| Title |
Ectoparasites, uropygial glands and hatching success in birds
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Oecologia, December 2009
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00442-009-1548-x |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Anders Pape Møller, Johannes Erritzøe, Lajos Rózsa |
| Abstract |
The uropygial gland of birds secretes wax that is applied to the plumage, where the secretions are hypothesized to eliminate fungi and bacteria, thereby potentially providing important benefits in terms of plumage maintenance. We analyzed variation in size of the uropygial gland in 212 species of birds to determine the function and the ecological correlates of variation in gland size. Bird species with larger uropygial glands had more genera of chewing lice of the sub-order Amblycera, but not of the sub-order Ischnocera, and more feather mites. There was a fitness advantage associated with relatively large uropygial glands because such species had higher hatching success. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the uropygial gland functions to manage the community of microorganisms, and that certain taxa of chewing lice have diverged as a consequence of these defenses. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 113 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2 | 2% |
| New Zealand | 2 | 2% |
| Portugal | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| Hungary | 1 | <1% |
| France | 1 | <1% |
| Romania | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 103 | 91% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 32 | 28% |
| Researcher | 19 | 17% |
| Student > Bachelor | 15 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 11 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 5% |
| Other | 21 | 19% |
| Unknown | 9 | 8% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 75 | 66% |
| Environmental Science | 10 | 9% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 4% |
| Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 2 | 2% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 2% |
| Other | 6 | 5% |
| Unknown | 14 | 12% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 July 2023.
All research outputs
#7,209,198
of 22,786,691 outputs
Outputs from Oecologia
#1,610
of 4,210 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#47,035
of 163,500 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Oecologia
#6
of 20 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,786,691 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 67th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,210 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.0. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 60% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 163,500 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 70% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 20 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 65% of its contemporaries.