UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Publications related to our Galapagos research:
Pérez-Beauchamp, L. L., Contreras, J., Goldberg, K., Mena, G., Soldo, A., Chaves, J. A., S.A. Knutie. 2024. Cigarette tobacco reduces the survival of an invasive parasite that affects Darwin’s finches. Biological Invasions 26: 1705-1714. doi: 10.1007/s10530-024-03278-6
Knutie, S.A., C.N. Webster, G.J. Vaziri, L. Albert, J.A. Harvey, M. LaRue, T.B. Verrett, A. Soldo, J.A.H. Koop, J.A. Chaves, J.L. Wegrzyn. 2024. Urban living can rescue Darwin's finches from the lethal effects of invasive vampire flies. Global Change Biology 30: e17145. doi: 10.1111/gcb.17145
Bygrave, J.N., A. C. Love, M. Zylberberg, A. Addesso, S.A. Knutie. 2024. Influence of human activity on gut microbiota and immune responses of Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos Islands. Avian Conservation and Ecology 19:8. doi: 10.5751/ACE-02592-190108
Beausoleil, M.O., P.L. Carrión, J. Podos, C. Camacho, J. Rabadán-González, R. Richard, K. Lalla, J.A.M. Raeymaekers, S.A. Knutie, L.F. De León, J.A. Chaves, D.H. Clayton, J.A.H. Koop, D.M.T. Sharpe, K.M. Gotanda, S.K. Huber, R.D.H. Barrett, A.P. Hendry. 2023. The fitness landscape of a community of Darwin’s finches. Evolution 77:2533–2546. doi: 10.1093/evolut/qpad160
Solomon, G., A. Love, G.J. Vaziri, J.A. Harvey, T. Verrett, K. Chernicky, S. Simons, L. Albert, J. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. Effect of urbanization and parasitism on the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finch nestlings. Molecular Ecology 32:6059-6069. doi: 10.22541/au.168848109.94982309/v1
Carrión, P., J.A.M., Raeymaekers, L.F. De León, J. Chaves, D.M.T. Sharpe, S.K. Huber, A. Herrel, B. Vanhooydonck, K. Gotanda, J.A.H. Koop, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton, B.R. Grant, P.R. Grant, J. Podos, A.P. Hendry. 2022. The terroir of the finch: How spatial and temporal effects shapes phenotypic traits in Darwin’s finches Ecology and Evolution 12:e9399. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9399
Romine, M., S.A. Knutie, C.M. Crow, G.J. Vaziri, J. Chaves, J.A.H. Koop, S. Lamichhaney. 2022. The genome sequence of the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi), an invasive nest parasite of Darwin’s finches. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 12:jka414. doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab414
McNew, S., T. Boquete, S. Espinoza-Ulloa, J. Andres, N. Wagemaker, S.A. Knutie, C. Richards, D. Clayton. 2021. Epigenetic effects of parasites and pesticides on captive and wild nestling birds. Ecology and Evolution 11:7713-7729. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7606
Harvey, J.A., K. Chernicky, S. Simons, T.B. Verrett, J.A. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. 2021. Urban living influences the reproductive success of Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos Islands. Ecology and Evolution 11:5038-5048. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7360
Addesso, A.M., J.A. Harvey, G.J. Vaziri, T.B. Verrett, L. Albert, T. Arthur, K. Chernicky, S. Simons, J.A. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. 2020. Effect of introduced parasites on the survival and microbiota of nestling cactus finches (Geospiza scandens) in the Galapagos Islands. Journal of Ornithology 161:1011-1019. doi: 10.1007/s10336-020-01793-6
Bulgarella, M., Knutie, S.A., Voss, M.A., Cunninghame, F., Florence-Bennett, B.J., Robson, G., Keyzers, R.A., Taylor, L.M., Lester, P.J., Heimpel, G.E., Causton, C.E. 2020. Sub-lethal effects of permethrin exposure on a passerine: Implications for managing ectoparasites in wild bird nests. Conservation Physiology 8:coaa076. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaa076
Quiroga, M.A., T.I. Hayes, C. Hayes, H. Garrod, L. Soares, S.A. Knutie, S.C. Latta, D.L. Anderson. 2020. More than just nestlings: incidences of subcutaneous Philornis (Diptera: Muscidae) nest flies in adult birds. Parasitology Research 119:2337-2342. doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-06696-2
