Title
Leukocyte Profiles Reflect Geographic Range Limits in a Widespread Neotropical Bat
Date Issued
01 November 2019
Access level
open access
Resource Type
conference paper
Author(s)
Becker D.J.
Nachtmann C.
Argibay H.D.
Botto G.
Escalera-Zamudio M.
Carrera J.E.
Winiarski E.
Greenwood A.D.
Méndez-Ojeda M.L.
Loza-Rubio E.
Lavergne A.
De Thoisy B.
Czirják G.
Plowright R.K.
Altizer S.
Streicker D.G.
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
Quantifying how the environment shapes host immune defense is important for understanding which wild populations may be more susceptible or resistant to pathogens. Spatial variation in parasite risk, food and predator abundance, and abiotic conditions can each affect immunity, and these factors can also manifest at both local and biogeographic scales. Yet identifying predictors and the spatial scale of their effects is limited by the rarity of studies that measure immunity across many populations of broadly distributed species. We analyzed leukocyte profiles from 39 wild populations of the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) across its wide geographic range throughout the Neotropics. White blood cell differentials varied spatially, with proportions of neutrophils and lymphocytes varying up to six-fold across sites. Leukocyte profiles were spatially autocorrelated at small and very large distances, suggesting that local environment and large-scale biogeographic factors influence cellular immunity. Generalized additive models showed that bat populations closer to the northern and southern limits of the species range had more neutrophils, monocytes, and basophils, but fewer lymphocytes and eosinophils, than bats sampled at the core of their distribution. Habitats with access to more livestock also showed similar patterns in leukocyte profiles, but large-scale patterns were partly confounded by time between capture and sampling across sites. Our findings suggest that populations at the edge of their range experience physiologically limiting conditions that predict higher chronic stress and greater investment in cellular innate immunity. High food abundance in livestock-dense habitats may exacerbate such conditions by increasing bat density or diet homogenization, although future spatially and temporally coordinated field studies with common protocols are needed to limit sampling artifacts. Systematically assessing immune function and response over space will elucidate how environmental conditions influence traits relevant to epidemiology and help predict disease risks with anthropogenic disturbance, land conversion, and climate change.
Start page
1176
End page
1189
Volume
59
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia animal, Ciencia de productos lácteos
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85063754346
PubMed ID
Source
Integrative and Comparative Biology
ISSN of the container
15407063
Sponsor(s)
For assistance with field logistics and research permits, we thank Patricia Mendoza, Nestor Falcon, Carlos Shiva, Sergio Recuenco, Ornela Inagaki, Brock Fenton, Neil Duncan, Nancy Simmons, and Miguel Angel Rinas, alongside staff of the Instituto Nacional de Salud Peru, Wildlife Conservation Society Peru, and Lamanai Field Research Center. For assistance with bat sampling, we thank Laura Bergner, Malavika Rajeev, Katherine Ineson, Giannina Lemus, Mariana Díaz, Marcela Orozco, Graciela Garbossa, Ricardo Gürtler, Edith Rojas-Anaya, Carlos Arias, Luis Caballero, Omar Ríos, Alfredo Patraca, Pierre Castro, Miluska Ramos, Marcela Oversluijs, and Cindy Quino. We also thank Katja Pohle for laboratory assistance. We thank Nicole Gottdenker, Alexandra Bentz, and six reviewers for feedback on this manuscript. Lastly, the authors thank the Division of Ecoimmunology and Disease Ecology, Division of Comparative Endocrinology, Division of Animal Behavior, and Division of Ecology and Evolution of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology as well as the Macroecology of Infectious Disease Research Coordination Network funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB 1316223) for financially supporting the symposium “The scale of sickness: how immune variation across space and species affects infectious disease dynamics.”
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (Graduate Research Fellowship, DEB 1601052, DEB-1020966, DEB-1716698), ARCS Foundation, Sigma Xi, Animal Behavior Society, Bat Conservation International, American Society of Mammalogists, University of Georgia (UGA), Explorer’s Club, Roemmers Foundation, Fulbright Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (GR 3924/9-1), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico and German Academic Exchange Service (311664), Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, National Institutes of Health IDeA Program (P20GM103474 and P30GM110732), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Young Faculty Award D16AP00113 and PREEMPT award D18AC00031; the content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the U.S. government, and no official endorsement should be inferred), and a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (jointly funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal Society; 102507/Z/13/Z).
Field methods were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committees of UGA (AUP A2009-10003-0 and A2014 04-016-Y3-A5), Montana State University (2017-30), Universidad de la República (481-2017), and Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (2012-09-05). Bat capture and sampling were authorized by the Belize Forest Department under permits CD/60/3/14(27), CD/60/3/15(21), and WL/1/1/16(17); by the Peruvian Government under permits RD-273-2012-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS, RD-009-2015-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS, RD-264-2015-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS, and RD-142-2015-SERFOR-DGGSPFFS; by the Uruguayan Government under permit Res. DF137/ 16; by the Misiones Province Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources under permit No. 027/2014; and by Mexican regulations under permits Num/ SGPA/DGVS 03173/14 and SAGARPA 241111524599811488A467371.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus