EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE ENERGETIC COST OF PARASITISM IN FREE-RANGING HOSTS
EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE ENERGETIC COST OF PARASITISM IN FREE-RANGING HOSTS
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.1993.0091
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发表时间：
1993-08-23
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
BLOCK, BA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
BOOTH, DT;CLAYTON, DH;BLOCK, BA
虽然一些寄生虫具有明显的致病作用，但其他寄生虫似乎具有微妙的间接作用，特别是在自然种群中，人们对此知之甚少。间接影响可能是由于寄生虫改变了宿主的代谢率，从而改变了宿主的能量需求，但没有实验研究表明这是非实验室宿主的情况。我们报告的结果，一个长期的实地实验，旨在测试寄生虫对主机能量的影响。我们测量了野生岩鸽（鸽）与羽毛喂养虱子，传统上被认为对主机健身很少或没有影响的人口的能量。虱子减少了羽毛质量，导致热传导和代谢率增加，以及在9个月的研究过程中宿主体重稳步下降。我们的研究结果表明，即使是经典的“良性”寄生虫，如羽虱，可以减少主机条件，通过积累微妙的能量成本随着时间的推移。我们认为，实验操作是记录这种影响的先决条件。
Although some parasites have obvious pathogenic effects, others appear to have subtle, indirect effects that are poorly understood, particularly in natural populations. Indirect effects may, result from parasites altering host metabolic rate and hence host energy needs, yet no experimental studies have shown this to be the case for non-laboratory hosts. We report the results of a long-term field experiment designed to test the impact of parasites on host energetics. We measured the energetics of feral rock doves (Columba livia) with populations of feather-feeding lice, traditionally considered to have little or no effect on host fitness. The lice reduced feather mass leading to increased thermal conductance and metabolic rate, as well as a steady reduction in host body mass over the course of the nine-month study. Our results demonstrate that even classically 'benign' parasites such as feather lice can reduce host condition through the accumulation of subtle energetic costs over time. We argue that experimental manipulations are a prerequisite for documenting such effects.