McNew, S.M., S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2020. No evidence of sex ratio manipulation by Galápagos mockingbirds in response to environment. Journal of Avian Biology 51. doi: 10.1111/jav.02302
Beausoleil, M.-O., L.O. Frishkoff, L.K. M’Gonigle, J.A.M. Raeymaekers, S.A. Knutie, L.F. de León, S.K. Huber, J.A. Chaves, D.H. Clayton, J.A.H. Koop, J. Podos, D. Sharpe, A.P. Hendry, R.D.H. Barrett. 2019. Temporally varying disruptive selection in the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis). Proceedings for the Royal Society of London B 286:20192290. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2290
Knutie, S.A., J. Chaves, K.M. Gotanda. 2019. Human activity can influence the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finches. Molecular Ecology 28:2441-2450. doi: 10.1111/mec.15088
McNew, S.M., S.A. Knutie, G.B. Goodman, A. Theodosopoulos, A. Saulsberry, J. Yepez R., S.E. Bush, D.H. Clayton. 2019. Annual environmental variation influences host tolerance to parasites. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0049
Knutie, S.A. 2018. Relationships among introduced parasites, host defenses, and gut microbiota of Galápagos birds. Ecosphere 9:e02286. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2286
Knutie, S.A., K.M. Gotanda. 2018. A non-invasive method to collect fecal samples from wild birds for microbiome studies. Microbial Ecology 76:851-855. doi: 10.1007/s00248-018-1182-4
McNew, S.M., D. Beck, I. Sadler-Riggleman, S.A. Knutie, J.A.H. Koop, D.H. Clayton, M.K. Skinner. 2017. Epigenetic variation between urban and rural populations of Darwin’s finches. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17:183. doi: 10.1186/s12862-017-1025-9
Delvare, G., G.E. Heimpel, H. Baur, D.D. Chadee, R. Martinez, S.A. Knutie. 2017. Description of Brachymeria philornisae sp. n. (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae), a parasitoid of the bird parasite Philornis trinitensis, with a review of the sibling Brachymeria species. Zootaxa 4242:34-60. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4242.1.2
Knutie, S.A., J.M. Herman, J.P. Owen, D.H. Clayton. 2017. Tri-trophic ecology of native parasitic nest flies of birds in Tobago. Ecosphere 8: e01670. doi:10.1002/ecs2.1670
Heimpel, G.E., A. Hillstrom, D. Freund, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2017. Invasive parasites and the fate of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands: the case of the vegetarian finch. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 129:345-349. doi: 10.1676/16-050.1
Knutie, S.A., J.P. Owen, S.M. McNew, A.W. Bartlow, E. Arriero, J.M. Herman, E. DiBlasi, M. Thompson, J.A.H. Koop, D.H. Clayton. 2016. Galapagos mockingbirds tolerate introduced parasites that affect Darwin’s finches. Ecology 97:940-950. doi: 10.1890/15-0119.1
Koop, J.A.H., P.S. Kim, S.A. Knutie, F. Adler, D.H. Clayton. 2016. Introduced parasitic fly may lead to local extinction of Darwin’s finch populations. Journal of Applied Ecology 53:511-518. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12575
Knutie, S.A., S.M. McNew, A.W. Bartlow, D.A. Vargas, D.H. Clayton. 2014. Darwin’s finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton. Current Biology 24:R355-R356. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.058 Click here for press coverage.
Skinner, M.K., C. Guerrero-Bosagna, M.M. Haque, J.A.H. Koop, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2014. Epigenetics and the evolution of Darwin’s Finches. Genome Biology and Evolution 6:1972-1989. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evu158
Knutie, S.A., J.A.H. Koop, S.S. French, D.H. Clayton. 2013. Experimental test of the effect of introduced hematophagous flies on corticosterone levels of breeding Darwin’s finches. General and Comparative Endocrinology 193:68-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.07.009
Koop, J.A.H., J.P. Owen, S.A. Knutie, M.A. Aguilar, D.H. Clayton. 2013. Experimental demonstration of a parasite-induced immune response in wild birds: Darwin’s finches and introduced nest flies. Ecology and Evolution 3:2514-2523. doi: 10.1002/ece3.651
Effects of the invasive avian vampire fly Philornis downsi on Galapagos birds.
