EFFECTS OF CHRONIC AVIAN MALARIA (PLASMODIUM RELICTUM) INFECTION ON REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF HAWAII AMAKIHI (HEMIGNATHUS VIRENS)

Abstract We studied the effects of chronic avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) infections on the reproductive success of a native Hawaiian honeycreeper, Hawaii Amakihi (Hemignathus virens). Chronic malaria infections in male and female parents did not significantly reduce reproductive success as measured by clutch size, hatching success, fledging mass, number of nestlings fledged, nesting success (daily survival rate), and minimum fledgling survival. In fact, nesting success of pairs with chronically infected males was significantly higher than those with uninfected males (76% vs. 38%), and offspring that had at least one parent that had survived the acute phase of malaria infection had a significantly greater chance of being resighted the following year (25% vs. 10%). The reproduction and survival of infected birds were sufficient for a per-capita population growth rate >1, which suggests that chronically infected Hawaii Amakihi could support a growing population. Efectos de las Infecciones Crónicas de Malaria Aviaria (Plasmodium relictum) en el Éxito Reproductivo de Hemignathus virens

摘要：我们研究了慢性禽疟疾（残疟原虫）感染对一种夏威夷本土蜜旋木雀——夏威夷绿雀（Hemignathus virens）繁殖成功率的影响。以窝卵数、孵化成功率、离巢幼鸟体重、离巢幼鸟数量、营巢成功率（日存活率）以及最低离巢幼鸟存活率来衡量，雄性和雌性亲鸟的慢性疟疾感染并没有显著降低繁殖成功率。事实上，有慢性感染雄性的配对的营巢成功率显著高于雄性未感染的配对（76%对38%），并且至少有一方亲鸟在疟疾感染急性期存活下来的后代次年被再次观察到的几率显著更高（25%对10%）。感染鸟类的繁殖和存活足以使人均种群增长率大于1，这表明慢性感染的夏威夷绿雀能够维持一个增长的种群。 慢性禽疟疾（残疟原虫）感染对夏威夷绿雀（Hemignathus virens）繁殖成功率的影响（西班牙语部分翻译为：慢性禽疟疾（残疟原虫）感染对夏威夷绿雀（Hemignathus virens）繁殖成功率的影响）