Background： Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl （Povo muticus） has experienced s...Background： Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl （Povo muticus） has experienced sharp population declines and d stribution range diminishing both in China and Southeast Asia. Field population surveys have not been conducted in China since the 1990s, which hindered conservation planning and decision-making.Methods： With interview and line transects methods, we figured out the population and distribution changes of Green Peafowl across its historical ranges over the past three decades in China during 2014-2017.Results： The Green Peafowl once habituated in 54 counties in China. Nearly 60% of the distribution counties were lost in the past three decades, with the left 22 counties distributed in central, southern and western Yunnan, SW China. Population decrease detected in all distribution areas except for Shuangbai and Xinping county where more than 60% of the total population is located. Only about 30% of the former bird population were recorded with the same interviewing method as 20 years ago.Three birds, 1 carcass, 6 calls and 12 footprints were detected along the 865 km line transects, indicating extremely low encounter rate of Green Peafowl in field. Sharp decreases in flock sizes were also detected, from 8-20 birds per flock in the 1990s to 3-5 birds at present. Poaching and habitat conversion are two widespread and long-lasting threats, while poison tion affect regional population＇s survival. Large flocks of 18 ng caused mortality in the past and hydropower construc -27 birds were discovered in the field, which increases our confidence of population recovery of this endangered pheasant in China.Conclusions： Only interviewed bird number and counts based on line transects were presented in this study, without further population estimation due to limitation of the data sets. Although the actual population of this cryptic bird must be underestimated, dramatic population declines and distribution concentrations of the endangered Green Peafowl occurred over the past 30 years in China undoubtedly.展开更多
Background: The Plain-backed Thrush Zoothera mollissima breeds in the Himalayas and mountains of central China. It was long considered conspecific with the Long-tailed Thrush Zoothera dixoni, until these were shown to...Background: The Plain-backed Thrush Zoothera mollissima breeds in the Himalayas and mountains of central China. It was long considered conspecific with the Long-tailed Thrush Zoothera dixoni, until these were shown to be broadly sympatric.Methods: We revise the Z. mollissima–Z. dixoni complex by integrating morphological, acoustic, genetic(two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers), ecological and distributional datasets.Results: In earlier field observations, we noted two very different song types of "Plain-backed" Thrush segregated by breeding habitat and elevation. Further integrative analyses congruently identify three groups: an alpine breeder in the Himalayas and Sichuan, China("Alpine Thrush"); a forest breeder in the eastern Himalayas and northwest Yunnan(at least), China("Himalayan Forest Thrush"); and a forest breeder in central Sichuan("Sichuan Forest Thrush"). Alpine and Himalayan Forest Thrushes are broadly sympatric, but segregated by habitat and altitude, and the same is probably true also for Alpine and Sichuan Forest Thrushes. These three groups differ markedly in morphology and songs. In addition, DNA sequence data from three non-breeding specimens from Yunnan indicate that yet another lineage exists("Yunnan Thrush"). However, we find no consistent morphological differences from Alpine Thrush, and its breeding range is unknown. Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that all four groups diverged at least a few million years ago, and identify Alpine Thrush and the putative "Yunnan Thrush" as sisters, and the two forest taxa as sisters. Cytochrome b divergences among the four Z. mollissima sensu lato(s.l.) clades are similar to those between any of them and Z. dixoni, and exceed that between the two congeneric outgroup species. We lectotypify the name Oreocincla rostrata Hodgson, 1845 with the Z. mollissima sensu stricto(s.s.) specimen long considered its type. No available name unambiguously pertains to the Himalayan Forest Thrush.Conclusions: The Plain-backed Thrush Z. mollissima s.l. comprises at least three species: Alpine Thrush Z. mollissima s.s., with a widespread alpine breeding distribution; Sichuan Forest Thrush Z. griseiceps, breeding in central Sichuan forests; and Himalayan Forest Thrush, breeding in the eastern Himalayas and northwest Yunnan(at least), which is described herein as a new species. "Yunnan Thrush" requires further study.展开更多
Background: The Russet Bush Warbler Locustella(previously Bradypterus) mandelli complex occurs in mountains in the eastern Himalayas, southern China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The taxonomy has been deba...Background: The Russet Bush Warbler Locustella(previously Bradypterus) mandelli complex occurs in mountains in the eastern Himalayas, southern China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The taxonomy has been debated,with one(L. seebohmi) to four(L. seebohmi, L. mandelli, L. montis and L. timorensis) species having been recognised.Methods: We used an integrative approach, incorporating analyses of morphology, vocalizations and a molecular marker, to re-evaluate species limits in the L. mandelli complex.Results: We found that central Chinese L. mandelli differed from those from India through northern Southeast Asia to southeast China in plumage, morphometrics and song. All were easily classified by song, and(wing + culmen)/tail ratio overlapped only marginally. Both groups were reciprocally monophyletic in a mitochondrial cytochrome b(cytb) gene tree, with a mean divergence