How do birds defend themselves against vampire flies and can they evolve resistance to the parasite?
Does urbanization reduce or exacerbate the effect of vampire flies on Darwin's finches?
What are the effects of human debris, such as plastics and cigarette butts, on Darwin's finches?
Can we use self-fumigation to help reduce the damage of vampire flies?
Effects of urbanization on the interactions between bird hosts and their invasive parasites in the Galapagos Islands
Over the past several decades, the Galapagos Islands have faced rapid urbanization, which has altered the natural habitat and allowed for the introduction of parasites, such as the parasitic nest fly Philornis downsi. This parasite negatively affects nestling survival of the endemic Darwin's finches and in some years, can cause up to 100% mortality. However, preliminary work shows that Darwin's finches are more resistant to P. downsi in urban areas and therefore less affected by the parasite than non-urban birds. These results suggest that urbanization is influencing the evolution or ecology of the host in a way that increases resistance to an emerging parasite. Past studies have shown that traits of organisms can differ in urban vs. non-urban environments. However, experimental studies have rarely been used to causally determine whether changes in traits in response to urbanization are driven by environmental conditions (non-heritable) or adaptive evolution (heritable). The goal of this work is to understand the mechanisms underlying resistance in Darwin's finches to an invasive parasite in response to urbanization. Additionally, we are interested in how human-related trash, including microplastics, affect Darwin's finches.
Selected relevant papers (Click on title):
- Urban living influences the nesting success of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos Islands
- Effect of introduced parasites on the survival and microbiota of nestling cactus finches (Geospiza scandens)
- Human activity can influence the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands
- Relationships among introduced parasites, host defenses, and gut microbiota of Galápagos birds
- Galapagos mockingbirds tolerate introduced parasites that affect Darwin’s finches
- Darwin's finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton
Interested in donating to help with our conservation efforts in the Galapagos?
All donations are tax deductible through the UConn Foundation (501(c)(3)) and all funds are applied directly to Galapagos work. For more information, please contact me at: [email protected]
Pérez-Beauchamp, L. L., Contreras, J., Goldberg, K., Mena, G., Soldo, A., Chaves, J. A., S.A. Knutie. 2024. Cigarette tobacco reduces the survival of an invasive parasite that affects Darwin’s finches. Biological Invasions 26: 1705-1714. doi: 10.1007/s10530-024-03278-6
Knutie, S.A., C.N. Webster, G.J. Vaziri, L. Albert, J.A. Harvey, M. LaRue, T.B. Verrett, A. Soldo, J.A.H. Koop, J.A. Chaves, J.L. Wegrzyn. 2024. Urban living can rescue Darwin's finches from the lethal effects of invasive vampire flies. Global Change Biology 30: e17145. doi: 10.1111/gcb.17145
Bygrave, J.N., A. C. Love, M. Zylberberg, A. Addesso, S.A. Knutie. 2024. Influence of human activity on gut microbiota and immune responses of Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos Islands. Avian Conservation and Ecology 19:8. doi: 10.5751/ACE-02592-190108
Beausoleil, M.O., P.L. Carrión, J. Podos, C. Camacho, J. Rabadán-González, R. Richard, K. Lalla, J.A.M. Raeymaekers, S.A. Knutie, L.F. De León, J.A. Chaves, D.H. Clayton, J.A.H. Koop, D.M.T. Sharpe, K.M. Gotanda, S.K. Huber, R.D.H. Barrett, A.P. Hendry. 2023. The fitness landscape of a community of Darwin’s finches. Evolution 77:2533–2546. doi: 10.1093/evolut/qpad160
Solomon, G., A. Love, G.J. Vaziri, J.A. Harvey, T. Verrett, K. Chernicky, S. Simons, L. Albert, J. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. Effect of urbanization and parasitism on the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finch nestlings. Molecular Ecology 32:6059-6069. doi: 10.22541/au.168848109.94982309/v1
Carrión, P., J.A.M., Raeymaekers, L.F. De León, J. Chaves, D.M.T. Sharpe, S.K. Huber, A. Herrel, B. Vanhooydonck, K. Gotanda, J.A.H. Koop, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton, B.R. Grant, P.R. Grant, J. Podos, A.P. Hendry. 2022. The terroir of the finch: How spatial and temporal effects shapes phenotypic traits in Darwin’s finches Ecology and Evolution 12:e9399. doi: 10.1002/ece3.9399
Romine, M., S.A. Knutie, C.M. Crow, G.J. Vaziri, J. Chaves, J.A.H. Koop, S. Lamichhaney. 2022. The genome sequence of the avian vampire fly (Philornis downsi), an invasive nest parasite of Darwin’s finches. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics 12:jka414. doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab414
McNew, S., T. Boquete, S. Espinoza-Ulloa, J. Andres, N. Wagemaker, S.A. Knutie, C. Richards, D. Clayton. 2021. Epigenetic effects of parasites and pesticides on captive and wild nestling birds. Ecology and Evolution 11:7713-7729. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7606
Harvey, J.A., K. Chernicky, S. Simons, T.B. Verrett, J.A. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. 2021. Urban living influences the reproductive success of Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos Islands. Ecology and Evolution 11:5038-5048. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7360
Addesso, A.M., J.A. Harvey, G.J. Vaziri, T.B. Verrett, L. Albert, T. Arthur, K. Chernicky, S. Simons, J.A. Chaves, S.A. Knutie. 2020. Effect of introduced parasites on the survival and microbiota of nestling cactus finches (Geospiza scandens) in the Galapagos Islands. Journal of Ornithology 161:1011-1019. doi: 10.1007/s10336-020-01793-6
Bulgarella, M., Knutie, S.A., Voss, M.A., Cunninghame, F., Florence-Bennett, B.J., Robson, G., Keyzers, R.A., Taylor, L.M., Lester, P.J., Heimpel, G.E., Causton, C.E. 2020. Sub-lethal effects of permethrin exposure on a passerine: Implications for managing ectoparasites in wild bird nests. Conservation Physiology 8:coaa076. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaa076
Quiroga, M.A., T.I. Hayes, C. Hayes, H. Garrod, L. Soares, S.A. Knutie, S.C. Latta, D.L. Anderson. 2020. More than just nestlings: incidences of subcutaneous Philornis (Diptera: Muscidae) nest flies in adult birds. Parasitology Research 119:2337-2342. doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-06696-2
McNew, S.M., S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2020. No evidence of sex ratio manipulation by Galápagos mockingbirds in response to environment. Journal of Avian Biology 51. doi: 10.1111/jav.02302
Beausoleil, M.-O., L.O. Frishkoff, L.K. M’Gonigle, J.A.M. Raeymaekers, S.A. Knutie, L.F. de León, S.K. Huber, J.A. Chaves, D.H. Clayton, J.A.H. Koop, J. Podos, D. Sharpe, A.P. Hendry, R.D.H. Barrett. 2019. Temporally varying disruptive selection in the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis). Proceedings for the Royal Society of London B 286:20192290. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2290
Knutie, S.A., J. Chaves, K.M. Gotanda. 2019. Human activity can influence the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finches. Molecular Ecology 28:2441-2450. doi: 10.1111/mec.15088
McNew, S.M., S.A. Knutie, G.B. Goodman, A. Theodosopoulos, A. Saulsberry, J. Yepez R., S.E. Bush, D.H. Clayton. 2019. Annual environmental variation influences host tolerance to parasites. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0049
Knutie, S.A. 2018. Relationships among introduced parasites, host defenses, and gut microbiota of Galápagos birds. Ecosphere 9:e02286. doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2286
Knutie, S.A., K.M. Gotanda. 2018. A non-invasive method to collect fecal samples from wild birds for microbiome studies. Microbial Ecology 76:851-855. doi: 10.1007/s00248-018-1182-4
McNew, S.M., D. Beck, I. Sadler-Riggleman, S.A. Knutie, J.A.H. Koop, D.H. Clayton, M.K. Skinner. 2017. Epigenetic variation between urban and rural populations of Darwin’s finches. BMC Evolutionary Biology 17:183. doi: 10.1186/s12862-017-1025-9
Delvare, G., G.E. Heimpel, H. Baur, D.D. Chadee, R. Martinez, S.A. Knutie. 2017. Description of Brachymeria philornisae sp. n. (Hymenoptera, Chalcididae), a parasitoid of the bird parasite Philornis trinitensis, with a review of the sibling Brachymeria species. Zootaxa 4242:34-60. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4242.1.2
Knutie, S.A., J.M. Herman, J.P. Owen, D.H. Clayton. 2017. Tri-trophic ecology of native parasitic nest flies of birds in Tobago. Ecosphere 8: e01670. doi:10.1002/ecs2.1670
Heimpel, G.E., A. Hillstrom, D. Freund, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2017. Invasive parasites and the fate of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands: the case of the vegetarian finch. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 129:345-349. doi: 10.1676/16-050.1
Knutie, S.A., J.P. Owen, S.M. McNew, A.W. Bartlow, E. Arriero, J.M. Herman, E. DiBlasi, M. Thompson, J.A.H. Koop, D.H. Clayton. 2016. Galapagos mockingbirds tolerate introduced parasites that affect Darwin’s finches. Ecology 97:940-950. doi: 10.1890/15-0119.1
Koop, J.A.H., P.S. Kim, S.A. Knutie, F. Adler, D.H. Clayton. 2016. Introduced parasitic fly may lead to local extinction of Darwin’s finch populations. Journal of Applied Ecology 53:511-518. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12575
Knutie, S.A., S.M. McNew, A.W. Bartlow, D.A. Vargas, D.H. Clayton. 2014. Darwin’s finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton. Current Biology 24:R355-R356. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.058 Click here for press coverage.
