Winter Temperature Affects the Prevalence of Ticks in an Arctic Seabird

Sébastien Descamps,André Chiaradia

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065374

Abstract

The Arctic is rapidly warming and host-parasite relationships may be modified by such environmental changes. Here, I showed that the average winter temperature in Svalbard, Arctic Norway, explained almost 90% of the average prevalence of ticks in an Arctic seabird, the Brünnich’s guillemot Uria lomvia. An increase of 1°C in the average winter temperature at the nesting colony site was associated with a 5% increase in the number of birds infected by these ectoparasites in the subsequent breeding season. Guillemots were generally infested by only a few ticks (≤5) and I found no direct effect of tick presence on their body condition and breeding success. However, the strong effect of average winter temperature described here clearly indicates that tick-seabird relationships in the Arctic may be strongly affected by ongoing climate warming.

Highlights

Changes in climate, including regional increases in temperatures, are altering the structure and function of ecosystems globally [1]
The effect of winter temperature was strong, with a 1uC increase in January to March average temperature associated with a 5% increase in tick prevalence
Tick survival and activity are dependent on ambient temperature [18,30] so its abundance, distribution and impact on wildlife are likely to increase due to ongoing climate warming

Summary

Introduction

Changes in climate, including regional increases in temperatures, are altering the structure and function of ecosystems globally [1]. Rising temperatures can favor the emergence of new diseases or parasites [2,3], and can markedly modify host-parasite relationships [4]. Parasites are known to have detrimental effects on wildlife, either directly through blood loss or disturbance [5], or indirectly by enabling disease transmission [6]. Changes in parasite abundance and distribution have clear conservation and management implications. This appears especially true in high northern latitudes where climate warming is the most pronounced [9] and changes in host-parasite relationships have already been documented [4]

Methods

Results

Conclusion