Ectoparasite reproductive performance when host condition varies

Cow Condition and Reproductive Performance

Reproductive investment when mate quality varies: differential allocation versus reproductive compensation.

Reproductive investment decisions form an integral part of life-history biology. Selection frequently favours plasticity in investment that can generate maternal effects on offspring development. For example, if females differentially allocate resources based on mate attractiveness or quality, this can create a non-genetic link between mate attractiveness and offspring fitness with potential co...

Ectoparasite performance when feeding on reproducing mammalian females: an unexpected decrease when on pregnant hosts.

Reproduction is an energy-demanding activity in mammalian females, with increased energy requirements during pregnancy and, especially, during lactation. To better understand the interactions between parasitism and host reproduction, we investigated feeding and reproductive performance of fleas (Xenopsylla ramesis) parasitizing non-reproducing, pregnant or lactating gerbilline rodents (Meriones...

Nestedness of Ectoparasite-Vertebrate Host Networks

Determining the structure of ectoparasite-host networks will enable disease ecologists to better understand and predict the spread of vector-borne diseases. If these networks have consistent properties, then studying the structure of well-understood networks could lead to extrapolation of these properties to others, including those that support emerging pathogens. Borrowing a quantitative measu...

Response to exogenous kisspeptin varies according to sex and reproductive condition in Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus).

Most animals experience marked changes in reproductive status across development that are regulated by changes in the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. The upstream mechanisms regulating this axis remain less well understood. The neuropeptide kisspeptin serves as a positive regulator of reproduction; the precise actions of kisspeptin on the HPG axis in animals of differing developmental...