Are there differences in immune function between continental and insular birds?

ABSTRACT: Generally, immune system architecture varies with different environments, which presumably reflect different pathogen pressures. Specifically, populations from relatively disease-free, oceanic islands are expected to exhibit reorganized immune systems, which might be characterized by attenuated responses, given the costs of immune function. Some insular animals exhibit an 'island syndrome,' including increased susceptibility to disease, and some insular populations have declined when they failed to resist infection by introduced pathogens. I measured eight indices of immune function (haemolysis, haemagglutination, concentration of haptoglobin and concentration of five leukocyte types) in 15 phylogenetically matched pairs of bird populations from North America and from the islands of Hawaii

SUBMITTER: Matson KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636094 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature