A walk on the tundra: Host–parasite interactions in an extreme environment

Kutz, Susan; Hoberg, Eric P.; Molnár, Péter K.; Dobson, Andrew; Verocai, Guilherme G.

doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2014.01.002

Cited by 50 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Calf recruitment may, however, be governed by other factors, as indicated by the very low calf recruitment in some years regardless of snow conditions. With the ongoing and future changes in the cryosphere and temperature (Kattsov et al 2007;Collins et al 2013), muskoxen in high arctic Greenland may face severe difficulties with increasing snow precipitation (Callaghan et al 2011) andpathogen transmission (Davidson et al 2014;Kutz et al 2014). The detailed, long-term demographic data set presented here will aid the development of adequate monitoring and management plans for muskoxen across the Arctic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Muskoxen are the only large herbivore in the national park and can be found in large numbers at Zackenberg (Forchhammer et al 2005) and, therefore, have been a focal species in Zackenberg's ongoing monitoring. The muskoxen at Zackenberg are one of few indigenous populations worldwide, where no individuals from other Kutz et al 2014). In 1990, the total population in the national park was estimated to 9500-12,500 individuals, of which between 2900 and 4600 could be found in the region Wollaston Forland in which Zackenberg is located (Boertmann et al 1990;Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term patterns of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) demographics in high arctic Greenland

et al. 2015

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Animal abundance is a key measure in conservation and management and tightly linked to population demographics. Demographic data from remote regions, however, are often scarce. Here, we present long-term (1996-2013) demographics on the muskox Ovibos moschatus population at Zackenberg in northeast Greenland. We examine both the inter-and intra-annual patterns in demographic parameters and relate these to environmental conditions. The sex and age composition of muskox groups changed during the study period, and changes were particularly evident in the increasing versus the decreasing phase of muskox abundance. The seasonal pattern of muskox density and group size was a parallel increase from late winter to autumn, which peaked at high densities (approximately seven individuals per km 2 ) in the autumn. The composition of muskox groups also changed between seasons. Across years, the muskox population dynamics was mainly driven by spring snow cover (an indicator of winter conditions), which primarily impacted the calf and yearling recruitments. This relationship, however, appeared to have a temporary decoupling, which may be attributable to pathogens. Our study provides rare insight into the longterm demographics of a remote ungulate population in relation to drivers of change and thus aids the development of adequate monitoring and management plans for muskoxen in a changing Arctic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term patterns of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) demographics in high arctic Greenland

et al. 2015

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“…In the Northern Hemisphere, northward expansion is predicted as a generality for an array of temperate host-parasite systems, especially under the driver for expanding ranges occupied by diverse assemblages of vertebrate species in terrestrial (and aquatic) systems [32,55,59]. Consequences of expansion relate to a continuum in which EF has a prominent role: (i) host expands, parasite dies; (ii) host and parasite expand and persist (exposing naive host species and populations to parasites through switching (EF)); (iii) host expands, introduces parasite into new assemblage (EF) and original host does not persist; (iv) host expands (leaves parasites), acquires new arrays of parasites from endemic assemblage (EF).…”

Section: Invasion Pathways Expansion and Colonization In Ecologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution in action: climate change, biodiversity dynamics and emerging infectious disease

Hoberg

Brooks

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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237

215

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Climatological variation and ecological perturbation have been pervasive drivers of faunal assembly, structure and diversification for parasites and pathogens through recurrent events of geographical and host colonization at varying spatial and temporal scales of Earth history. Episodic shifts in climate and environmental settings, in conjunction with ecological mechanisms and host switching, are often critical determinants of parasite diversification, a view counter to more than a century of coevolutionary thinking about the nature of complex host–parasite assemblages. Parasites are resource specialists with restricted host ranges, yet shifts onto relatively unrelated hosts are common during phylogenetic diversification of parasite lineages and directly observable in real time. The emerging Stockholm Paradigm resolves this paradox: Ecological Fitting ( EF )—phenotypic flexibility and phylogenetic conservatism in traits related to resource use, most notably host preference—provides many opportunities for rapid host switching in changing environments, without the evolution of novel host-utilization capabilities. Host shifts via EF fuel the expansion phase of the Oscillation Hypothesis of host range and speciation and, more generally, the generation of novel combinations of interacting species within the Geographic Mosaic Theory of Coevolution. In synergy, an environmental dynamic of Taxon Pulses establishes an episodic context for host and geographical colonization.

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“…One of the key questions associated with emergence events is whether they are caused by new introductions, or whether they are outbreaks of endemic pathogens. The ability to make such distinctions is often hampered by a paucity of baseline data on pathogen biodiversity, especially in ecosystems poorly characterized in this respect, such as those at northern latitudes (Hoberg et al, 2008; Kutz et al, 2009, 2014; Van Hemert et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacterial Genomics Reveal the Complex Epidemiology of an Emerging Pathogen in Arctic and Boreal Ungulates

et al. 2016

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Northern ecosystems are currently experiencing unprecedented ecological change, largely driven by a rapidly changing climate. Pathogen range expansion, and emergence and altered patterns of infectious disease, are increasingly reported in wildlife at high latitudes. Understanding the causes and consequences of shifting pathogen diversity and host-pathogen interactions in these ecosystems is important for wildlife conservation, and for indigenous populations that depend on wildlife. Among the key questions are whether disease events are associated with endemic or recently introduced pathogens, and whether emerging strains are spreading throughout the region. In this study, we used a phylogenomic approach to address these questions of pathogen endemicity and spread for Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, an opportunistic multi-host bacterial pathogen associated with recent mortalities in arctic and boreal ungulate populations in North America. We isolated E. rhusiopathiae from carcasses associated with large-scale die-offs of muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and from contemporaneous mortality events and/or population declines among muskoxen in northwestern Alaska and caribou and moose in western Canada. Bacterial genomic diversity differed markedly among these locations; minimal divergence was present among isolates from muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic, while in caribou and moose populations, strains from highly divergent clades were isolated from the same location, or even from within a single carcass. These results indicate that mortalities among northern ungulates are not associated with a single emerging strain of E. rhusiopathiae, and that alternate hypotheses need to be explored. Our study illustrates the value and limitations of bacterial genomic data for discriminating between ecological hypotheses of disease emergence, and highlights the importance of studying emerging pathogens within the broader context of environmental and host factors.

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A walk on the tundra: Host–parasite interactions in an extreme environment

Cited by 50 publications

References 88 publications

Long-term patterns of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) demographics in high arctic Greenland

Long-term patterns of muskox (Ovibos moschatus) demographics in high arctic Greenland

Evolution in action: climate change, biodiversity dynamics and emerging infectious disease

Bacterial Genomics Reveal the Complex Epidemiology of an Emerging Pathogen in Arctic and Boreal Ungulates

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