TY - JOUR

T1 - Avian life history traits influence eggshell bacterial loads

T2 - a comparative analysis

AU - Manuel Peralta-Sanchez, Juan

AU - Martin-Vivaldi, Manuel

AU - Manuel Martin-Platero, Antonio

AU - Martinez-Bueno, Manuel

AU - Onate Gutierrez, Marta

AU - Ruiz-Rodriguez, Magdalena

AU - Jose Soler, Juan

PY - 2012/10

Y1 - 2012/10

N2 - Selection pressures due to parasitism play an important role in driving the evolution of life history traits of birds in general and of behaviour at the nest in particular. Eggshell bacterial load has been shown to predict hatching failure (i.e. the probability of embryo infection) but the relationships between the bacterial environment of the nest and life history characteristics of birds remain poorly investigated. We explored interspecific variation in eggshell bacterial load of mesophilic bacteria, Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Enterobacteriaceae groups across 24 bird species and assessed whether bacterial load is associated with breeding traits. Interspecific variation was much higher than intra-specific variation for all measures of bacterial load even after controlling for annual variation. Thus, we were able to assess the correlation between bacterial community characteristics and life history traits. After correcting for phylogenetic effects, we found that nest type, the use of feathers or plants as lining material, and incubation behaviour explained a significant proportion of the variance in bacterial communities on eggshells. The strength of these associations depended on study year, suggesting an important role of environmental conditions for eggshell bacterial load or community. Overall, these results suggest that bacteria on eggshells are associated with bird species traits, probably because birds are mediating the deleterious effect of eggshell microbes through behavioural traits that modify bacterial load.

AB - Selection pressures due to parasitism play an important role in driving the evolution of life history traits of birds in general and of behaviour at the nest in particular. Eggshell bacterial load has been shown to predict hatching failure (i.e. the probability of embryo infection) but the relationships between the bacterial environment of the nest and life history characteristics of birds remain poorly investigated. We explored interspecific variation in eggshell bacterial load of mesophilic bacteria, Enterococcus spp., Staphylococcus spp. and Enterobacteriaceae groups across 24 bird species and assessed whether bacterial load is associated with breeding traits. Interspecific variation was much higher than intra-specific variation for all measures of bacterial load even after controlling for annual variation. Thus, we were able to assess the correlation between bacterial community characteristics and life history traits. After correcting for phylogenetic effects, we found that nest type, the use of feathers or plants as lining material, and incubation behaviour explained a significant proportion of the variance in bacterial communities on eggshells. The strength of these associations depended on study year, suggesting an important role of environmental conditions for eggshell bacterial load or community. Overall, these results suggest that bacteria on eggshells are associated with bird species traits, probably because birds are mediating the deleterious effect of eggshell microbes through behavioural traits that modify bacterial load.

KW - bacterial community

KW - comparative approach

KW - incubation behaviour

KW - nest breeding behaviour

KW - TRANS-SHELL INFECTION

KW - EGG VIABILITY

KW - PARUS-MAJOR

KW - INCUBATION BEHAVIOR

KW - COLOR COMPOSITION

KW - PROTEIN EXTRACTS

KW - IMMUNE-RESPONSE

KW - HIRUNDO-RUSTICA

KW - ROOST SITES

KW - GREAT TIT

U2 - 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2012.01256.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2012.01256.x

M3 - Journal article

VL - 154

SP - 725

EP - 737

JO - Ibis

JF - Ibis

SN - 0019-1019

IS - 4

ER -