Identifying the underlying drivers of spatial variation in immunity could provide predictive insight into infectious disease risk by revealing where hosts are more susceptible to parasites. However, macroimmunology has been largely limited in its spatial replication and reliance on coarse proxies of immune phenotypes, which has limited statistical power to differentiate competing spatial hypotheses and inference into functional defense. We will synthesize data on host immune response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), a marker of inflammatory response, in house sparrows (Passer domesticus) across their broad native range in Europe. We will use generalized additive mixed models to assess the contribution of different environmental factors (e.g., latitude, urbanization, temperature, range margins, avian malaria and ectoparasite prevalence) to explain variation in PHA response while accounting for spatial dependence and study-specific confounders (e.g., dosage, recapture time). This project will facilitate scaling ecoimmunology from individual- to habitat-level insights about the drivers of realized immune response and help predict where environmental change may most alter infectious disease risk.

Specifically, we are looking for researchers willing to (i) share previously collected data on PHA response in any European population of house sparrows and/or (ii) collect new field data on PHA response in any European population of house sparrows to contribute to this larger macroimmunological project. Contributing researchers would be included as coauthors in the publication, and we can clarify further details of potential field collections.

Daniel Becker, Melissah Rowe, Julia Schroeder, Fred Angelier, Petra Quillfeldt, Alfonso Marzal Reynolds, Péter Pap, Gábor Czirják