Do individual branches of immune defence correlate? A comparative case study of scavenging and non-scavenging birds

• Published in: Oikos Vol. 102; no. 2; pp. 340 - 350
• Main Authors: Blount, Jonathan D., Houston, David C., Møller, Anders Pape, Wright, Jonathan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Copenhagen Munksgaard International Publishers 01.08.2003; Blackwell Publishers; Blackwell
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Biological taxonomies; Birds; Evolution; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Leukocytes; Lymphocytes; Parasite hosts; Parasites; Phylogeny; Spleen; Vertebrata; Wild birds; Trophic group; Infection; Necrophagous; Vertebrata; Immune response; Interspecific comparison; Virulence; Defense mechanism; Selection pressure; Detritivorous; Aves

Costs of immunity are widely believed to play an important role in life history evolution, but most studies of ecological immunology have considered only single aspects of immune function. It is unclear whether we should expect correlated responses in other aspects of immune function not measured, b...