Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius
Avian haemosporidians are a diverse group of parasites that infect birds worldwide and have been a major focus of research for decades. Yet, few studies have identified the drivers of infection at the intraspecific host level. We aimed to study the drivers of prevalence and diversity of haemosporidi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Avian Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03430 |
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| author | Alex E. Jahn Daniela de Angeli Dutra Jeffrey A. Bell Janice H. Dispoto Alan Fecchio Ellen D. Ketterson Kamila M. D. Kuabara Tara M. Smiley Taylor B. Verrett Jason D. Weckstein Emily J. Williams Daniel J. Becker |
| author_facet | Alex E. Jahn Daniela de Angeli Dutra Jeffrey A. Bell Janice H. Dispoto Alan Fecchio Ellen D. Ketterson Kamila M. D. Kuabara Tara M. Smiley Taylor B. Verrett Jason D. Weckstein Emily J. Williams Daniel J. Becker |
| author_sort | Alex E. Jahn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Avian haemosporidians are a diverse group of parasites that infect birds worldwide and have been a major focus of research for decades. Yet, few studies have identified the drivers of infection at the intraspecific host level. We aimed to study the drivers of prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian parasites infecting a common North American songbird species, the American robin Turdus migratorius, which breeds across most of the continent. We found little seasonal variation in haemosporidian prevalence in robins, although we detected a significantly positive relationship between robin breeding latitude and co‐infection with different haemosporidian parasite lineages. Additionally, robins infected with Plasmodium had substantially better body condition than uninfected robins, which could be due to migratory culling. We detected 31 haemosporidian lineages among the robins we sampled, of which eight were novel. When matched against known haemosporidian lineages, our results suggest that robins harbor a higher diversity of haemosporidian parasites than previously known. The results of this study suggest that comparisons of common, widespread bird species such as robins across their range could help unveil novel aspects of the haemosporidian–host relationship and how such a relationship may change under current and future rapid environmental change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f8fcb6c8fa984036b66bcb47a2dd133d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0908-8857 1600-048X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Avian Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-f8fcb6c8fa984036b66bcb47a2dd133d2025-08-20T02:22:02ZengWileyJournal of Avian Biology0908-88571600-048X2025-05-0120253n/an/a10.1002/jav.03430Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratoriusAlex E. Jahn0Daniela de Angeli Dutra1Jeffrey A. Bell2Janice H. Dispoto3Alan Fecchio4Ellen D. Ketterson5Kamila M. D. Kuabara6Tara M. Smiley7Taylor B. Verrett8Jason D. Weckstein9Emily J. Williams10Daniel J. Becker11Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington IN USADepartment of Biology, Stanford University Stanford CA USADepartment of Biology, University of North Dakota Grand Forks ND USADepartment of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USADepartment of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USADepartment of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington IN USADepartment of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USADepartment of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University Stony Brook NY USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma Norman OK USADepartment of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Philadelphia PA USADepartment of Biology, Georgetown University Washington DC USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Oklahoma Norman OK USAAvian haemosporidians are a diverse group of parasites that infect birds worldwide and have been a major focus of research for decades. Yet, few studies have identified the drivers of infection at the intraspecific host level. We aimed to study the drivers of prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian parasites infecting a common North American songbird species, the American robin Turdus migratorius, which breeds across most of the continent. We found little seasonal variation in haemosporidian prevalence in robins, although we detected a significantly positive relationship between robin breeding latitude and co‐infection with different haemosporidian parasite lineages. Additionally, robins infected with Plasmodium had substantially better body condition than uninfected robins, which could be due to migratory culling. We detected 31 haemosporidian lineages among the robins we sampled, of which eight were novel. When matched against known haemosporidian lineages, our results suggest that robins harbor a higher diversity of haemosporidian parasites than previously known. The results of this study suggest that comparisons of common, widespread bird species such as robins across their range could help unveil novel aspects of the haemosporidian–host relationship and how such a relationship may change under current and future rapid environmental change.https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03430avian malariabird migrationlatitudeLeucocytozoonParahaemoproteusPlasmodium |
| spellingShingle | Alex E. Jahn Daniela de Angeli Dutra Jeffrey A. Bell Janice H. Dispoto Alan Fecchio Ellen D. Ketterson Kamila M. D. Kuabara Tara M. Smiley Taylor B. Verrett Jason D. Weckstein Emily J. Williams Daniel J. Becker Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius Journal of Avian Biology avian malaria bird migration latitude Leucocytozoon Parahaemoproteus Plasmodium |
| title | Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius |
| title_full | Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius |
| title_fullStr | Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius |
| title_short | Between‐ and within‐population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in American robins Turdus migratorius |
| title_sort | between and within population drivers of haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in american robins turdus migratorius |
| topic | avian malaria bird migration latitude Leucocytozoon Parahaemoproteus Plasmodium |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/jav.03430 |
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