| prevalence and beta diversity in avian malaria communities: host species is a better predictor than geography. | patterns of diversity and turnover in macroorganism communities can often be predicted from differences in habitat, phylogenetic relationships among species and the geographical scale of comparisons. in this study, we asked whether these factors also predict diversity and turnover in parasite communities. we studied communities of avian malaria in two sympatric, ecologically similar, congeneric host species at three different sites. we asked whether parasite prevalence and community structure va ... | 2014 | 24810878 |
| cross-generational effects of climate change on expression of a sexually selected trait. | sexually selected traits and early breeding are often correlated with quality in birds: individuals that breed earlier in the season have more elaborate traits and raise more surviving offspring [1, 2]. as global climate warms, breeding date for many temperate birds is advancing [3, 4], but we lack corresponding information on climate-induced variation in sexual selection. here, we investigated influences of climate on a sexually selected plumage trait in a himalayan warbler (phylloscopus humei) ... | 2012 | 22177903 |
| egg rejection in a passerine bird: size does matter. | avian brood parasites reduce the reproductive success of their hosts, selecting for the evolution of egg discrimination by the host, and potentially creating a coevolutionary arms race between host and parasite. host egg discrimination ability is crucial in determining whether the arms race results in extinction (of the parasite on a particular host) or stable coevolutionary equilibrium of the host-parasite pair. i examined egg discrimination behaviour in the yellow-browed leaf warbler, phyllosc ... | 2000 | 10792943 |