Parasitism in aquatic communities- environmental influences and multiple stressors

水生群落中的寄生——环境影响和多重压力源

• 批准号: 386691-2010
• 负责人: Koprivnikar, Janet
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: Ryerson University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=529019
• 关键词: Parasitism; aquatic; communities; environmental; influences

In the last 25 years, amphibians have become the most imperiled class of vertebrates worldwide. The causes of such declines are diverse, including challenges from habitat loss, invasive species, climate change, and infectious disease, some or all of which might interact through complex mechanisms. My students and I will aim to understand the importance of and mechanisms behind pathogen involvement in worldwide amphibian declines, as well as explore the broader applications of this knowledge to other aquatic organisms. Growing attention has recently focused on the question of how environmental change affects host-parasite interactions. There is now recognition that parasites can exert particularly important effects on larval amphibians, such as limb malformations due to the trematode Ribeiroa ondatrae, a platyhelminth (flatworm). Recent research has demonstrated clear links between certain environmental factors, such as agricultural pesticides, and parasite infection in amphibians. This program of research and training will help to determine whether effects of agricultural pesticides are general or specific, whether these effects are more likely to occur in specific conditions, how long-lived these effects are, and if effects are host and/or parasite-specific. Such work will need to be publically translated to aid in the development of appropriate guidelines for amphibian conservation. This work will also include realistic considerations, as natural populations are often exposed to more than one stressor concurrently with potential interactive effects on hosts. Recent work has shown that parasite effects on host condition are highly context-dependent. The proposed work will focus on the influence of parasitic infection on host susceptibility to future infections, the ability of infected larval amphibians to withstand pond drying, and the effects of cyanobacterial toxins on infected amphibians. Various combinations of such stressors could be an underlying cause of observed amphibian declines, and may similarly impact other aquatic organisms.

在过去的25年中，两栖动物已成为全球最受关注的脊椎动物类。这种下降的原因是多种多样的，包括栖息地丧失，入侵物种，气候变化和传染病所面临的挑战，有些或全部可能通过复杂的机制相互作用。我和我的学生将旨在了解病原体参与全球两栖动物下降背后的重要性和机制，并探索这种知识对其他水生生物的广泛应用。越来越多的关注集中在环境变化如何影响宿主 - 寄生虫相互作用的问题上。现在，人们认识到，寄生虫可以对幼虫两栖动物产生特别重要的影响，例如由于platyhelminth（flat虫）的trematode ribeiroa onDatrae引起的肢体畸形。最近的研究表明，在两栖动物中，某些环境因素（例如农业农药和寄生虫感染）之间存在明确的联系。该研究和培训计划将有助于确定农业农药的影响是一般还是特定的，这些影响是否更可能在特定条件下发生，这些效果长期存在，以及效果是否是宿主和/或寄生虫特异性的。 这项工作将需要公开翻译，以帮助制定两栖动物保护指南。这项工作还将包括现实的考虑，因为自然种群通常会同时承受多个压力源，并可能对宿主进行潜在的互动效果。最近的工作表明，寄生虫对宿主条件的影响高度依赖于上下文。 拟议的工作将集中于寄生虫感染对宿主对未来感染的易感性的影响，受感染的幼体两栖动物承受池塘干燥的能力以及蓝细菌毒素对感染两栖动物的影响。这种压力源的各种组合可能是观察到的两栖动物下降的根本原因，并且可能会影响其他水生生物。