Meeting Abstract
Studies of animal exercise and movement largely assume that individuals are healthy and performing to the best of their abilities. However, wild animals face numerous ecological challenges that can compromise their health and reduce their ability to exercise maximally. By stimulating the immune system and diverting resources away from non-essential activities, parasites and pathogens have the potential to dramatically influence the ways in which individuals allocate energy to movement. Yet, the role of parasites and disease in influencing patterns of animal activity and performance remains relatively unexplored, perhaps because animals often hide signs of sickness, and parasites tend to be small and inconspicuous to researchers. This talk will discuss how bacteria, virus and parasite infection can affect host locomotor performance and activity, including impacts on host physiology, morphology and kinematics. We will also include examples of behavioral strategies that some hosts develop to help overcome the disadvantages imposed by infection. Finally, we will highlight some recent theoretical and empirical research investigating the important role that pathogens and parasites play in driving the evolution of seasonal migration and large-scale host movement patterns more broadly.
