Meeting Abstract

P1.38  Tuesday, Jan. 4  Applying Eco-immunological Techniques to a Free-ranging Population of Red Squirrels in the Yukon of Canada ZYSLING, DA*; BOONSTRA, R; BOUTIN, SA; HUMPHRIES, MM; MCADAM, AG; PLACE, NJ; Cornell Univ, Ithaca; Univ of Toronto, Scarborough, Toronto; Univ of Alberta, Edmonton; McGill Univ, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue; University of Guelph; Cornell Univ, Ithaca daz32@cornell.edu

Immune responses play an important role in the physiological, biochemical, and behavioral responses of an organism to its environment and have the potential to shape the evolution of life history strategies. The major goal of eco-immunology is to examine immune function as an adaptive response within the context of important life-history traits. To date, eco-immunological studies in rodents have generally been limited to lab-reared populations and wild-caught captive individuals. We have the unique opportunity to evaluate the eco-immunology of a free-ranging squirrel population as part of the Kluane Red Squirrel Project in the Yukon of Canada. This project is an interdisciplinary, large-scale field study on the ecology, evolution, and energetics of Tamiasciurus hudsonicus that has been ongoing for over 20 years. Here, we review proposed studies that are aimed at examining predominate factors that may affect individual immune responses, including season, reproductive state, sex, energy/nutrient balance, and stress. A distinct advantage of this study system is that all animals will be immune challenged and released into their natural habitat, where recapture rates for individual red squirrels are high. This will facilitate comprehensive assessments of the effects of environmental stressors and life-history states on immunological responses. These data will provide an integrated and ecologically relevant understanding of how organisms modulate immune responses in the face of environmental and physiological constraints, and will fill a current void in the field of eco-immunology with respect to free-ranging mammals.