2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol
Summary 1. The uropygial gland of birds produces chemical substances with antimicrobial properties that have been shown to reduce the abundance of feather degrading bacteria and other microorganisms. These microorganisms would affect the flight capabilities of birds and, consequently, a relationship...
Main Authors: | , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1050.8225 http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf |
id |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.1050.8225 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftciteseerx:oai:CiteSeerX.psu:10.1.1.1050.8225 2023-05-15T13:00:38+02:00 2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol Anders P Møller Johannes Erritzøe Jan Tøttrup Nielsen The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives application/pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1050.8225 http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf en eng http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1050.8225 http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf text ftciteseerx 2020-04-05T00:28:55Z Summary 1. The uropygial gland of birds produces chemical substances with antimicrobial properties that have been shown to reduce the abundance of feather degrading bacteria and other microorganisms. These microorganisms would affect the flight capabilities of birds and, consequently, a relationship between size of uropygial glands and probability of capture by aerial predators should exist. 2. We tested this hypothesis by estimating the susceptibility of 56 species of prey of the goshawk Accipiter gentilis Linnaeus to predation as the observed abundance of prey relative to the expected abundance from mean population density. 3. In a comparative analysis of the relationship between relative size of the uropygial gland and susceptibility to predation we found a strong negative relationship accounting for 16% of the variance. This relationship was present in analyses that accounted for similarity due to common phylogenetic descent, the fact that prey of intermediate size were preferred, and that larger prey species have larger uropygial glands. 4. These observations are consistent with uropygial glands being under strong selection from aerial predators that are likely mediated by the effect of uropygial glands on feather degrading bacteria and therefore on flight capabilities of birds. Text Accipiter gentilis Unknown |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
ftciteseerx |
language |
English |
description |
Summary 1. The uropygial gland of birds produces chemical substances with antimicrobial properties that have been shown to reduce the abundance of feather degrading bacteria and other microorganisms. These microorganisms would affect the flight capabilities of birds and, consequently, a relationship between size of uropygial glands and probability of capture by aerial predators should exist. 2. We tested this hypothesis by estimating the susceptibility of 56 species of prey of the goshawk Accipiter gentilis Linnaeus to predation as the observed abundance of prey relative to the expected abundance from mean population density. 3. In a comparative analysis of the relationship between relative size of the uropygial gland and susceptibility to predation we found a strong negative relationship accounting for 16% of the variance. This relationship was present in analyses that accounted for similarity due to common phylogenetic descent, the fact that prey of intermediate size were preferred, and that larger prey species have larger uropygial glands. 4. These observations are consistent with uropygial glands being under strong selection from aerial predators that are likely mediated by the effect of uropygial glands on feather degrading bacteria and therefore on flight capabilities of birds. |
author2 |
The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives |
format |
Text |
author |
Anders P Møller Johannes Erritzøe Jan Tøttrup Nielsen |
spellingShingle |
Anders P Møller Johannes Erritzøe Jan Tøttrup Nielsen 2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
author_facet |
Anders P Møller Johannes Erritzøe Jan Tøttrup Nielsen |
author_sort |
Anders P Møller |
title |
2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
title_short |
2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
title_full |
2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
title_fullStr |
2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
title_full_unstemmed |
2010a. Predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. Funct. Ecol |
title_sort |
2010a. predators and micro-organisms of prey: goshawks prefer prey with small uropygial glands. funct. ecol |
url |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1050.8225 http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf |
genre |
Accipiter gentilis |
genre_facet |
Accipiter gentilis |
op_source |
http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf |
op_relation |
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1050.8225 http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/Moeller_et_al_FE_2010.pdf |
op_rights |
Metadata may be used without restrictions as long as the oai identifier remains attached to it. |
_version_ |
1766256040769224704 |