Determinants of community structure: parasites fight the environment, their hosts and each other

This blog post is provided by Joshua Brian and tells the #StoryBehindthePaper for the paper ‘Factors at multiple scales drive parasite community structure’, which was recently published in Journal of Animal Ecology. In the study, they look at how parasite communities differ depending on host species and spatial scale. At the heart of ecology are a set of quite simple questions. One of the … Continue reading Determinants of community structure: parasites fight the environment, their hosts and each other

Julie SheardDecember 12, 2022December 20, 2022Leave a comment

Guest post

Self-medication: how to use macronutrients to better survive infections

This blog post is provided by Fleur Ponton, Senior Lecturer in Insect Biology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Fleur and her team are investigating the relationship between nutrition, immunology and gut microbiota, primarily using flies as model species, this blog discusses her recent paper in the journal. Infection and nutrition are intimately linked. Nutrients in the diet play a fundamental role in sustaining an … Continue reading Self-medication: how to use macronutrients to better survive infections

Journal of Animal EcologyDecember 10, 2019January 31, 2020Leave a comment

Guest post

Stopovers for sickly songbirds

The understanding of the interplay of movement, behaviour and physiology that biologging offers has applied relevance for a range of fields, including evolutionary ecology, wildlife conservation and behavioural ecology. In recognition of this, the Journal of Animal Ecology has an upcoming Special Feature on Biologging (submissions due 20th September). This blog posts is written to accompany a recent publication in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Lead-author Dr Arne … Continue reading Stopovers for sickly songbirds

Sarah MarleySeptember 8, 2018October 26, 2018Leave a comment

Guest post

How does infection alter animal migration performance? It’s complicated.

Animals move around. A lot. Migratory animals are widely assumed to play an important role in the long-distance dispersal of parasites and pathogens. But how does this affect the migratory animals themselves? PhD student Alice Risely, Deakin University, explains how infections might alter animal migration. Migratory animals spread pathogens. But how frequently? And how far? Is it super common for migratory birds to spread pathogens … Continue reading How does infection alter animal migration performance? It’s complicated.

Sarah MarleyJanuary 30, 2018March 2, 2018Leave a comment