Female Salamanders Experience Higher Parasitism Compared to Males: A Cost of Female Reproduction?

Venesky, Matthew D.; DeMarchi, Joseph; Marbach, Rachel; Pariyar, Keva; Hickerson, Cari-Ann M.; Anthony, Carl D.

doi:10.1670/19-072

Female Salamanders Experience Higher Parasitism Compared to Males: A Cost of Female Reproduction?

Persistent URL

https://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/55939

Author(s)

Venesky, Matthew D.

DeMarchi, Joseph

Marbach, Rachel

Pariyar, Keva

Hickerson, Cari-Ann M.

Anthony, Carl D.

Date Issued

September 2020

Abstract

Males tend to experience higher rates of parasitism compared to females, a phenomenon associated with ecological factors, the fact that males engage in risky behaviors, and because testosterone is known to be immunosuppressive. However, females could experience higher rates of parasitism if energy is allocated from costly immune responses towards producing eggs. We used pooled data sets from laboratory experiments to investigate sex-specific differences in salamander (Plethodon cinereus) resistance to the emerging fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Contrary to our predictions, we found that female salamanders had a higher prevalence of infection (similar to 56%) and carried a higher Bd infection burden (455 zoospores equivalents per sample) compared to male salamanders (which had a Bd infection prevalence of similar to 24% and an average infection burden of 58 zoospore equivalents per sample). We also found that female reproductive investment (i.e., mass of eggs) positively correlated with Bd infection burden, suggesting that females who previously invested more into reproduction carried a higher Bd infection burden. Collectively, our findings might indicate that female salamanders experience a cost of reproduction in the form of decreased disease resistance.

Journal

Journal of Herpetology

Department

Biology

Citation

Matthew D. Venesky, Joseph DeMarchi, Rachel Marbach, Keva Pariyar, Cari-Ann M. Hickerson, and Carl D. Anthony "Female Salamanders Experience Higher Parasitism Compared to Males: A Cost of Female Reproduction?," Journal of Herpetology 54(3), 293-298, (21 October 2020). https://doi.org/10.1670/19-072

Publisher

Soc. Studies Amphibians Reptiles

Version of Article

Published article

DOI

10.1670/19-072

ISSN

0022-1511

1937-2418

Rights

File(s)

Name

2020_09_01_Venesky_Female (1).pdf

Size

240.95 KB

Format

Adobe PDF

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