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Project

FWO Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship (Joël WHITE, France).

The general aim of this project is to study the processes contributing to the evolution of host specificity in parasites, using bird-tick interactions as a model system. One of the major aims is to study transmission of parasites within and among host species. Because parasites are nidicolous and therefore restricted to nest sites (cavities), the use of nest or roost cavities by hosts in response to parasite infestation plays a crucial role in transmission. Birds can avoid cavities with parasites by using different kinds of information: the current presence of parasites, their own previous experience in the nest site (personal information) or information obtained from observing other birds (social information) - which is perhaps less likely in the case of ectoparasites. By switching between parasitized and parasite-free nests, birds may actually carry parasites to noninfested sites and thereby enhance transmission of parasites between cavities and even among host individuals or species.
Date:1 May 2010 →  30 Apr 2011
Keywords:HOST SPECIFICITY, TRANSMISSION OF PARASITES, ANIMAL ECOLOGY
Disciplines:Ecology, Environmental science and management, Other environmental sciences