Broad‐scale latitudinal patterns of genetic diversity among native European and introduced house sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>) populations

Schrey, Aaron W.; Grispo, Michael T.; Awad, Mohammed; Cook, Melaney Birdsong; McCoy, Earl D.; Mushinsky, Henry R.; Albayrak, Tamer; Bensch, Staffan; Burke, Terry; Butler, Luke K.; Dor, Roi; Fokidis, H. Bobby; Jensen, Henrik; Imboma, Titus; Kessler-Rios, Margarita M.; Marzal, Alfonso; Stewart, Ian; Westerdahl, Helena; Westneat, David F.; Zehtindjiev, Pavel; Martin, Lynn B.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05001.x

Cited by 97 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…In the Kenyan house sparrow colonization, low genetic diversity [46] and the unlikelihood of an influx of genetic variation from other areas where house sparrows occur [26] make it somewhat surprising that such extensive phenotypic distinction is observed at all among populations. In this and other examples [14,47], the rapid change of trait distributions along a range expansion suggest that phenotypic plasticity or rapid evolution allowed the differentiation among populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory behaviour and stressor hyper-responsiveness facilitate range expansion of an introduced songbird

2012

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Global anthropogenic changes are occurring at an unprecedented rate; one change, human-facilitated introduction of species outside their native range, has had significant ecological and economic impacts. Surprisingly, what traits facilitate range expansions post-introduction is relatively unknown. This information could help predict future expansions of introduced species as well as native species shifting their ranges as climate conditions change. Here, we asked whether specific behavioural and physiological traits were important in the ongoing expansion of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) across Kenya. We predicted that birds at the site of initial introduction (Mombasa, introduced approx. 1950) would behave and regulate corticosterone, a stress hormone, differently than birds at the range edge (Kakamega, approx. 885 km from Mombasa; colonized within the last 5 years). Specifically, we predicted greater exploratory behaviour and stronger corticosterone response to stressors in birds at the range edge, which may facilitate the identification, resolution and memory of stressors. Indeed, we found that distance from Mombasa (a proxy for population age) was a strong predictor of both exploratory behaviour and corticosterone release in response to restraint (but only while birds were breeding). These results suggest that certain behavioural and neuroendocrine traits may influence the ability of species to colonize novel habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory behaviour and stressor hyper-responsiveness facilitate range expansion of an introduced songbird

2012

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“…they do not exhibit a representative response to captivity as other wild animals. They are a close commensal of humans (Anderson, 2006) and one of the world's most broadly distributed species (Schrey et al, 2011). They also exhibit some immune and endocrine novelties seen in few other songbirds Martin et al, 2010;Martin et al, 2005).…”

Section: Captivity Effects On Flight Muscle and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Does immune suppression during stress occur to promote physical performance?

Martin

Brace

Urban

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYTwo adaptationist hypotheses have been proposed to explain why stress, particularly elevation of stress hormones (i.e. glucocorticoids), tends to suppress immune functions. One is that immune suppression represents efforts to minimize autoimmune responses to self-antigens released as organisms cope with stressors (i.e. the autoimmune-avoidance hypothesis). The other is that immune suppression occurs to promote a shunting of resources to life processes more conducive to survival of the stressor (i.e. the re-allocation hypothesis). Here in wild-caught house sparrows (Passer domesticus), we tested the second hypothesis, asking whether sustained elevation of baseline glucocorticoids, due to captivity, caused a greater rate of decline in immune functions than flight performance. A greater decline in immune functions than flight performance would support the reallocation hypothesis. As in previous studies, we found that captivity tended to alter baseline corticosterone, suggesting that house sparrows experience captivity as a stressor. Captivity also affected several constitutive and induced innate immune metrics: bacterial (Escherichia coli) killing activity of blood and oxidative burst of leukocytes both changed in a manner consistent with immune disregulation. In contrast, breast muscle size and vertical flight (hovering) duration improved over captivity. Collectively, these changes provide indirect support for the re-allocation hypothesis, although within individuals, changes in immune and physical performance were unrelated.Key words: Passer domesticus, house sparrow, trade-off, captivity, corticosterone, stress. Specifically, we asked whether after 6weeks in captivity (1) baseline CORT was elevated, and (2) constitutive [in vitro bacterial killing ability (Liebl and Martin, 2009b)] and induced (oxidative burst responses) innate immune responses (Sild and Horak, 2010) were reduced more so than the size of the major flight muscle and the ability of birds to perform hovering flight (Veasey et al., 1998). Although the re-allocation hypothesis was proposed to explain (among other things) the effects of glucocorticoids on immune functions over very short periods (e.g. minutes to hours), we expected that the apoptotic and anti-apoptotic effects of glucocorticoids on various cells (Amsterdam et al., 2002;Meagher et al., 1996) might mediate resource re-allocations over longer periods (e.g. days to weeks). We measured baseline CORT because alterations in this hormone might predict changes in performance and/or immune functions (Williams, 2008). We chose these induced and constitutive innate immune functions because they are broadly effective at controlling diverse parasites and they can be measured repeatedly (weekly) from small blood volumes (Millet et al., 2007). We measured vertical flight because it is one of the most energydemanding movements birds use (Dial et al., 1997). More importantly, it is one of the few performance parameters that can be accurately and repeatedly scored in songbirds [although for thi...

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“…For example, significant genetic differences in allele frequency and diversity of microsatellites were found between the introduced House Sparrow populations of Kenya and North America (Schrey et al 2011). This population differentiation is thought to be due to Kenyan populations being founded by birds from the Middle East or India and not from Europe which was the source of the North American House Sparrows (Lever 1987(Lever , 2005, rather than population differentiation being a result of stochastic factors (Schrey et al 2011(Schrey et al , 2014.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inaccuracies in the history of a well-known introduction: a case study of the Australian House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Andrew

Griffith

2016

Avian Res

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Background: Modern ecosystems contain many invasive species as a result of the activity of acclimatisation societies that operated in the second half of the nineteenth century, and these species provide good opportunities for studying invasion biology. However, to gain insight into the ecological and genetic mechanisms that determine the rate of colonization and adaptation to new environments, we need a good understanding of the history of the introduced species, and a knowledge of the source population, timing, and number of individuals introduced is particularly important. However, any inaccuracies in the history of an introduction will affect subsequent assumptions and conclusions.Methods: Focusing on a single well-known species, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), we have documented the introduction into Australia using primary sources (e.g. acclimatisation records and newspaper articles). Results:Our revised history differs in a number of significant ways from previous accounts. Our evidence indicates that the House Sparrow was not solely introduced from source populations in England but also from Germany and most strikingly also from India-with the latter birds belonging to a different race. We also clarify the distinction between the number released and the number of founders, due to pre-release captive breeding programs, as well as identifying inaccuracies in a couple of well-cited sources with respect to the range expansion of the introduced populations. Conclusions:Our work suggests that caution is required for those studying introductions using the key sources of historical information and ideally should review original sources of information to verify the accuracy of published accounts.

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Broad‐scale latitudinal patterns of genetic diversity among native European and introduced house sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations

Cited by 97 publications

References 69 publications

Exploratory behaviour and stressor hyper-responsiveness facilitate range expansion of an introduced songbird

Exploratory behaviour and stressor hyper-responsiveness facilitate range expansion of an introduced songbird

Does immune suppression during stress occur to promote physical performance?

Inaccuracies in the history of a well-known introduction: a case study of the Australian House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

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