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Longitudinal Impacts of Forest Loss on Bartonella and Hemotropic Mycoplasma Dynamics in Vampire Bats Within a Fragmented HabitatNARA Subscribed
Habitat fragmentation can negatively impact wildlife, including increasing infectious disease risk. We assessed spatiotemporal changes in pathogen dynamics in vampire bats ( Desmodus rotundus ) in response to habitat fragmentation using general linear mixed models to investigate the influence of site, year, and tree cover on Bartonella spp. and hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. (hemoplasmas) infection risk in bats in one large and on...
Predictors and consequences of diet composition in a declining generalist aerial insectivoreNARA Subscribed
For generalist animals that have a broad range of food choices, the specific diet characteristics that are important for health and fitness are often unclear. Here, we examine whether individual variation in diet composition predicts nestling mass and fledge success, and we identify potential drivers of variation in diet composition, in a declining generalist aerial insectivore, the tree swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor ). We col...
Although birds have been used globally as bioindicators of heavy metals, the determinants and physiological consequences of their exposure to heavy metals remain poorly understood. The American Robin ( Turdus migratorius ) is a common songbird in a variety of habitats across most of North America that could serve as an ideal sentinel of heavy metal contamination. We evaluated how robin exposure to lead (Pb) varied regionally,...
Tilapia Lake Virus (TiLV) is a significant threat to global tilapia aquaculture, highlighting the need for rapid and accurate diagnostic methods to manage outbreaks and minimise economic losses. This study presents the development and partial validation of a one‐pot assay integrating RT‐LAMP with the CRISPR/Cas12b system for sensitive and specific TiLV detection. This assay amplifies viral RNA using RT‐LAMP, while CRISPR/Cas12...
Virus‐Dependent Geographic Structure of Co‐Circulating Viruses in a Single Bat SpeciesNARA Subscribed
Understanding the spatial spread of viruses within wildlife populations is often a key component of disease management efforts. Viral spread is likely constrained by host ecology, but inter‐virus differences in infection strategy might allow some viruses to overcome these constraints, leading to divergent population structures within a common host environment. We studied the phylogeographic structure of six virus taxa (dependo...
A general framework for modeling pathogen transmission in co‐roosting host communitiesNARA Subscribed
Cross‐species transmission of pathogens can be facilitated by frequent contact among wildlife. Cross‐species transmission is often driven by phylogenetic similarity between host species, but the role this plays when multiple host species co‐roost is unknown. We developed a generalizable framework for understanding how cross‐species transmission is driven by contact among co‐roosting species spanning evolutionary similarities a...
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is one of the most common forms of epilepsy and usually manifests after serious brain insults, including traumatic brain injury, stroke, and status epilepticus (SE). Previously, we identified a new epilepsy-associated transcriptional control mechanism that relies on the zinc-dependent transcriptional activator metal-regulatory transcription factor-1 (MTF1). MTF1 is one of the key transcription fact...
Contaminants can harm wildlife. However, measuring wildlife exposure to contaminants can be challenging due to accessibility of species and/or sampling tissue matrices needed to assess wildlife health risks. For example, in bats and other taxa that use roosts, collecting feces under colonies minimizes disturbance to species of conservation concern, but fecal contaminant concentrations may not directly correlate with tissue con...
Resilience and vulnerability of the stonefly Nemoura cinerea to increased temperature and droughtNARA Subscribed
Aquatic ecosystems worldwide are under severe pressure from climate change. However, studies on climate change effects on stream biota mainly focus on indicator or vulnerable species, leaving unanswered how more resilient species cope with elevated temperatures and drought, and the long-term consequences for these populations. This study therefore aims to determine the long-term population responses of a common, apparently les...
Evaluating Seasonal vs. Spatial Extrapolation for Cetacean Distribution Models in the California CurrentNARA Subscribed
Species distribution models (SDMs) have been developed for multiple cetacean species within the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) from shipboard survey data collected by the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) in summer and fall, thus limiting the ability to inform management decisions in cool seasons when abundance and distribution patterns are substantially different. Winter and spring SDMs have been developed for a...