of 1.0 ± 0.2%. They were sympatric and mostly altitudinally segregated in the breeding season in southern Sichuan province. We found that the Mt Victoria(western Myanmar) population differed vocally from other L. mandelli, but no specimens are available. Taiwan Bush Warbler L. alishanensis was sister to the L. mandelli complex, with the most divergent song. Plumage, vocal and cytb evidence supported the distinctness of the south Vietnamese L. mandelli idonea. The Timor Bush Warbler L. timorensis, Javan Bush Warbler L.montis and Benguet Bush Warbler L. seebohmi differed distinctly in plumage, but among-population song variation in L. montis exceeded the differences between some populations of these taxa, and mean pairwise cytb divergences were only 0.5–0.9%. We also found that some L. montis populations differed morphologically.Conclusions: We conclude that the central Chinese population of Russet Bush Warbler represents a new species,which we describe herein, breeding at mid elevations in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces.The taxonomic status of the other allopatric populations is less clear. However, as they differ to a degree comparable with that of the sympatric L. mandelli and the new species, we elevate L. idonea to species status, and retain L. seebohmi and L. montis as separate species, the latter with timorensis as a subspecies. Further research should focus on different populations of L. montis and the Mt Victoria population of L. mandelli.展开更多
Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are ...Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, and several of these have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs.Methods: We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwan Residents B. m. goodfellowi.Results: We conclude that these differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Male B. m. goodfellowi is the most divergent in plumage(sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others; male similar to female), and B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis differ in male plumage maturation. The song of B. m. cruralis is strongly divergent from the others, whereas the songs of B. m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are more similar to each other. Brachypteryx m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are sisters, with an estimated divergence time 4.1 million years ago(mya; 95% highest posterior distribution [HPD] 2.8–5.5 mya), and B. m. cruralis separated from these two 5.8 mya(95% HPD 4.1–7.5 mya). We also report notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis as well as sympatry between this taxon and B. m. cruralis in Sichuan Province, China. Brachypteryx m. montana from Java is found to be more closely related to Lesser Shortwing(B. leucophris) and Rusty-bellied Shortwing(B. hyperythra) than to the mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa.Conclusion: Our data support a recent proposal to treat the three mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa as three species, separate from B. montana sensu stricto: B. cruralis(central Himalayas to south central China and south Vietnam), B. sinensis(north central to southeastern part of China's Mainland) and B. goodfellowi(Taiwan Island).展开更多
The aim of this study was to correlate plumage variation with the amount of genomic hybrid content in hybrids between Azure Tits Cyanistes cyanus(Pallas,1770)and European Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus(Linnaeus,1758),by...The aim of this study was to correlate plumage variation with the amount of genomic hybrid content in hybrids between Azure Tits Cyanistes cyanus(Pallas,1770)and European Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus(Linnaeus,1758),by re-sequencing the genomes of museum specimens of non-hybrids and presumed hybrids with varying plumages.The project was funded by crowdsourcing and initiated when two presumed Azure Tits,observed by hundreds of Swedish birdwatchers,were rejected as hybrids based on minor plumage deviations assumed to indicate hybrid contents from the European Blue Tit.The results confirm that hybrids with intermediate plumages,so called Pleske’s Tits,are first generation hybrids(F1 hybrids).Individuals,whose plumages are similar to Azure Tits,but assessed as hybrids based on minor plumage deviations,are all backcrosses but vary in their degree of hybrid content.However,some individuals morphologically recognized as pure Azure Tits expressed similar degrees of hybrid content.The results indicate that:(1)hybrid content may be widespread in Azure Tits in the western part of its habitat distribution;(2)plumage deviation in backcrosses is not linearly correlated with the genetic degree of hybrid origin;and(3)all Azure Tits observed in Europe outside its natural distribution may have some degree of hybrid origin.We therefore suggest that it is very difficult to phenotypically single out hybrids beyond first generation backcrosses.We argue that decreased sequencing costs and improved analytical tools open the doors for museomic crowd-sourced projects that may not address outstanding biological questions but have a major interest for lay citizens such as birdwatchers.展开更多
Avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites can negatively impact fitness in many songbirds.Research on the malaria infection and its physiological costs on their avian hosts is heavily skewed toward native pas...Avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites can negatively impact fitness in many songbirds.Research on the malaria infection and its physiological costs on their avian hosts is heavily skewed toward native passerines,with exotic species underrepresented.However,introduced species may carry on and spread new pathogens to native species,and play a role on parasite transmission cycle in invaded bird communities as pathogen reservoir.Here,we molecularly assess the prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian parasites in three introduced wetland passerines(the Red Avadavat Amandava amandava,the Yellow-crowned Bishop Euplectes afer,and the Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild)captured during the same season in southwestern Spain.We also explored the relation between parasite infection,body condition,haematocrit,and uropygial gland volume.We detected an overall parasite prevalence of 3.55%,where Common Waxbills showed higher prevalence(6.94%)than Red Avadavats(1.51%).None Yellow-crowned Bishops were infected with haemosporidians.Almost 60%of infections were caused by Leucocytozoon,and about 40%by Plasmodium.We identified four unique lineages of Plasmodium and three of Leucocytozoon.Moreover,91%of the identified host-parasite interactions represented new host records for these haemosporidian parasites.Parasite infection was not related to body condition,haematocrit,and uropygial gland volume of the wetland passerines.Haematocrit values varied seasonally among bird species.Additionally,haematocrit was positively related to body condition in the Yellow-crowned Bishops,but not in the other species.Red Avadavats had higher haematocrit levels than Yellow-crowned Bishops,whereas Common Waxbills showed the lower haematocrit values.The uropygial gland volume was positively correlated with body condition in all bird species.Common Waxbills showed higher uropygial gland volumes related to their body size than birds from other two species.These outcomes highlight the importance of exotic invasive species in the transmission dynamics of haemosporidian parasites.展开更多
The family Alaudidae,larks,comprises 93-100 species(depending on taxonomy)that are widely distributed across Africa and Eurasia,with single species extending their ranges to North and northernmost South America and Au...The family Alaudidae,larks,comprises 93-100 species(depending on taxonomy)that are widely distributed across Africa and Eurasia,with single species extending their ranges to North and northernmost South America and Australia.A decade-old molecular phylogeny,comprising~80%of the species,revealed multiple cases of parallel evolution and large variation in rates of morphological evolution,which had misled taxonomists into creating many non-monophyletic genera.Here,we reconstruct the phylogeny of the larks,using a dataset covering one mitochondrial and 16 nuclear loci and comprising all except one of the currently recognised species as well as several recently proposed new species(in total 133 taxa;not all loci available for all species).We provide additional support using genome-wide markers to infer a genus-level phylogeny based on near-complete generic sampling(in total 51 samples of 44 taxa across 40 species).Our results confirm the previous findings of rampant morphological convergence and divergence,and reveal new cases of paraphyletic genera.We propose a new subfamily classification,and also that the genus Mirafra is divided into four genera to produce a more balanced generic classification of the Alaudidae.Our study supports recently proposed species splits as well as some recent lumps,while also questioning some of the latter.This comprehensive phylogeny will form an important basis for future studies,such as comparative studies of lark natural history,ecology,evolution and conservation.展开更多
基金the financial supports from the Biodiversity Conservation Fund from Yunnan Environmental Protection DepartmentSpecial Funds for Green Peafowl Investigation from State Forestry Administration of the People’s Republic of Chinasupported by the Key Laboratory of Special Biological Resource Development and Utilization of Universities in Yunnan Province
文摘Background： Understanding the changes in population dynamics, including demographics, distribution and threats is essential for species status assessing.The endangered Green Peafowl （Povo muticus） has experienced sharp population declines and d stribution range diminishing both in China and Southeast Asia. Field population surveys have not been conducted in China since the 1990s, which hindered conservation planning and decision-making.Methods： With interview and line transects methods, we figured out the population and distribution changes of Green Peafowl across its historical ranges over the past three decades in China during 2014-2017.Results： The Green Peafowl once habituated in 54 counties in China. Nearly 60% of the distribution counties were lost in the past three decades, with the left 22 counties distributed in central, southern and western Yunnan, SW China. Population decrease detected in all distribution areas except for Shuangbai and Xinping county where more than 60% of the total population is located. Only about 30% of the former bird population were recorded with the same interviewing method as 20 years ago.Three birds, 1 carcass, 6 calls and 12 footprints were detected along the 865 km line transects, indicating extremely low encounter rate of Green Peafowl in field. Sharp decreases in flock sizes were also detected, from 8-20 birds per flock in the 1990s to 3-5 birds at present. Poaching and habitat conversion are two widespread and long-lasting threats, while poison tion affect regional population＇s survival. Large flocks of 18 ng caused mortality in the past and hydropower construc -27 birds were discovered in the field, which increases our confidence of population recovery of this endangered pheasant in China.Conclusions： Only interviewed bird number and counts based on line transects were presented in this study, without further population estimation due to limitation of the data sets. Although the actual population of this cryptic bird must be underestimated, dramatic population declines and distribution concentrations of the endangered Green Peafowl occurred over the past 30 years in China undoubtedly.
