Benefits of fidelity: does host specialization impact nematode parasite life history and fecundity?

Parasitology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. 587-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. KOPRIVNIKAR ◽  
H. S. RANDHAWA
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Patent Period ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Evolutionary Level ◽  
Host Parasite

SUMMARYThe range of hosts used by a parasite is influenced by macro-evolutionary processes (host switching, host–parasite co-evolution), as well as ‘encounter filters’ and ‘compatibility filters’ at the micro-evolutionary level driven by host/parasite ecology and physiology. Host specialization is hypothesized to result in trade-offs with aspects of parasite life history (e.g. reproductive output), but these have not been well studied. We used previously published data to create models examining general relationships among host specificity and important aspects of life history and reproduction for nematodes parasitizing animals. Our results indicate no general trade-off between host specificity and the average pre-patent period (time to first reproduction), female size, egg size, or fecundity of these nematodes. However, female size was positively related to egg size, fecundity, and pre-patent period. Host compatibility may thus not be the primary determinant of specificity in these parasitic nematodes if there are few apparent trade-offs with reproduction, but rather, the encounter opportunities for new host species at the micro-evolutionary level, and other processes at the macro-evolutionary level (i.e. phylogeny). Because host specificity is recognized as a key factor determining the spread of parasitic diseases understanding factors limiting host use are essential to predict future changes in parasite range and occurrence.

Demographic life history traits of reproductive natterjack toads (Bufo calamita) vary between northern and southern latitudes

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delfi Sanuy ◽  
Christoph Leskovar ◽  
Neus Oromi ◽  
Ulrich Sinsch
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Large Female ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Bufo Calamita ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Age Variation ◽  
The Cost

AbstractDemographic life history traits were investigated in three Bufo calamita populations in Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate: Urmitz, 50°N; 1998-2000) and Spain (Catalonia: Balaguer, Mas de Melons, 41°N; 2004). We used skeletochronology to estimate the age as number of lines of arrested growth in breeding adults collected during the spring breeding period (all localities) and during the summer breeding period (only Urmitz). A data set including the variables sex, age and size of 185 males and of 87 females was analyzed with respect to seven life history traits (age and size at maturity of the youngest first breeders, age variation in first breeders, longevity, potential reproductive lifespan, median lifespan, age-size relationship). Spring and summer cohorts at the German locality differed with respect to longevity and potential reproductive lifespan by one year in favour of the early breeders. The potential consequences on fitness and stability of cohorts are discussed. Latitudinal variation of life history traits was mainly limited to female natterjacks in which along a south-north gradient longevity and potential reproductive lifespan increased while size decreased. These results and a review of published information on natterjack demography suggest that lifetime number of offspring seem to be optimized by locally different trade-offs: large female size at the cost of longevity in southern populations and increased longevity at the cost of size in northern ones.

scholarly journals Life-history trade-offs in a generalist digenean from cetaceans: the role of host specificity and environmental factors

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Fraija-Fernández ◽  
Mercedes Fernández ◽  
Juan A. Raga ◽  
Francisco J. Aznar
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Host Specificity ◽  
Trade Offs

scholarly journals Patterns of Life-History Diversification in North American Fishes: implications for Population Regulation

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (10) ◽  
pp. 2196-2218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk O. Winemiller ◽  
Kenneth A. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
North American ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Large Species ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Adult Growth ◽  
Trade Offs

Interspecific patterns of fish life histories were evaluated in relation to several theoretical models of life-history evolution. Data were gathered for 216 North American fish species (57 families) to explore relationships among variables and to ordinate species. Multivariate tests, performed on freshwater, marine, and combined data matrices, repeatedly identified a gradient associating later-maturing fishes with higher fecundity, small eggs, and few bouts of reproduction during a short spawning season and the opposite suite of traits with small fishes. A second strong gradient indicated positive associations between parental care, egg size, and extended breeding seasons. Phylogeny affected each variable, and some higher taxonomic groupings were associated with particular life-history strategies. High-fecundity characteristics tended to be associated with large species ranges in the marine environment. Age at maturation, adult growth rate, life span, and egg size positively correlated with anadromy. Parental care was inversely correlated with median latitude. A trilateral continuum based on essential trade-offs among three demographic variables predicts many of the correlations among life-history traits. This framework has implications for predicting population responses to diverse natural and anthropogenic disturbances and provides a basis for comparing responses of different species to the same disturbance.

Intraspecific variation in reproductive effort by female Parapediasia teterrella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and its relation to body size

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry D. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Egg Production ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Reproductive Parameters ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Egg Number ◽  
Lepidoptera Pyralidae

Daily egg production of the moth Parapediasia teterrella declined over the life-span of the female but egg size remained constant. The absence of water resulted in lower fecundity and early mortality. Egg size and lifetime fecundity showed considerable inter-individual variation and large females produced more and larger eggs than their smaller counterparts. Large females expended greater reproductive effort than small females. Hatching success was negatively related to egg size. In spite of this, large females laying large eggs had higher fitness than small females. I postulate that multiple reproductive strategies within a species, resulting from differences in reproductive effort expended, may explain why expected trade-offs in reproductive parameters (e.g., egg size versus egg number) were not found in this species. Furthermore, I argue that the prevalent interpretation of life-history evolution (that body size is the important determining parameter of life-history parameters) may reflect correlation of body size with reproductive effort, and reproductive effort may be more important in determining the nature of trade-offs between reproductive parameters.

