Body condition metrics are widely used to infer animal health and to assess costs of parasite infection. Since parasites harm their hosts, ecologists might expect negative relationships between infection and condition in wildlife, but this assumption is challenged by studies showing positive or null condition–infection relationships. Here, we outline common condition metrics used by ecologists in studies of parasitism, and consider mechanisms that cause negative, positive, and null condition–infection relationships in wildlife systems. We then perform a meta‐analysis of 553 condition–infection relationships from 187 peer‐reviewed studies of animal hosts, analysing observational and experimental records separately, and noting whether authors measured binary infection status or intensity. Our analysis finds substantial heterogeneity in the strength and direction of condition–infection relationships, a small, negative average effect size that is stronger in experimental studies, and evidence for publication bias towards negative relationships. The strongest predictors of variation in study outcomes are host thermoregulation and the methods used to evaluate body condition. We recommend that studies aiming to assess parasite impacts on body condition should consider host–parasite biology, choose condition measures that can change during the course of infection, and employ longitudinal surveys or manipulate infection status when feasible.

Global insect pollinator declines have prompted habitat restoration efforts, including pollinator-friendly gardening. Gardens can provide nectar and pollen for adult insects and offer reproductive resources, such as nesting sites and caterpillar host plants. We conducted a review and meta-analysis to examine how decisions made by gardeners on plant selection and garden maintenance influence pollinator survival, abundance, and diversity. We also considered characteristics of surrounding landscapes and the impacts of pollinator natural enemies. Our results indicated that pollinators responded positively to high plant species diversity, woody vegetation, garden size, and sun exposure and negatively to the separation of garden habitats from natural sites. Within-garden features more strongly influenced pollinators than surrounding landscape factors. Growing interest in gardening for pollinators highlights the need to better understand how gardens contribute to pollinator conservation and how some garden characteristics can enhance the attractiveness and usefulness of gardens to pollinators. Further studies examining pollinator reproduction, resource acquisition, and natural enemies in gardens and comparing gardens with other restoration efforts and to natural habitats are needed to increase the value of human-made habitats for pollinators. Siembra jardines para dar soporte a los insectos polinizadoresResumen: La declinación mundial de insectos polinizadores ha dado pie a esfuerzos de restauración, incluyendo * email majewska@uga.edu Article impact statement: Gardens with high plant species diversity and sun exposure, more woody vegetation, and larger size benefit pollinators.

Pollinator declines have motivated efforts to plant nectar and host plants for butterflies and other pollinators, but whether gardens promote pollinator conservation requires further investigation. We established garden plots to determine whether plant type (native vs. exotic) and weed maintenance (low or high) influence adult butterfly abundance and species richness, and the abundance and survival of immature stages of four species (monarch, queen, black swallowtail, and gulf fritillary). To assess how predator activity and mortality of immature stages might differ inside gardens compared to other suitable habitat patches, we compared caterpillar survival on sentinel host plants placed within and outside of plots. The abundance and species richness of adult butterflies (all taxa) increased with the number of flowering plants per plot, but did not depend on plant type or weeding treatment. Exotic plots had greater adult monarch and gulf fritillary abundances, greater monarch and queen egg counts, and lower black swallowtail caterpillar counts relative to native plots. The survival of immature stages (egg to instar 5) ranged from 2 to 13% and was similar across plots, except for gulf fritillary larvae, which had higher survival in exotic plots. Monarch caterpillar mortality risk was higher on sentinel plants placed inside plots, relative to those outside of plots. This study suggests that garden plots attracted a diversity of adult butterflies and supported the reproduction of focal species. Given lower immature monarch survival within versus outside of plots, further work is needed to examine natural enemy pressure within pollinator gardens.

Summary1. Variation in ontogeny and strength of immune defence mechanisms can be integrally related to variation in life-history strategies and determined by trade-offs during development. However, little is known about the ontogeny of immune function in wild birds, especially in altricial birds and in a comparative context across altricial species with diverse life-history strategies. 2. In this study, we examined the ontogeny of constitutive immunity in a group of 22 passerine species sampled in tropical Venezuela and north temperate Arizona. 3. Our results show activity of constitutive components of the immune defence at 1-3 days posthatching and an increase in immune activity with age. Interspecific variation in immune activity at hatching was mainly explained by extrinsic factors mediated by the mother (egg size and egg temperature), suggesting an important role of maternal effects on offspring immunity at hatching. In contrast, the increase in agglutination activity with age suggests that immune function in older nestlings reflects intrinsic development. The increase in immune activity was greater in species that hatched with lower initial levels, and was somewhat negatively related to growth rate across species. 4. Our results suggest slower intrinsic development of immune function may be compensated by larger maternal contributions. Slower intrinsic development of immune function, in turn, may reflect a trade-off with faster somatic growth. Our study highlights the importance of both maternal (extrinsic) and endogenous (intrinsic) contributions to variation in immune function across altricial species that may reflect an important axis of developmental strategies.

