Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males
Physiological parameters have the potential to serve as valuable early warning indicators for the conservation of animal populations. However, measuring physiological adaptations in wildlife is often challenging, due to intrinsic differences causing natural variations of physiological measures betwe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Avian Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03269 |
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| author | Finja Strehmann Markus Vogelbacher Clara Guckenbiehl Yvonne R. Schumm Juan F. Masello Petra Quillfeldt Nikolaus Korfhage Hicham Bellafkir Markus Mühling Bernd Freisleben Nina Farwig Dana G. Schabo Sascha Rösner |
| author_facet | Finja Strehmann Markus Vogelbacher Clara Guckenbiehl Yvonne R. Schumm Juan F. Masello Petra Quillfeldt Nikolaus Korfhage Hicham Bellafkir Markus Mühling Bernd Freisleben Nina Farwig Dana G. Schabo Sascha Rösner |
| author_sort | Finja Strehmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Physiological parameters have the potential to serve as valuable early warning indicators for the conservation of animal populations. However, measuring physiological adaptations in wildlife is often challenging, due to intrinsic differences causing natural variations of physiological measures between individuals across species. This study is aimed at addressing this by investigating the influence of intrinsic factors, including sex, age, body condition, and the incubation of eggs on the H/L ratio of a forest bird community. As physiological measure, we used the heterophil to lymphocyte (H/L) ratio of individuals belonging to different species in the forest bird community, which was assessed using a novel deep learning approach based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied to whole blood smear scans. Using phylogenetically controlled Bayesian analyses across the bird species, we found higher H/L ratios in adult birds than in juveniles and observed slightly higher H/L ratios in females than in males. While body condition had no effect on the H/L ratio, incubating birds tended to have higher H/L ratios than non‐reproductive birds, regardless of their sex. Furthermore, we found a robust phylogenetic signal of the H/L ratio in the studied bird community. Our results reveal significant general patterns of the effect of intrinsic factors on the H/L ratio across a bird community. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-af29d2b714ad43399c7f55a91fddac38 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0908-8857 1600-048X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Avian Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-af29d2b714ad43399c7f55a91fddac382025-08-20T02:29:39ZengWileyJournal of Avian Biology0908-88571600-048X2025-03-0120252n/an/a10.1111/jav.03269Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and malesFinja Strehmann0Markus Vogelbacher1Clara Guckenbiehl2Yvonne R. Schumm3Juan F. Masello4Petra Quillfeldt5Nikolaus Korfhage6Hicham Bellafkir7Markus Mühling8Bernd Freisleben9Nina Farwig10Dana G. Schabo11Sascha Rösner12Conservation Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyConservation Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Justus‐Liebig‐Universität Giessen Giessen GermanyDepartment of Evolutionary Population Genetics, Bielefeld University Bielefeld GermanyDepartment of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Behavioural Ecology and Ecophysiology Group, Justus‐Liebig‐Universität Giessen Giessen GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyDepartment of Mathematics and Computer Science, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyConservation Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyConservation Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyConservation Ecology, Department of Biology, Philipps‐Universität Marburg Marburg GermanyPhysiological parameters have the potential to serve as valuable early warning indicators for the conservation of animal populations. However, measuring physiological adaptations in wildlife is often challenging, due to intrinsic differences causing natural variations of physiological measures between individuals across species. This study is aimed at addressing this by investigating the influence of intrinsic factors, including sex, age, body condition, and the incubation of eggs on the H/L ratio of a forest bird community. As physiological measure, we used the heterophil to lymphocyte (H/L) ratio of individuals belonging to different species in the forest bird community, which was assessed using a novel deep learning approach based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) applied to whole blood smear scans. Using phylogenetically controlled Bayesian analyses across the bird species, we found higher H/L ratios in adult birds than in juveniles and observed slightly higher H/L ratios in females than in males. While body condition had no effect on the H/L ratio, incubating birds tended to have higher H/L ratios than non‐reproductive birds, regardless of their sex. Furthermore, we found a robust phylogenetic signal of the H/L ratio in the studied bird community. Our results reveal significant general patterns of the effect of intrinsic factors on the H/L ratio across a bird community.https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03269conservation physiologyhematologyleukocyte countsmachine learningstress index |
| spellingShingle | Finja Strehmann Markus Vogelbacher Clara Guckenbiehl Yvonne R. Schumm Juan F. Masello Petra Quillfeldt Nikolaus Korfhage Hicham Bellafkir Markus Mühling Bernd Freisleben Nina Farwig Dana G. Schabo Sascha Rösner Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males Journal of Avian Biology conservation physiology hematology leukocyte counts machine learning stress index |
| title | Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males |
| title_full | Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males |
| title_fullStr | Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males |
| title_short | Intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community: adults and females have higher H/L ratios than juveniles and males |
| title_sort | intrinsic factors influence a physiological measure in a forest bird community adults and females have higher h l ratios than juveniles and males |
| topic | conservation physiology hematology leukocyte counts machine learning stress index |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03269 |
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