A. R. Sweeny

Age specific impacts of vegetation functional traits on gastro-intestinal nematode parasite burdens in a large herbivore

The paper examines how vegetation functional traits affect gastro-intestinal nematode parasite burdens in Soay sheep across different age groups, finding spatial and trait-related variations in immature sheep but not in yearlings or adults.

Urban-adapted mammal species have more known pathogens

This study finds urban-adapted mammals host more known zoonotic parasites, but much of this is due to research effort rather than urban adaptation itself.

Long-term temporal trends in gastrointestinal parasite infection in wild Soay sheep

This study examines 31-year trends in gastrointestinal parasite prevalence and abundance in wild Soay sheep, finding independent effects of host density and year on parasite dynamics.

Novel pathogen introduction rapidly alters evolved movement strategies, restructuring animal societies

This paper shows that introducing a novel pathogen to a population rapidly drives evolutionary changes in movement strategies, leading to social distancing and reduced disease spread.

Functionally distinct T-helper cell phenotypes predict resistance to different types of parasites in a wild mammal

The study shows that Th1 and Th2 immune responses predict resistance to different parasites in wild Soay sheep, supporting lab findings in natural settings.

Seasonal dynamics and repeatability of gastrointestinal parasite burdens in wild Soay sheep

This study examines seasonal changes in gastrointestinal parasite burdens in wild Soay sheep, finding differences in seasonality by parasite type and host characteristics.

Data proliferation, reconciliation, and synthesis in viral ecology

The paper synthesizes mammal-virus association data from multiple sources to create a reconciled database, showing improved insights into the mammal virome and advocating for synthetic datasets in viral ecology.

A mixed model approach for estimating drivers of microbiota community composition and differential taxonomic abundance

This paper introduces a GLMM-based approach to analyze microbiota community composition and differential taxonomic abundance in meta-barcoding data, showing age group better explains gut microbiota variation than season in Soay Sheep.

Experimental parasite community perturbation reveals associations between Sin Nombre virus and gastrointestinal nematodes in a rodent reservoir host

The paper experimentally perturbs parasite communities in rodent hosts to show that reducing nematode infection increases Sin Nombre virus seroprevalence and improves survival in co-infected mice.

Spatiotemporal variation in drivers of parasitism in a wild wood mouse population

This study investigates how environmental, host, and within-host factors influence nematode infection intensity in wood mice, finding that season, body condition, and sex are key determinants with varying effects over time.

Supplemented nutrition increases immunity and drug efficacy in a natural host-helminth system

This study shows that dietary supplementation improves immunity and anthelmintic efficacy in wood mice infected with Heligmosomoides polygyrus in both wild and captive settings.