Salty parasites: Can salinization modify the role of parasites in nutrient cycling?

By modifying ecological interactions, salinization has complex consequences on freshwater ecosystems. Notably, growing evidence suggests that parasites play important roles in mediating nutrient flow and shaping nutrient cycling via their hosts (animal mediated nutrient cycling). However, despite the rapid rate of anthropogenic environmental change across the globe, how factors like salinization influence the contribution of parasites to nutrient cycling remains a gap. Using an amphibian host-virus model system, we present an interdisciplinary framework that integrates microbiology, disease ecology, ecotoxicology, and ecosystem ecology to evaluate how salinization can influence the role of parasites in nutrient cycling of aquatic systems. First, using a combination of cell/viral culture techniques, toxicological lab assays, and field disease surveys, we asked: How does a common virus respond to environmentally relevant levels of salinity? Second, using lab infection and excretion assays, we asked: How does viral infection influence host excretion? Lastly, we integrated experimental data on a) viral responses to salinity and b) host excretion responses to viral infection with chloride field data from ponds in Madison, WI to parameterize a model that explores and visualizes how salinization can influence the contribution of parasites to nutrient cycling. Collectively, this work offers a framework for integrating an ecological perspective across multiple organizational levels and disciplines to facilitate our understanding of the complex effects of freshwater salinization.

Primary Presenter: Jessica Hua, University of Wisconsin- Madison (jhua23@wisc.edu)

Authors:

Bryon Tuthill, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (tuthill2@wisc.edu)

Paris Thompson, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (ptthompson@wisc.edu)

Isabela Gutierrez, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (velasquezgut@wisc.edu)

Mary Campbell, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (mcampbell32@wisc.edu)

Zach Gajewski, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (zgajewski@wisc.edu)

Adrianna Gorsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (agorsky@wisc.edu)

Hilary Dugan, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (hdugan@wisc.edu)

Grace Wilkinson, University of Wisconsin-Madison  (gwilkinson@wisc.edu)