基金financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(Grant No.2014FY210200,to.T.C.and Y.G.)the Russian Science Foundation(Project No.14-50-00029,to M.K.)+3 种基金the Delia Koo Global Faculty Endowment of the Asian Studies Center,Michigan State University(to P.C.R.)The Sound Approach and Jornvall Foundation(both to P.A.and U.O.)the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists(No.2011T2S04,to P.A.)Swarovski Optik Greater China(to P.A.)
文摘Background: The Plain-backed Thrush Zoothera mollissima breeds in the Himalayas and mountains of central China. It was long considered conspecific with the Long-tailed Thrush Zoothera dixoni, until these were shown to be broadly sympatric.Methods: We revise the Z. mollissima–Z. dixoni complex by integrating morphological, acoustic, genetic(two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers), ecological and distributional datasets.Results: In earlier field observations, we noted two very different song types of "Plain-backed" Thrush segregated by breeding habitat and elevation. Further integrative analyses congruently identify three groups: an alpine breeder in the Himalayas and Sichuan, China("Alpine Thrush"); a forest breeder in the eastern Himalayas and northwest Yunnan(at least), China("Himalayan Forest Thrush"); and a forest breeder in central Sichuan("Sichuan Forest Thrush"). Alpine and Himalayan Forest Thrushes are broadly sympatric, but segregated by habitat and altitude, and the same is probably true also for Alpine and Sichuan Forest Thrushes. These three groups differ markedly in morphology and songs. In addition, DNA sequence data from three non-breeding specimens from Yunnan indicate that yet another lineage exists("Yunnan Thrush"). However, we find no consistent morphological differences from Alpine Thrush, and its breeding range is unknown. Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that all four groups diverged at least a few million years ago, and identify Alpine Thrush and the putative "Yunnan Thrush" as sisters, and the two forest taxa as sisters. Cytochrome b divergences among the four Z. mollissima sensu lato(s.l.) clades are similar to those between any of them and Z. dixoni, and exceed that between the two congeneric outgroup species. We lectotypify the name Oreocincla rostrata Hodgson, 1845 with the Z. mollissima sensu stricto(s.s.) specimen long considered its type. No available name unambiguously pertains to the Himalayan Forest Thrush.Conclusions: The Plain-backed Thrush Z. mollissima s.l. comprises at least three species: Alpine Thrush Z. mollissima s.s., with a widespread alpine breeding distribution; Sichuan Forest Thrush Z. griseiceps, breeding in central Sichuan forests; and Himalayan Forest Thrush, breeding in the eastern Himalayas and northwest Yunnan(at least), which is described herein as a new species. "Yunnan Thrush" requires further study.
基金the Laojunshan Nature Reserve Management Bureau for providing support for field work(to B.D.,P.A.,Y.L.,P.R.and J.Z)the Chinese National Science and Technology Basic Work Program–The Comprehensive Scientific Survey of Biodiversity from Luoxiao range Region in China(2013FY111500)(to Y.L.and J.Z)+3 种基金Jornvall Foundation(to P.A.)the Sound Approach(to P.A.and U.O.)the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists(No.2011T2S04,to P.A.)Swarovski Hong Kong Ltd.(to P.A.)
