Cargando…

The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent

Food and parasitism can have complex effects on small mammal reproduction. In this study, we tested the effects of sex, food, and parasitism on reproductive performance of the Taiwan field mouse (Apodemus semotus). In a field experiment, we increased food availability for a portion of the mice in th...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Shaner, Pei‐Jen L., Yu, Ai‐Yun, Li, Shou‐Hsien, Hou, Ching‐Ho
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5916304/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29721288
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3997
_version_ 1783316997609619456
author Shaner, Pei‐Jen L.
Yu, Ai‐Yun
Li, Shou‐Hsien
Hou, Ching‐Ho
author_facet Shaner, Pei‐Jen L.
Yu, Ai‐Yun
Li, Shou‐Hsien
Hou, Ching‐Ho
author_sort Shaner, Pei‐Jen L.
collection PubMed
description Food and parasitism can have complex effects on small mammal reproduction. In this study, we tested the effects of sex, food, and parasitism on reproductive performance of the Taiwan field mouse (Apodemus semotus). In a field experiment, we increased food availability for a portion of the mice in the population by providing sorghum seeds to a set of food stations. We reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We determined the number and quality of offspring for the mice using paternity analysis. We quantified seed consumption with stable carbon isotope values of mouse plasma and parasite intensity with fecal egg counts of intestinal nematodes and cestodes (FEC). In a laboratory experiment, we reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We quantified their immune functions by total white blood cell count, percent granulocyte count, and percent lymphocyte count through hematological analyses. We measured the FEC and energy intake of the mice. From the field experiment, the number of offspring in A. semotus increased with increasing seed consumption. Due to the trade‐off between number and quality of offspring, the offspring quality decreased with increasing seed consumption for the females. The ivermectin treatment did not affect offspring number or quality. However, the FEC was positively correlated with number of offspring. In the laboratory experiment, the percent lymphocyte/granulocyte count changed with parasite intensity at low energy intake, which was relaxed at high energy intake. This study demonstrated positive effects of food availability and neutral effects of parasitism on A. semotus reproduction. However, the benefits of food availability for the females need to take into account the offspring number–quality trade‐off, and at high infection intensity, parasitism might negatively affect offspring quality for the males. We suggest that food availability could mediate the relationships between parasite intensity and immune responses.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5916304
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-59163042018-05-02 The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent Shaner, Pei‐Jen L. Yu, Ai‐Yun Li, Shou‐Hsien Hou, Ching‐Ho Ecol Evol Original Research Food and parasitism can have complex effects on small mammal reproduction. In this study, we tested the effects of sex, food, and parasitism on reproductive performance of the Taiwan field mouse (Apodemus semotus). In a field experiment, we increased food availability for a portion of the mice in the population by providing sorghum seeds to a set of food stations. We reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We determined the number and quality of offspring for the mice using paternity analysis. We quantified seed consumption with stable carbon isotope values of mouse plasma and parasite intensity with fecal egg counts of intestinal nematodes and cestodes (FEC). In a laboratory experiment, we reduced parasite intensity of randomly chosen mice through ivermectin treatment. We quantified their immune functions by total white blood cell count, percent granulocyte count, and percent lymphocyte count through hematological analyses. We measured the FEC and energy intake of the mice. From the field experiment, the number of offspring in A. semotus increased with increasing seed consumption. Due to the trade‐off between number and quality of offspring, the offspring quality decreased with increasing seed consumption for the females. The ivermectin treatment did not affect offspring number or quality. However, the FEC was positively correlated with number of offspring. In the laboratory experiment, the percent lymphocyte/granulocyte count changed with parasite intensity at low energy intake, which was relaxed at high energy intake. This study demonstrated positive effects of food availability and neutral effects of parasitism on A. semotus reproduction. However, the benefits of food availability for the females need to take into account the offspring number–quality trade‐off, and at high infection intensity, parasitism might negatively affect offspring quality for the males. We suggest that food availability could mediate the relationships between parasite intensity and immune responses. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018-03-26 /pmc/articles/PMC5916304/ /pubmed/29721288 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3997 Text en © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Shaner, Pei‐Jen L.
Yu, Ai‐Yun
Li, Shou‐Hsien
Hou, Ching‐Ho
The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title_full The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title_fullStr The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title_full_unstemmed The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title_short The effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
title_sort effects of food and parasitism on reproductive performance of a wild rodent
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5916304/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29721288
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3997
work_keys_str_mv AT shanerpeijenl theeffectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT yuaiyun theeffectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT lishouhsien theeffectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT houchingho theeffectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT shanerpeijenl effectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT yuaiyun effectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT lishouhsien effectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent
AT houchingho effectsoffoodandparasitismonreproductiveperformanceofawildrodent