Skinner, M.K., C. Guerrero-Bosagna, M.M. Haque, J.A.H. Koop, S.A. Knutie, D.H. Clayton. 2014. Epigenetics and the evolution of Darwin’s Finches. Genome Biology and Evolution 6:1972-1989. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evu158
Knutie, S.A., J.A.H. Koop, S.S. French, D.H. Clayton. 2013. Experimental test of the effect of introduced hematophagous flies on corticosterone levels of breeding Darwin’s finches. General and Comparative Endocrinology 193:68-71. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.07.009
Koop, J.A.H., J.P. Owen, S.A. Knutie, M.A. Aguilar, D.H. Clayton. 2013. Experimental demonstration of a parasite-induced immune response in wild birds: Darwin’s finches and introduced nest flies. Ecology and Evolution 3:2514-2523. doi: 10.1002/ece3.651
Effects of the invasive avian vampire fly Philornis downsi on Galapagos birds.
How do birds defend themselves against vampire flies and can they evolve resistance to the parasite?
Does urbanization reduce or exacerbate the effect of vampire flies on Darwin's finches?
What are the effects of human debris, such as plastics and cigarette butts, on Darwin's finches?
Can we use self-fumigation to help reduce the damage of vampire flies?
Effects of urbanization on the interactions between bird hosts and their invasive parasites in the Galapagos Islands
Over the past several decades, the Galapagos Islands have faced rapid urbanization, which has altered the natural habitat and allowed for the introduction of parasites, such as the parasitic nest fly Philornis downsi. This parasite negatively affects nestling survival of the endemic Darwin's finches and in some years, can cause up to 100% mortality. However, preliminary work shows that Darwin's finches are more resistant to P. downsi in urban areas and therefore less affected by the parasite than non-urban birds. These results suggest that urbanization is influencing the evolution or ecology of the host in a way that increases resistance to an emerging parasite. Past studies have shown that traits of organisms can differ in urban vs. non-urban environments. However, experimental studies have rarely been used to causally determine whether changes in traits in response to urbanization are driven by environmental conditions (non-heritable) or adaptive evolution (heritable). The goal of this work is to understand the mechanisms underlying resistance in Darwin's finches to an invasive parasite in response to urbanization. Additionally, we are interested in how human-related trash, including microplastics, affect Darwin's finches.
Selected relevant papers (Click on title):
- Urban living influences the nesting success of Darwin's finches in the Galapagos Islands
- Effect of introduced parasites on the survival and microbiota of nestling cactus finches (Geospiza scandens)
- Human activity can influence the gut microbiota of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands
- Relationships among introduced parasites, host defenses, and gut microbiota of Galápagos birds
- Galapagos mockingbirds tolerate introduced parasites that affect Darwin’s finches
- Darwin's finches combat introduced nest parasites with fumigated cotton
Interested in donating to help with our conservation efforts in the Galapagos?
All donations are tax deductible through the UConn Foundation (501(c)(3)) and all funds are applied directly to Galapagos work. For more information, please contact me at: [email protected]