Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates

Climate change is expected to modify host-parasite interactions which is concerning because parasites are involved in most food-web links, and parasites have important influences on the structure, productivity and stability of communities and ecosystems. However, the impact of climate change on host...

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Autores principales:	Sarah R. Hoy, Leah M. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	climate warming consumer-resource relationships host-parasite predator-prey mammals trophic interactions Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/778ae1358373418d8263826aac6a68cf
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:778ae1358373418d8263826aac6a68cf2021-11-22T05:15:00ZWinter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates2296-701X10.3389/fevo.2021.758374https://doaj.org/article/778ae1358373418d8263826aac6a68cf2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.758374/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-701XClimate change is expected to modify host-parasite interactions which is concerning because parasites are involved in most food-web links, and parasites have important influences on the structure, productivity and stability of communities and ecosystems. However, the impact of climate change on host–parasite interactions and any cascading effects on other ecosystem processes has received relatively little empirical attention. We assessed host-parasite dynamics for moose (Alces alces) and winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) in Isle Royale National Park over a 19-year period. Specifically, we monitored annual tick burdens for moose (estimated from hair loss) and assessed how it covaried with several aspects of seasonal climate, and non-climatic factors, such as moose density, predation on hosts by wolves (Canis lupus) and wolf abundance. Summer temperatures explained half the interannual variance in tick burden with tick burden being greater following hotter summers, presumably because warmer temperatures accelerate the development of tick eggs and increase egg survival. That finding is consistent with the general expectation that warmer temperatures may promote higher parasite burdens. However, summer temperatures are warming less rapidly than other seasons across most regions of North America. Therefore, tick burdens seem to be primarily associated with an aspect of climate that is currently exhibiting a lower rate of change. Tick burdens were also positively correlated with predation rate, which could be due to moose exhibiting risk-sensitive habitat selection (in years when predation risk is high) in such a manner as to increases the encounter rate with questing tick larvae in autumn. However, that positive correlation could also arise if high parasite burdens make moose more vulnerable to predators or because of some other density-dependent process (given that predation rate and moose density are highly correlated). Overall, these results provide valuable insights about interrelationships among climate, parasites, host/prey, and predators.Sarah R. HoyLeah M. VucetichRolf O. PetersonJohn A. VucetichFrontiers Media S.A.articleclimate warmingconsumer-resource relationshipshost-parasitepredator-preymammalstrophic interactionsEvolutionQH359-425EcologyQH540-549.5ENFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	climate warming consumer-resource relationships host-parasite predator-prey mammals trophic interactions Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	climate warming consumer-resource relationships host-parasite predator-prey mammals trophic interactions Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Sarah R. Hoy Leah M. Vucetich Rolf O. Peterson John A. Vucetich Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
description	Climate change is expected to modify host-parasite interactions which is concerning because parasites are involved in most food-web links, and parasites have important influences on the structure, productivity and stability of communities and ecosystems. However, the impact of climate change on host–parasite interactions and any cascading effects on other ecosystem processes has received relatively little empirical attention. We assessed host-parasite dynamics for moose (Alces alces) and winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) in Isle Royale National Park over a 19-year period. Specifically, we monitored annual tick burdens for moose (estimated from hair loss) and assessed how it covaried with several aspects of seasonal climate, and non-climatic factors, such as moose density, predation on hosts by wolves (Canis lupus) and wolf abundance. Summer temperatures explained half the interannual variance in tick burden with tick burden being greater following hotter summers, presumably because warmer temperatures accelerate the development of tick eggs and increase egg survival. That finding is consistent with the general expectation that warmer temperatures may promote higher parasite burdens. However, summer temperatures are warming less rapidly than other seasons across most regions of North America. Therefore, tick burdens seem to be primarily associated with an aspect of climate that is currently exhibiting a lower rate of change. Tick burdens were also positively correlated with predation rate, which could be due to moose exhibiting risk-sensitive habitat selection (in years when predation risk is high) in such a manner as to increases the encounter rate with questing tick larvae in autumn. However, that positive correlation could also arise if high parasite burdens make moose more vulnerable to predators or because of some other density-dependent process (given that predation rate and moose density are highly correlated). Overall, these results provide valuable insights about interrelationships among climate, parasites, host/prey, and predators.
format	article
author	Sarah R. Hoy Leah M. Vucetich Rolf O. Peterson John A. Vucetich
author_facet	Sarah R. Hoy Leah M. Vucetich Rolf O. Peterson John A. Vucetich
author_sort	Sarah R. Hoy
title	Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
title_short	Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
title_full	Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
title_fullStr	Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
title_full_unstemmed	Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates
title_sort	winter tick burdens for moose are positively associated with warmer summers and higher predation rates
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/778ae1358373418d8263826aac6a68cf
work_keys_str_mv	AT sarahrhoy wintertickburdensformoosearepositivelyassociatedwithwarmersummersandhigherpredationrates AT leahmvucetich wintertickburdensformoosearepositivelyassociatedwithwarmersummersandhigherpredationrates AT rolfopeterson wintertickburdensformoosearepositivelyassociatedwithwarmersummersandhigherpredationrates AT johnavucetich wintertickburdensformoosearepositivelyassociatedwithwarmersummersandhigherpredationrates
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Winter Tick Burdens for Moose Are Positively Associated With Warmer Summers and Higher Predation Rates

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