Effect of body size, age and timing of breeding on clutch and egg size of female Eastern Gray Treefrogs, Hyla versicolor

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Gerlinde Höbel ◽  
Robb Kolodziej ◽  
Dustin Nelson ◽  
Christopher White
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Hyla Versicolor ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Gray Treefrogs

Abstract Information on how organisms allocate resources to reproduction is critical for understanding population dynamics. We collected clutch size (fecundity) and egg size data of female Eastern Gray Treefrogs, Hyla versicolor, and examined whether observed patterns of resource allocation are best explained by expectations arising from life history theory or by expected survival and growth benefits of breeding earlier. Female Hyla versicolor showed high between-individual variation in clutch and egg size. We did not observe maternal allocation trade-offs (size vs number; growth vs reproduction) predicted from life history theory, which we attribute to the large between-female variation in resource availability, and the low survival and post-maturity growth rate observed in the study population. Rather, clutches are larger at the beginning of the breeding season, and this variation in reproductive investment aligns with seasonal variation in ecological factors affecting offspring growth and survival.

Evolution and host specificity: a study of the invasion success of a specialized bumblebee social parasite

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1641-1644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Host Specificity ◽  
Invasion Success ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
Social Parasite ◽  
Host Defenses ◽  
Social Parasites ◽  
Laboratory Colonies ◽  
Nest Usurpation ◽  
Bombus Affinis ◽  
Host Parasite

Species of Psithyrus (Hymenoptera: Apidae) are obligate social parasites of bumblebees. They range from monospecificity to species which have many Bombus hosts. Much of the reported variation in host–parasite behaviour which occurs during attempted nest usurpations may be explained in the context of host specificity. Psithyrus ashtoni is a relatively specialized bumblebee social parasite. The ability of P. ashtoni females to successfully enter laboratory colonies of Bombus affinis and Bombus terricola was tested. Female Psithyrus were introduced into more than 100 host colonies containing 0–58 workers. Parasites and host queens never fought, but in both hosts, invasion success decreased with increasing worker numbers. The passive nest usurpation behaviour of P. ashtoni differs from that of other, nonspecialized species of Psithyrus, which may kill or displace the host queen, and from that of completely specialized parasites, which may cohabit with both host queens and host workers. Host specialization may allow Psithyrus females to evolve behavioural and physiological features which minimize host defenses. Thus, while the number of available host species is limited, there is an increased probability of successful usurpation in nests of the appropriate host.

scholarly journals The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence–transmission relationships

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 210088
Author(s):  
Wendy C. Turner ◽  
Pauline L. Kamath ◽  
Henriette van Heerden ◽  
Yen-Hua Huang ◽  
Zoe R. Barandongo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Adaptive Dynamics ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Infectious Agent ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Parasite Life Cycle ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Evolution Of Virulence ◽  
Parasite Survival ◽  
Host Parasite

Disease outbreaks are a consequence of interactions among the three components of a host–parasite system: the infectious agent, the host and the environment. While virulence and transmission are widely investigated, most studies of parasite life-history trade-offs are conducted with theoretical models or tractable experimental systems where transmission is standardized and the environment controlled. Yet, biotic and abiotic environmental factors can strongly affect disease dynamics, and ultimately, host–parasite coevolution. Here, we review research on how environmental context alters virulence–transmission relationships, focusing on the off-host portion of the parasite life cycle, and how variation in parasite survival affects the evolution of virulence and transmission. We review three inter-related ‘approaches’ that have dominated the study of the evolution of virulence and transmission for different host–parasite systems: (i) evolutionary trade-off theory, (ii) parasite local adaptation and (iii) parasite phylodynamics. These approaches consider the role of the environment in virulence and transmission evolution from different angles, which entail different advantages and potential biases. We suggest improvements to how to investigate virulence–transmission relationships, through conceptual and methodological developments and taking environmental context into consideration. By combining developments in life-history evolution, phylogenetics, adaptive dynamics and comparative genomics, we can improve our understanding of virulence–transmission relationships across a diversity of host–parasite systems that have eluded experimental study of parasite life history.

Comparing life histories using phylogenies

1991 ◽  
Vol 332 (1262) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Selective Forces ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Optimality Models

The comparative method as recently developed can be used to identify statistically independent instances of life-history evolution. When life-history traits show evidence for correlated evolutionary change with each other or with ecological differences, it is often possible to single out the trade-offs and selective forces responsible for the evolution of life-history diversity. Suites of life-history characters often evolve in concert, and recent optimality models incorporating few variables show promise for interpreting that evolution in terms of few selective forces. Because hosts provide well-defined environments for their parasites, when host-parasite phylogenies are congruent it is possible to test ideas about the evolution of particular life-history and size-related traits.

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