Abstract
Pathogens can have a profound impact on the population dynamics of avian populations. Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) is considered one of the few pathogens capable of causing extinction, because it predominantly infects the highly threatened order Psittaciformes, the signs of disease are severe, and mortality can be extremely high. Little is known about BFDV in wild populations, particularly its distribution among wild breeding birds. We investigated patterns of BFDV infection in family groups across three different subspecies of a common southeast Australian parrot (Platycercus elegans). We predicted that due to the high degree of contact, shared environment and high relatedness within family units, the prevalence of infection would be uniform. However, we found more non-infected breeding pairs than expected if there was random mating, whilst cases where both pair members were infected were observed less often than expected under random mating. When one pair member was infected, it was sex-biased, with males rarely infected. We found that parental infection status did not explain nestling infection status, suggesting that other infection routes (e.g. from the hollow or nest material) are likely. Future work is needed to assess transmission and behavioural mechanisms that explain patterns of infection among breeding birds.
Zusammenfassung
Prävalenz von BFDV beim wild lebenden Pennantsittich Platycercus elegans
Pathogene können tiefgreifende Auswirkungen auf die Populationsdynamik von Vogelpopulationen haben. Der Virus BFDV (englisch: beak and feather disease virus) gilt als eines der wenigen Pathogene, die zum Aussterben einer Art führen können, da es überwiegend die stark gefährdete Ordnung Psittaciformes infiziert. Die Krankheitsanzeichen sind schwerwiegend und die Sterblichkeit kann extrem hoch sein. Wenig ist über die BFDV in Wildpopulationen bekannt, vor allem über dessen Verbreitung innerhalb wild lebender Arten. Wir untersuchten die Muster der BFDV-Infektion in Familiengruppen innerhalb von drei verschiedenen Unterarten einer häufigen südostaustralischen Papageienart, dem Pennantsittich (Platycercus elegans). Unsere Vorhersage war, dass aufgrund des häufigen Kontakts, der gemeinsamen Nutzung der Umgebung und der hohen Verbundenheit innerhalb der Familiengruppen, die Prävalenz der Infektion gleichmäßig verteilt sein würde. Jedoch haben wir mehr nicht infizierte Brutpaare gefunden als zu erwarten wäre, wenn es nur zufällige Verpaarungen gegeben hätte. Fälle, in denen beide Partner infiziert waren, kamen hingegen seltener vor als bei zufälliger Verpaarung zu erwarten gewesen wäre. Wenn nur einer der Brutpartner infiziert war, war die Infektion meist geschlechtsspezifisch, mit seltener infizierten Männchen. Wir fanden heraus, dass der Infektionsstatus der Küken nicht durch den elterlichen Infektionsstatus erklärt wurde, was darauf schließen lässt, dass andere Infektionswege (z. B. durch Nisthöhle oder -material) wahrscheinlich sind. Weitere Arbeiten sind notwendig, um Übertragungs- und Verhaltensmechanismen zu erkennen, die das Infektionsmuster innerhalb von Brutvögeln erklären.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the field site landowners, especially the Austin, Ashton, Becker, Buckeridge, Colton, Charas, Graves, Henzel, Knaggs, Laucke, Maguire, McIntosh, McKendrick, Myers, Piper, Roberts, Sharp, and Snell families, as well as Eliza Larson, Milla Mihailova and volunteers for assistance in the field. We would also like to thank Edward Holmes, Trevor Price, Barbara Tshirren and several reviewers for taking time to provide valuable feedback on earlier drafts of this work. The manuscript was greatly improved as a result of their critique. Funding for this research was provided by the Australian Research Council (LP140100691; DP180103494), a Birdlife Australia Stuart Leslie Research Award, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, and Deakin University. All sampling procedures were approved by Deakin University’s ethics committee, and all research conformed to the laws of Australia and the states of Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales. Bird banding was done with approval from the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme.
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Eastwood, J.R., Berg, M.L., Ribot, R.F.H. et al. Prevalence of BFDV in wild breeding Platycercus elegans. J Ornithol 160, 557–565 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01639-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-019-01639-w