Are migratory waterfowl vectors of seagrass pathogens?

• Published in: Ecology and evolution 2020-02, Vol.10 (4), p.2062-2073
• Main Authors: Menning, Damian Michael, Ward, David Hume, Wyllie‐Echeverria, Sandy, Sage, George Kevin, Gravley, Megan Cathleen, Gravley, Hunter Alexander, Talbot, Sandra Looman
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Birds; Coastal currents; Coasts; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Ecosystems; eDNA; eelgrass; Gene flow; Genetic testing; Laboratories; Marine ecosystems; Meadows; Migratory species; Ocean currents; Original Research; pathogen; Pathogens; Plant tissues; Sediments; Seeds; Waterfowl
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6039

Migratory waterfowl vector plant seeds and other tissues, but little attention has focused on the potential of avian vectoring of plant pathogens. Extensive meadows of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in southwest Alaska support hundreds of thousands of waterfowl during fall migration and may be susceptible to plant pathogens. We recovered DNA of organisms pathogenic to eelgrass from environmental samples and in the cloacal contents of eight of nine waterfowl species that annually migrate along the Pacific coast of North America and Asia. Coupled with a signal of asymmetrical gene flow of eelgrass running counter to that expected from oceanic and coastal currents between Large Marine Ecosystems, this evidence suggests waterfowl are vectors of eelgrass pathogens. Migratory waterfowl vector plant seeds and other tissues, but little attention has focused on the potential of avian vectoring of species pathogenic on plants. When coupled with a signal of asymmetrical gene flow of eelgrass running counter to that expected from oceanic and coastal currents between Large Marine Ecosystems, our data support a model implicating waterfowl as vectors of plant pathogens. If waterfowl are vectoring eelgrass pathogens during their annual migratory cycles care must be taken when selecting seagrass restoration sites.