文摘Background: The Russet Bush Warbler Locustella(previously Bradypterus) mandelli complex occurs in mountains in the eastern Himalayas, southern China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The taxonomy has been debated,with one(L. seebohmi) to four(L. seebohmi, L. mandelli, L. montis and L. timorensis) species having been recognised.Methods: We used an integrative approach, incorporating analyses of morphology, vocalizations and a molecular marker, to re-evaluate species limits in the L. mandelli complex.Results: We found that central Chinese L. mandelli differed from those from India through northern Southeast Asia to southeast China in plumage, morphometrics and song. All were easily classified by song, and(wing + culmen)/tail ratio overlapped only marginally. Both groups were reciprocally monophyletic in a mitochondrial cytochrome b(cytb) gene tree, with a mean divergence of 1.0 ± 0.2%. They were sympatric and mostly altitudinally segregated in the breeding season in southern Sichuan province. We found that the Mt Victoria(western Myanmar) population differed vocally from other L. mandelli, but no specimens are available. Taiwan Bush Warbler L. alishanensis was sister to the L. mandelli complex, with the most divergent song. Plumage, vocal and cytb evidence supported the distinctness of the south Vietnamese L. mandelli idonea. The Timor Bush Warbler L. timorensis, Javan Bush Warbler L.montis and Benguet Bush Warbler L. seebohmi differed distinctly in plumage, but among-population song variation in L. montis exceeded the differences between some populations of these taxa, and mean pairwise cytb divergences were only 0.5–0.9%. We also found that some L. montis populations differed morphologically.Conclusions: We conclude that the central Chinese population of Russet Bush Warbler represents a new species,which we describe herein, breeding at mid elevations in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces.The taxonomic status of the other allopatric populations is less clear. However, as they differ to a degree comparable with that of the sympatric L. mandelli and the new species, we elevate L. idonea to species status, and retain L. seebohmi and L. montis as separate species, the latter with timorensis as a subspecies. Further research should focus on different populations of L. montis and the Mt Victoria population of L. mandelli.
基金P.A.gratefully acknowledges Jornvall Foundation,Mark and Mo Constantine,and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists(No.2011T2S04)P.A.and U.O.acknowledge the Swedish Research Council(Grant Nos.2015-04402 and 2015-04651,respectively)
文摘Background: The White-browed Shortwing(Brachypteryx montana) is widespread from the central Himalayas to the southeast Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia. Multiple subspecies are recognised, and several of these have recently been suggested to be treated as separate species based on differences in morphology and songs.Methods: We here analyse plumage, morphometrics, songs, two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, and geographical distributions of the two mainland Asian taxa B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis and the Taiwan Residents B. m. goodfellowi.Results: We conclude that these differ congruently in morphology, songs and DNA. Male B. m. goodfellowi is the most divergent in plumage(sexually monomorphic, unlike the two others; male similar to female), and B. m. cruralis and B. m. sinensis differ in male plumage maturation. The song of B. m. cruralis is strongly divergent from the others, whereas the songs of B. m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are more similar to each other. Brachypteryx m. sinensis and B. m. goodfellowi are sisters, with an estimated divergence time 4.1 million years ago(mya; 95% highest posterior distribution [HPD] 2.8–5.5 mya), and B. m. cruralis separated from these two 5.8 mya(95% HPD 4.1–7.5 mya). We also report notable range extensions of B. m. sinensis as well as sympatry between this taxon and B. m. cruralis in Sichuan Province, China. Brachypteryx m. montana from Java is found to be more closely related to Lesser Shortwing(B. leucophris) and Rusty-bellied Shortwing(B. hyperythra) than to the mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa.Conclusion: Our data support a recent proposal to treat the three mainland Asian and Taiwan Residents taxa as three species, separate from B. montana sensu stricto: B. cruralis(central Himalayas to south central China and south Vietnam), B. sinensis(north central to southeastern part of China's Mainland) and B. goodfellowi(Taiwan Island).
基金This project was crowd sourced and mainly financed by interested birdwatchers.MI also acknowledge financial support from the Swedish research council(2019-03900)Riksmusei vanner.
文摘The aim of this study was to correlate plumage variation with the amount of genomic hybrid content in hybrids between Azure Tits Cyanistes cyanus(Pallas,1770)and European Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus(Linnaeus,1758),by re-sequencing the genomes of museum specimens of non-hybrids and presumed hybrids with varying plumages.The project was funded by crowdsourcing and initiated when two presumed Azure Tits,observed by hundreds of Swedish birdwatchers,were rejected as hybrids based on minor plumage deviations assumed to indicate hybrid contents from the European Blue Tit.The results confirm that hybrids with intermediate plumages,so called Pleske’s Tits,are first generation hybrids(F1 hybrids).Individuals,whose plumages are similar to Azure Tits,but assessed as hybrids based on minor plumage deviations,are all backcrosses but vary in their degree of hybrid content.However,some individuals morphologically recognized as pure Azure Tits expressed similar degrees of hybrid content.The results indicate that:(1)hybrid content may be widespread in Azure Tits in the western part of its habitat distribution;(2)plumage deviation in backcrosses is not linearly correlated with the genetic degree of hybrid origin;and(3)all Azure Tits observed in Europe outside its natural distribution may have some degree of hybrid origin.We therefore suggest that it is very difficult to phenotypically single out hybrids beyond first generation backcrosses.We argue that decreased sequencing costs and improved analytical tools open the doors for museomic crowd-sourced projects that may not address outstanding biological questions but have a major interest for lay citizens such as birdwatchers.
