Symposium number: 21

Title: BIRD-MICROBE INTERACTIONS: COMPETITION, COMMENSALISM AND CO-EVOLUTION

Principal organizer: Edward Burtt
Ohio Wesleyan University, Department of Zoology, Delaware, OH 43015 2390, U.S.A.
email: ehburtt@owu.edu

Second organizer: Philipp Heeb
University of Lausanne, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biology Building, CH-1015 Lausanne-Dorigny, Switzerland

First keynote speaker: Edward Burtt
Ohio Wesleyan University, Department of Zoology, Delaware, OH 43015 2390, U.S.A.
Title of first keynote paper: An ecosystem in feathers

Second keynote speaker: Philipp Heeb
University of Lausanne, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biology Building, CH-1015 Lausanne-Dorigny, Switzerland
Title of second keynote paper: Behavioral ecology of bird-bacteria interactions

Contributed talks

Symposium description: Attention has been drawn recently to the influence of micro-organisms on the ecology, behaviour, and evolution of birds. The combined approaches of experimental and environmental microbiology have generated new insights and new questions concerning the interactions between the two groups. Enteric micro-organisms in the cloaca of nestlings are influenced by ecological factors and can affect nestling growth. Cloacal bacteria transferred through copulation may affect the reproductive behaviour of adults. The presence of feather degrading bacilli in the plumage varies seasonally and with foraging ecology; and variations in microbial community composition affect in vitro feather degradation. The presence of melanin, which darkens feathers, reduces the rate of bacterial degradation, which may be a factor in the dark coloration of birds that inhabit humid regions. As yet unpublished data suggest that changes in the chemical composition of preen oil and the choice of nest materials may be the products of selection to reduce microorganisms in the plumage and on the skin. Date to be presented at this symposium, both published and new, will provide the framework within which we consider bird-microbe interactions and address the different ways in which micro-organisms affect the evolution of behaviour and life history traits in birds and their populations.

back to list of symposia

Home | Scientific Programme | Officers | Venue | Accommodation | Tours | Past Congresses