Katharina Schreier 

     Exposure to disease is a universal threat to all living organisms and self-defense occurs in a variety of ways. Individuals can proactively prevent disease through avoidance behaviors. However, if they do become infected, individuals activate the immune response to control the infection. It is hypothesized that a trade-off occurs between avoidance behaviors and activation of the immune response to provide optimal protection against infection. A trade-off may occur because of the costs associated with both behavioral and physiological defenses. Avoiding areas of disease is costly for social animals that depend on large groups to find food, mates, or protection. Likewise, strong immune responses require energetic investment and may lead to auto-immune diseases. Support for a trade-off in defenses against infection comes from a previous study on house finches. Using a captive population of male and female zebra finches, I will confirm this trade-off between behavioral and immunological strategies against infection. I am extending the previous work on house finches by examining individuals’ repeatability in strategy utilization over time and if the stress hormones mediate the trade-off. Ultimately, my research illustrates how behavioral defenses supplement other defenses against disease and contribute to the persistence of individual variation in disease susceptibility.

 

Zylberberg, Klasing, & Hahn. 2013. Biol Lett.