Long embryonic periods are assumed to reflect slower intrinsic development that are thought to trade off to allow enhanced physiological systems, such as immune function. Yet, the relatively rare studies of this trade-off in avian offspring have not found the expected trade-off. Theory and tests have not taken into account the strong extrinsic effects of temperature on embryonic periods of birds. Here, we show that length of the embryonic period did not explain variation in two measures of immune function when temperature was ignored, based on studies of 34 Passerine species in tropical Venezuela (23 species) and north temperate Arizona (11 species). Variation in immune function was explained when embryonic periods were corrected for average embryonic temperature, in order to better estimate intrinsic rates of development. Immune function of offspring trades off with intrinsic rates of embryonic development once the extrinsic effects of embryonic temperatures are taken into account.

Dracunculus medinensis, the causative agent of Guinea worm disease in humans, is being reported with increasing frequency in dogs. However, the route(s) of transmission to dogs is still poorly understood. classical transmission to humans occurs via drinking water that contains cyclopoid copepods infected with third stage larvae of D. medinensis, but due to the method of dog drinking (lapping) compared to humans (suction and/or retrieval of water into containers), it seems unlikely that dogs would ingest copepods readily through drinking. We exposed lab raised beagles to varying densities of uninfected copepods in 2 liters of water to evaluate the number of copepods ingested during a drinking event. We confirmed dogs can ingest copepod intermediate hosts while drinking; however, low numbers were ingested at the densities that are typically observed in chad suggesting this transmission route may be unlikely. overall, the relative importance of the classic transmission route and alternate transmission routes, such as paratenic and transport hosts, needs investigation in order to further clarify the epidemiology of guinea worm infections in dogs.

1. Many migratory animals undergo physiological and behavioural changes to prepare for and sustain long‐distance movements. Because insect migrations are common and diverse, studies that examine how migratory insects meet the energetic demands of long‐distance movements are badly needed. 2. Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate up to 4000 km annually from eastern North America to wintering sites in central Mexico. Autumn generation monarchs undergo physiological and behavioural changes in response to environmental cues to initiate migration. In particular, exposure to cooler temperatures and shorter day lengths in early autumn causes monarchs to enter the hormonally induced state of reproductive diapause. 3. This study examined differences in flight‐associated metabolic rate (MR) and flight performance metrics for monarchs experimentally reared under autumn‐like conditions (typically experienced before the southward migration) relative to monarchs reared under summer‐like conditions. 4. Adult monarchs reared under autumn‐like conditions showed lower post‐flight MRs, greater flight efficiency, and lower measures of reproductive activity relative to monarchs reared under summer‐like conditions. Increases in post‐flight metabolism were associated with monarch body weight, age, and flight velocity. 5. These findings suggest that a trans‐generational shift in flight energetics is an important component of the monarch's complex migratory syndrome, and that physiological changes that accompany reproductive diapause facilitate energy conservation during flight.

Understanding the drivers of biodiversity is important for forecasting changes in the distribution of life on earth. However, most studies of biodiversity are limited by uneven sampling effort, with some regions or taxa better sampled than others. Numerous methods have been developed to account for differences in sampling effort, but most methods were developed for systematic surveys in which all study units are sampled using the same design and assemblages are sampled randomly. Databases compiled from multiple sources, such as from the literature, often violate these assumptions because they are composed of studies that vary widely in their goals and methods. Here, we compared the performance of several popular methods for estimating parasite diversity based on a large and widely used parasite database, the Global Mammal Parasite Database (GMPD). We created artificial datasets of host–parasite interactions based on the structure of the GMPD, then used these datasets to evaluate which methods best control for differential sampling effort. We evaluated the precision and bias of seven methods, including species accumulation and nonparametric diversity estimators, compared to analyzing the raw data without controlling for sampling variation. We find that nonparametric estimators, and particularly the Chao2 and second‐order jackknife estimators, perform better than other methods. However, these estimators still perform poorly relative to systematic sampling, and effect sizes should be interpreted with caution because they tend to be lower than actual effect sizes. Overall, these estimators are more effective in comparative studies than for producing true estimates of diversity. We make recommendations for future sampling strategies and statistical methods that would improve estimates of global parasite diversity.