» Articles » PMID: 32788990

Effects of an Anthropogenic Diet on Indicators of Physiological Challenge and Immunity of White Ibis Nestlings Raised in Captivity

Overview
Journal Ecol Evol
Date 2020 Aug 14
PMID 32788990
Citations 5
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

When wildlife forage and/or live in urban habitats, they often experience a shift in resource availability and dietary quality. Some species even use human handouts, such as bread, as well as human refuse, as a large part of their new diets; yet the influences of this nutritional shift on health and survival remain unclear. American white ibises are increasingly being seen in urban areas in Florida; they collect handouts, such as bread and other food items, from humans in parks, and are also found foraging on anthropogenic sources in trash heaps. We hypothesized that the consumption of these new anthropogenic food sources may trigger increases in indicators of physiological challenge and dampen immune responses. We tested this experimentally by raising 20 white ibis nestlings in captivity, and exposing 10 to a simulated anthropogenic diet (including the addition of white bread and a reduction in seafood content) while maintaining 10 on a diet similar to what ibises consume in more natural environments. We then tested two indicators of physiological challenge (corticosterone and heat shock protein 70), assessed innate immunity in these birds via bactericidal assays and an in vitro carbon clearance assay, and adaptive immunity using a phytohemagglutinin skin test. The anthropogenic diet depressed the development of the ability to kill in culture. Our results suggest that consuming an anthropogenic diet may be detrimental in terms of the ability to battle a pathogenic bacterial species, but there was little effect on indicators of physiological challenge and other immunological measures.

Citing Articles

Urbanization Shifts Immunometabolism in a Common Bumblebee.

Cuvillier-Hot V, Fisogni A, Doublet V, Guillot S, Holl A, Leclercq-Dransart J Ecol Evol. 2024; 14(12):e70743.

PMID: 39712035 PMC: 11663479. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.70743.


Age-dependent relationships among diet, body condition, and Echinococcus multilocularis infection in urban coyotes.

Sugden S, Steckler D, Sanderson D, Abercrombie B, Abercrombie D, Seguin M PLoS One. 2023; 18(8):e0290755.

PMID: 37647321 PMC: 10468061. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290755.


A single haplotype is widespread in white ibis () from urban and rural sites in southern Florida.

Yabsley M, Coker S, Welch C, Garrett K, Murray M, Grunert R Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2023; 21:269-276.

PMID: 37520900 PMC: 10372042. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2023.06.010.


Nature versus nurture: Structural equation modeling indicates that parental care does not mitigate consequences of poor environmental conditions in Eastern Bluebirds ().

Sudnick M, Brodie B, Williams K Ecol Evol. 2021; 11(21):15237-15248.

PMID: 34765174 PMC: 8571643. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8207.


Effects of an anthropogenic diet on indicators of physiological challenge and immunity of white ibis nestlings raised in captivity.

Cummings C, Hernandez S, Murray M, Ellison T, Adams H, Cooper R Ecol Evol. 2020; 10(15):8416-8428.

PMID: 32788990 PMC: 7417218. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6548.

References
1.
Merchant M, Roche C, Elsey R, Prudhomme J . Antibacterial properties of serum from the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 2003; 136(3):505-13. DOI: 10.1016/s1096-4959(03)00256-2. View

2.
Cummings C, Hernandez S, Murray M, Ellison T, Adams H, Cooper R . Effects of an anthropogenic diet on indicators of physiological challenge and immunity of white ibis nestlings raised in captivity. Ecol Evol. 2020; 10(15):8416-8428. PMC: 7417218. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6548. View

3.
Wilcoxen T, Horn D, Hogan B, Hubble C, Huber S, Flamm J . Effects of bird-feeding activities on the health of wild birds. Conserv Physiol. 2016; 3(1):cov058. PMC: 4778448. DOI: 10.1093/conphys/cov058. View

4.
Blom A, Hallstrom T, Riesbeck K . Complement evasion strategies of pathogens-acquisition of inhibitors and beyond. Mol Immunol. 2009; 46(14):2808-17. DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2009.04.025. View

5.
Sinclair A, Krebs C . Complex numerical responses to top-down and bottom-up processes in vertebrate populations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2002; 357(1425):1221-31. PMC: 1693037. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1123. View