May

30

2008
 
 

Wise owls in germ warfare



Rare bird of prey threatened by malaria as competing species moves in

spotted owlSpotted owls Strix occidentalis are fighting a turf war with the increasingly invasive barred owl S varia; the two species competing for both food and limited nesting sites in old-growth forest. San Francisco State University researchers Heather Ishak, Ravinder Sehgal and colleagues now report in PLoS ONE how the spread of barred owls could also be increasing spotted owls’ risk of malaria and other blood-borne parasites. West coast barred owls were found to have significantly lower rates of infection than spotted owls inhabiting the same region. One possible explanation is that barred owls have better defenses – the Northern spotted owl population shows evidence of a recent genetic bottleneck, which could adversely affect their ability to mount an immune response. If true, barred owls could be acting as vectors for the parasites, passing them on to the increasingly threatened spotted owls, who promptly pass away. Source: Ishak HD, Dumbacher JP, Anderson NL, Keane JJ, Valkiūnas G, Haig SM, Tell LA & Sehgal RNM (2008) Blood parasites in owls with conservation implications for the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002304

Image: © Travis Manley

Filed Under Endangered species, Habitat, Invasive species, Restoration, Monitoring | 

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