lake in Alaska with threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculatus). A subset of captured stickleback were injected with aluminium phosphate to experimentally induce fibrosis (‘treatment group’), and another subset were injected with saline or received no injection—both of which do not induce fibrosis (‘control group’). We released all fish at one introduction point and re‐sampled stickleback throughout the lake for 8 days. We recaptured 123 individuals (n = 47 fibrosis treatment; n = 76 control) and dissected them to determine fibrosis levels. Overall, fibrosis did not affect dispersal. Some compelling (but not statistically significant) trends suggest that early‐stage inflammation may affect dispersal, providing opportunities for future work. By showing that effects on dispersal are not important side effects of fibrosis, these findings improve our understanding of the ecological implications of immune responses.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70697fibrosisimmunitylocomotionmovementparasitismSchistocephalus
spellingShingle Alexis M. Heckley
Daniel I. Bolnick
Francis Dinh
Andrew P. Hendry
Natalie C. Steinel
Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
Ecology and Evolution
fibrosis
immunity
locomotion
movement
parasitism
Schistocephalus
title Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
title_full Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
title_fullStr Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
title_full_unstemmed Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
title_short Does Motility‐Restricting Fibrosis Influence Dispersal? An Experiment in Nature With Threespine Stickleback
title_sort does motility restricting fibrosis influence dispersal an experiment in nature with threespine stickleback
topic fibrosis
immunity
locomotion
movement
parasitism
Schistocephalus
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70697
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