Albery, G.F., Hasik, A.Z., Morris, S. et al. (6 more authors) (2024) Divergent age-related changes in parasite infection occur independently of behaviour and demography in a wild ungulate. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1916). 20230508. ISSN 0962-8436
Abstract
As animals age, they exhibit a suite of phenotypic changes, often including reductions in movement and social behaviour (‘behavioural ageing’). By altering an individual’s exposure to parasites, behavioural ageing may influence infection status trajectories over the lifespan. However, these processes could be confounded by age-related changes in other phenotypic traits, or by selective disappearance of certain individuals owing to parasite-induced mortality. Here, we uncover contrasting age-related patterns of infection across three helminth parasites in wild adult female red deer (Cervus elaphus). Counts of strongyle nematodes (order: Strongylida) increased with age, while counts of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) and tissue worm (Elaphostrongylus cervi) decreased, and lungworm (Dictyocaulus) counts did not change. These relationships could not be explained by socio-spatial behaviours, spatial structuring, or selective disappearance, suggesting behavioural ageing is unlikely to be responsible for driving age trends. Instead, social connectedness and strongyle infection were positively correlated, such that direct age–infection trends were directly contrasted with the effects implied by previously documented behavioural ageing. This suggests that behavioural ageing may reduce parasite exposure, potentially countering other age-related changes. These findings demonstrate that different parasites can show contrasting age trajectories depending on diverse intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and that behaviour’s role in these processes is likely to be complex and multidirectional.
This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Understanding age and society using natural populations’.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | ageing, infectious disease, parasites, behaviour,disease ecology, wild animal |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 08 Jul 2024 16:03 |
Last Modified: | 26 Nov 2024 09:45 |
Published Version: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rst... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | The Royal Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rstb.2023.0508 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:214417 |