
NSF Org: |
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | May 9, 2018 |
Latest Amendment Date: | May 9, 2018 |
Award Number: | 1754431 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Kari Segraves
DEB Division Of Environmental Biology BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
Start Date: | June 1, 2018 |
End Date: | May 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $378,459.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $378,459.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
201 DOWMAN DR NE ATLANTA GA US 30322-1061 (404)727-2503 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
GA US 30322-4250 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | POP & COMMUNITY ECOL PROG |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): | |
Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
Every year, billions of animals migrate long distances. If animals with parasites are less likely to reach their destinations, then migration may allow populations to escape habitats where parasites build up over time. Understanding how animal migration affects the spread of disease is important to predicting disease risk, including to humans. This study focuses on monarch butterflies as a model system and explores the impacts of parasites on butterfly populations that migrate and populations that have recently lost their migratory habits. This study will also examine how non-migrating populations may influence the risk of having parasites by the migrating forms in areas where they come together. Field and experimental studies will also examine how these microscopic parasites influence how long butterflies live and their flight ability. Through the high visibility and public appeal of monarchs, this project will support the participation of citizen scientists on a continental scale. The investigators will also mentor and train undergraduate and graduate students and will develop web and classroom based educational materials on host-parasite relationships and animal migration. This work will provide additional opportunities for middle school students and support k-12 activities. Finally, this work will inform efforts to conserve monarch butterflies and our understanding of how migration may influence the importance of parasites across many systems.
Using a monarch butterflies and protozoan parasite system, the goal of this study is to examine how migratory and sedentary behaviors influence transmission risk and severity of infection. Research activities will integrate (i) an analysis of continent-wide citizen science databases to monitor monarch butterfly abundance and infection; (ii) field and experimental studies to test how monarch migratory behavior depends on non-native milkweeds and infection status, and to quantify parasite transmission rates; (iii) molecular genomics to ask whether genetic changes in sedentary populations might reinforce the loss of migratory behavior; and (iv) mathematical modeling to track how host and parasite populations respond to migratory vs. sedentary strategies. Information on the mixing of non-migrants and migrants, inferred from stable isotope analyses of field-collected monarchs, will inform mathematical models of interacting sedentary and migratory populations, to explore the consequences for disease spread and the persistence of migratory populations. The project will develop theory for how overlapping migration strategies alter, and are themselves affected by, parasite infection, and will shed light on the evolution of migration by characterizing genetic changes that accompany the recent formation of sedentary populations.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Billions of animals undertake spectacular annual migrations, moving between different areas, and sometimes traveling thousands of miles. Parasites could have a major impact on animal migration, with infected animals being unable to complete their journey. As a result, migration could also help a population keep parasites at bay, by weeding out infected individuals on an annual basis. In this project, the researchers studied the impact of migration on parasitism in monarch butterflies. In North America, monarchs migrate from the eastern United States and Canada to overwintering sites in Mexico. Monarchs from west of the Rocky Mountains migrate to the California west coast instead. As part of this project, the researchers found that the prevalence of a debilitating protozoan parasite has risen from less than 1% in the 1960?s to around 10% at present. The researchers found that migration itself can reduce parasite prevalence, by weeding out infected monarchs as they try to migrate to their overwintering sites. However, because parasite prevalence has increased so much, the researchers estimate that tens of millions of monarchs can no longer complete their journey each year. The increased parasite prevalence could be due to increased local densities of monarchs at breeding sites. Monarchs have formed such non-migratory populations along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast, increasing caterpillar density and parasite prevalence. Experimental studies showed that the increased densities can increase transmission of parasites, but surprisingly can also reduce the disease suffered by individual monarchs: this is because competitor caterpillars can eat up the parasite spores that infected monarchs scatter onto shared milkweed host plants. Genetic analyses suggest that these newly formed sedentary populations are not much different from migratory monarchs, which indicates that ecological factors, such as the planting of exotic milkweed and warming temperatures, are responsible for the cessation in migration, rather than evolved genetic changes. This project has trained multiple postdocs and undergraduate students, and researchers have presented results at monarch butterfly festivals and school science nights.
Last Modified: 07/01/2022
Modified by: Jacobus De Roode
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