特有的岛屿物种面临前所未有的威胁,许多人口正在减少或面临灭绝的危险。一个重要的威胁是新的和潜在的破坏性疾病的引入,由于全球连通性的加速,变得更加紧迫,城市发展,和气候变化。在加拉帕戈斯群岛,两种重要的野生动植物疾病:禽痘(Avapoxvirusspp。)和禽类疟疾(疟原虫属和相关的血孢子虫)挑战特有物种。圣克里斯托巴尔岛对鸟类的疾病监测很少,尽管该岛与大陆和更广泛的群岛有联系。为了调查这两种疾病在SanCristóbal的患病率并更好地了解其动态,2016年至2020年间,我们在岛上捕获了11种1205只鸟类。研究地点包括2019年的城市和农村低地地区以及农村高地地点。在995份血液样本中筛选出禽血孢子虫,无感染检测呈阳性.相比之下,在97只鸟中观察到过去和活跃的痘病毒感染的证据,并鉴定为Gal1和Gal2株。活跃的痘患病率与当代气候条件显着不同,在厄尔尼诺事件期间最高(2016年和2019年约为11%,而2018年拉尼娜年<1%)。城市地区的痘患病率也高于农村地区(11%至4%,2019年),宿主物种之间的患病率不同,从中等地面雀类(土皮披萨)的12%到黄莺(Setophaga瘀点金黄色葡萄球菌)的4%不等。在最常见的感染物种中(小地面芬奇:Geospizafuliginosa),从痘痘中恢复的鸟类的翅膀明显更长,这可能表明感染的选择性成本。这些结果表明,未来的气候变化和城市化可能会影响加拉帕戈斯群岛的疾病动态。同时还强调了有关特定物种对禽痘的敏感性以及促进这些标志性物种爆发的传播动力学的未知因素。
Endemic island species face unprecedented threats, with many populations in decline or at risk of extinction. One important threat is the introduction of novel and potentially devastating diseases, made more pressing due to accelerating global connectivity, urban development, and climatic changes. In the Galápagos archipelago two important wildlife diseases: avian pox (Avipoxvirus spp.) and avian malaria (Plasmodium spp. and related
Haemosporidia) challenge endemic species. San Cristóbal island has seen a paucity of disease surveillance in avian populations, despite the island\'s connectedness to the continent and the wider archipelago. To survey prevalence and better understand the dynamics of these two diseases on San Cristóbal, we captured 1205 birds of 11 species on the island between 2016 and 2020. Study sites included urban and rural lowland localities as well as rural highland sites in 2019. Of 995 blood samples screened for avian
haemosporidia, none tested positive for infection. In contrast, evidence of past and active pox infection was observed in 97 birds and identified as strains Gal1 and Gal2. Active pox prevalence differed significantly with contemporary climatic conditions, being highest during El Niño events (~11% in 2016 and in 2019 versus <1% in the La Niña year of 2018). Pox prevalence was also higher at urban sites than rural (11% to 4%, in 2019) and prevalence varied between host species, ranging from 12% in medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) to 4% in Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechial aureola). In the most common infected species (Small Ground Finch: Geospiza fuliginosa), birds recovered from pox had significantly longer wings, which may suggest a selective cost to infection. These results illustrate the threat future climate changes and urbanization may present in influencing disease dynamics in the Galápagos, while also highlighting unknowns regarding species-specific susceptibilities to avian pox and the transmission dynamics facilitating outbreaks within these iconic species.