Publications

arrested development of trichostrongylus tenuis as third stage larvae in red grouse.	worms were counted in red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) in north east scotland in march, april, august, september, november and december 1986. immature worms occurred as third (l3) and fourth (l4) stage larvae throughout. two kinds of evidence suggest that l3 larvae spent much of the winter in a state of arrested development. first, recently acquired l3 larvae could be distinguished by the fact that they retained outer l2 cuticles for a few days; these were present only in the august and sep ...	1988	3194598
local genetic structure in red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus): evidence from microsatellite dna markers.	allelic variation at seven hypervariable tri- and tetranucleotide microsatellite loci was used to determine levels of population differentiation between 14 populations of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) in northeast scotland, uk. despite the potential for long-distance dispersal in grouse, and a semicontinuous habitat, significant population divergence was observed (mean rst = 0.153; p < 0.01) and an isolation-by-distance effect detected (mantel test: p < 0.001). examination of the spatial ...	1998	9859199
cestodiasis in the red grouse in scotland.	little is known about the cestode parasites of red grouse lagopus lagopus scoticus. the carcasses of 71 free-living and grouse collected from northeastern scotland (uk) between june 1991 and september 1992 were examined for the cestode paroniella urogalli. over 70% of young and old birds were infected in summer and winter. cestode abundance ranged from 0 to 29 (mean +/- se = 5.54 +/- 0.81) worms per host and did not differ significantly between young and old grouse, or between seasons. cestode i ...	1999	10231751
habitat loss and raptor predation: disentangling long- and short-term causes of red grouse declines.	the number of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) shot in the uk has declined by 50% during the 20th century this decline has coincided with reductions in the area of suitable habitat and recoveries in the populations of some avian predators. here we use long-term records of shooting bags and a large-scale manipulation of raptor density to disentangle the effects of habitat loss and raptor predation on grouse populations. the numbers of grouse harvested on the eskdale half of langholm moor in ...	2000	10821608
matrilineal genetic structure and female-mediated gene flow in red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus): an analysis using mitochondrial dna.	dna sequence variation at the hypervariable 5' end of the mitochondrial control region was examined in 247 individuals to detect genetic divergence among 14 populations of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) in northeastern scotland. ten haplotypes were resolved, several of which were shared among populations. analysis of molecular variance, nei's gamma st, and a cladistic estimate of the amount of gene flow indicated a lack of overall population differentiation. patterns of overall panmixia a ...	2000	10937204
role of small mammals in the persistence of louping-ill virus: field survey and tick co-feeding studies.	louping-ill (li) is a tick-borne viral disease of red grouse, lagopus lagopus scoticus lath. (tetraonidae: galliformes), and sheep, ovis aries l. (bovidae: artiodactyla), that causes economic loss to upland farms and sporting estates. unvaccinated sheep, grouse and mountain hares, lepus timidus l. (leporidae: lagomorpha), are known to transmit li virus, whereas red deer, cenrus elaphus l. (cervidae: artiodactyla), and rabbits, oryctolagus cuniculus l. (leporidae: lagomorpha), do not. however, th ...	2000	11016435
rising burden of immature sheep ticks (ixodes ricinus) on red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) chicks in the scottish uplands.	the sheep tick ixodes ricinus (l.) (acari: ixodidae) is an ectoparasite of major economic and pathogenic importance in scotland. its distribution in the scottish uplands is assumed to be governed by the abundance and distribution of its definitive hosts (deer and sheep) and climatic variables such as temperature and rainfall. as the numbers of its major host in scotland, red deer, have increased dramatically and climatic conditions have become more favourable, the level of parasitism could have ...	2004	15009449
temporal changes in kin structure through a population cycle in a territorial bird, the red grouse lagopus lagopus scoticus.	populations of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) undergo regular multiannual cycles in abundance. the 'kinship hypothesis' posits that such cycles are caused by changes in kin structure among territorial males producing delayed density-dependent changes in aggressiveness, which in turn influence recruitment and regulate density. the kinship hypothesis makes several specific predictions about the levels of kinship, aggressiveness and recruitment through a population cycle: (i) kin structure w ...	2008	18430149
altitudinal patterns of tick and host abundance: a potential role for climate change in regulating tick-borne diseases?	the impact of climate change on vector-borne infectious diseases is currently controversial. in europe the primary arthropod vectors of zoonotic diseases are ticks, which transmit borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (the agent of lyme disease), tick-borne encephalitis virus and louping ill virus between humans, livestock and wildlife. ixodes ricinus ticks and reported tick-borne disease cases are currently increasing in the uk. theories for this include climate change and increasing host abundance. ...	2010	19685082
genetic diversity and differentiation among lagopus lagopus populations in scandinavia and scotland: evolutionary significant units confirmed by snp markers.	single nucleotide polymorphism in four scandinavian populations of willow grouse (lagopus lagopus) and two scottish populations of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scoticus) were assessed at 13 protein-coding loci. we found high levels of diversity, with one substitution every 55 bp as an average and a total of 76 unlinked parsimony informative snps. different estimators of genetic diversity such as: number of synonymous and non-synonymous sites, average number of alleles, number and percentage of po ...	2010	20636891
fine-scale population epigenetic structure in relation to gastrointestinal parasite load in red grouse (lagopus lagopus scotica).	epigenetic modification of cytosine methylation states can be elicited by environmental stresses and may be a key process affecting phenotypic plasticity and adaptation. parasites are potent stressors with profound physiological and ecological effects on their host, but there is little understanding in how parasites may influence host methylation states. here, we estimate epigenetic diversity and differentiation among 21 populations of red grouse (lagopus lagopus scotica) in north-east scotland ...	2014	24943398
digging for gold nuggets: uncovering novel candidate genes for variation in gastrointestinal nematode burden in a wild bird species.	the extent to which genotypic variation at a priori identified candidate genes can explain variation in complex phenotypes is a major debate in evolutionary biology. whereas some high-profile genes such as the mhc or mc1r clearly do account for variation in ecologically relevant characters, many complex phenotypes such as response to parasite infection may well be underpinned by a large number of genes, each of small and effectively undetectable effect. here, we characterize a suite of novel can ...	2015	25752450
louping ill virus in the uk: a review of the hosts, transmission and ecological consequences of control.	louping ill virus (liv) is a tick-borne flavivirus that is part of the tick-borne encephalitis complex of viruses (tbev) and has economic and welfare importance by causing illness and death in livestock, especially sheep, ovies aries, and red grouse, lagopus lagopus scoticus, an economically valuable gamebird. unlike western tbev which is found primarily in woodlands and is reservoired by small rodents, liv is not generally transmitted by small rodents but instead by sheep, red grouse and mounta ...	2016	26205612
can acaricide-impregnated leg bands fitted to female red grouse reduce sheep tick parasitization of chicks and increase chick survival?	in parts of northern england, north wales and the scottish highlands, increasing numbers of sheep ticks ixodes ricinus (ixodida: ixodidae), and the louping ill virus they can carry, are considered to be important factors that reduce red grouse lagopus lagopus scotica productivity. the present study tested this hypothesis by fitting adult female grouse with leg bands impregnated with the acaricide cypermethrin to experimentally control ticks on their chicks on two managed grouse moors in northeas ...	2016	27377883