Projectdetails

Recently, there has been a lot of attention on the risk of migratory birds being a vector of diseases to domestic animals and humans. However little is known about the effect of these diseases on the birds themselves. How do birds cope with an infection? How do they reduce the risk of being infected? Will the pathogens survive over a long period? These questions are highly relevant for arctic breeding migratory birds. They link remote areas but also go through periods with varying density, before, during and after migration. For some species, the Arctic can be a pathogen low resort during a period of high susceptibility when the animals spread out over the tundra to breed. For other species, the chance of becoming infected during the breeding season might be extremely high due to colonial nesting in high densities. Birds and pathogens have co-evolved and both try to survive. There are many potential strategies for both parties. Pathogens can differ in their effect on behaviour and survival of the infected host. The host might vary the activity of its immune system.

In this project we aim for a basic understanding of parasite-host interaction explaining geographical and temporal variation in both the prevalence of infection and immune system functioning of the host. We will screen individually ringed birds and compare infected animals with uninfected or medicine-treated animals over a wide variety of species and study spatio-temporal variation. This variation will be linked to environmental changes like pollution, global warming and habitat loss.

Artikelen

• M. Tryland, K. Sagerup, A. Oksanen, K Åsbakk, E. Fuglei, E. Ropstad, K.W. Prestrud, G.W. Gabrielsen, C. Lydersen, K.M. Kovacs, T. Mörk, A. Stien, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2007). Serosurvey for Toxoplasma gondii in arctic foxes and possible sources of infection in the high Arctic of Svalbard. Vet. Parasitol.. pp. 6-12
• Dr. O.V. Dolnik, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2007). Isospora plectrophenaxia n. sp (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae), a new coccidian parasite found in Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) nestlings on Spitsbergen. Parasitology Research. pp. 1617-1619
• H. Kruckenberg, J.H. Mooij, A. Kondratyev, J. Stahl, C. Zöckler, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2009). Antiprädationsverhalten von Weisswangengänsen auf Kolguyev und Svalbard. Osnabrücker Naturwissenschaftliche Mitteilungen. pp. 59-68
• Dr. D.P.J. Kuijper, R. Ubels, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2009). Density-dependent switches in diet: a likely mechanism for negative feedbacks on goose population increase?. Polar Biology. pp. 1789-1803. ISSN 0722-4060.
• Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2010). The connectivity of spring stopover sites for geese heading to arctic breeding sites. Ardea. pp. 145-154. ISSN 0373-2266.
• P. Clausen, Dr. B.S. Ebbinge, S. Faragó, H. van der Jeugd, T. Aarvak, C. Mitchell, S. Dereliev, J. Mooij, L. Nilsson, P. Musil, K. Colhoun, Dr. A.D. Fox, T. Heinicke, J. Madsen, S. Pihl, H. Kruckenberg, K. Koffijberg, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2010). Current estimates of goose population sizes in western Europe, a gap analysis and an assessment of trends. Ornis svecica. pp. 115-127. ISSN 1102-6812.
• Dr. S. Hahn, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2011). The reliance on distant resources for egg formation in high Arctic breeding barnacle geese Branta leucopsis. Journal of Avian Biology. pp. 159-168. ISSN 0030-5693.
• Dr. O.V. Dolnik, Dr. B.J. Metzger, Dr. M.J.J.E. Loonen (2011). Keeping the clock set under the midnight sun: diurnal periodicity and synchrony of avian Isospora parasites cycle in the High Arctic. Parasitology. pp. 1077-1081. ISSN 0031-1820.