基金support provided by Facility of Bioscience Applied Techniques of SAIUEx(financed by UEX,Junta de Extremadura,MICINN,FEDER and FSE)funded by Consejería de Economía e Infraestructura of the Junta de Extremadura and the European Regional Development Fund,a Way to Make Europe(research projects IB16121 and IB20089)+1 种基金supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Juan de la Cierva Subprogram(FJCI 2017-34109,MICINN)a postdoctoral contract for scientific excellence in the development of the Plan Propio de I+D+i of the UCLM(co-funded by the European Social Fund Plus(ESF+))。
文摘Avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites can negatively impact fitness in many songbirds.Research on the malaria infection and its physiological costs on their avian hosts is heavily skewed toward native passerines,with exotic species underrepresented.However,introduced species may carry on and spread new pathogens to native species,and play a role on parasite transmission cycle in invaded bird communities as pathogen reservoir.Here,we molecularly assess the prevalence and diversity of haemosporidian parasites in three introduced wetland passerines(the Red Avadavat Amandava amandava,the Yellow-crowned Bishop Euplectes afer,and the Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild)captured during the same season in southwestern Spain.We also explored the relation between parasite infection,body condition,haematocrit,and uropygial gland volume.We detected an overall parasite prevalence of 3.55%,where Common Waxbills showed higher prevalence(6.94%)than Red Avadavats(1.51%).None Yellow-crowned Bishops were infected with haemosporidians.Almost 60%of infections were caused by Leucocytozoon,and about 40%by Plasmodium.We identified four unique lineages of Plasmodium and three of Leucocytozoon.Moreover,91%of the identified host-parasite interactions represented new host records for these haemosporidian parasites.Parasite infection was not related to body condition,haematocrit,and uropygial gland volume of the wetland passerines.Haematocrit values varied seasonally among bird species.Additionally,haematocrit was positively related to body condition in the Yellow-crowned Bishops,but not in the other species.Red Avadavats had higher haematocrit levels than Yellow-crowned Bishops,whereas Common Waxbills showed the lower haematocrit values.The uropygial gland volume was positively correlated with body condition in all bird species.Common Waxbills showed higher uropygial gland volumes related to their body size than birds from other two species.These outcomes highlight the importance of exotic invasive species in the transmission dynamics of haemosporidian parasites.
基金the National Swedish Research Council(grants No.2015-04402,2019-04486)the Carl Trygger Foundation(CTS 20:6)+3 种基金the Jornvall FoundationJulian Francis for financial supportthe National Genomics Infrastructure in Stockholm funded by Science for Life Laboratory,the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundationthe Research/Scientific Computing teams at The James Hutton Institute and NIAB for providing computational resources and technical support for the"UK's Crop Diversity Bioinformatics HPC"(BBSRC grant BB/S019669/1)。
文摘The family Alaudidae,larks,comprises 93-100 species(depending on taxonomy)that are widely distributed across Africa and Eurasia,with single species extending their ranges to North and northernmost South America and Australia.A decade-old molecular phylogeny,comprising~80%of the species,revealed multiple cases of parallel evolution and large variation in rates of morphological evolution,which had misled taxonomists into creating many non-monophyletic genera.Here,we reconstruct the phylogeny of the larks,using a dataset covering one mitochondrial and 16 nuclear loci and comprising all except one of the currently recognised species as well as several recently proposed new species(in total 133 taxa;not all loci available for all species).We provide additional support using genome-wide markers to infer a genus-level phylogeny based on near-complete generic sampling(in total 51 samples of 44 taxa across 40 species).Our results confirm the previous findings of rampant morphological convergence and divergence,and reveal new cases of paraphyletic genera.We propose a new subfamily classification,and also that the genus Mirafra is divided into four genera to produce a more balanced generic classification of the Alaudidae.Our study supports recently proposed species splits as well as some recent lumps,while also questioning some of the latter.This comprehensive phylogeny will form an important basis for future studies,such as comparative studies of lark natural history,ecology,evolution and conservation.
