Parasites and climate synchronize red grouse populations

Isabella M. Cattadori (), Daniel T. Haydon and Peter J. Hudson
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Isabella M. Cattadori: The Pennsylvania State University
Daniel T. Haydon: University of Glasgow
Peter J. Hudson: The Pennsylvania State University

Nature, 2005, vol. 433, issue 7027, 737-741

Abstract: Feeling under the weather? Animal populations often fluctuate in synchrony with climate fluctuations, but whether this is a direct effect of climate on individual animals, or an indirect effect on predators and food supply is not clear. A study of red grouse populations in northern England identified the years in which populations across the country came into synchrony, revealing that the start of synchrony coincided with phases of population increase. Numerical modelling shows that these upswings in grouse population correlate with conditions that are unfavourable for the spread of a gastrointestinal parasite that reduces grouse fecundity. This suggests that specific climate events can lead to the spread of disease or parasite infestation, indirectly causing synchronized changes in the abundance of the host.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03276

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