Sick without signs. Subclinical infections reduce local movements, alter habitat selection, and cause demographic shifts

Abstract

Abstract In wildlife populations, parasites often go unnoticed, as infected animals appear asymptomatic. However, these infections can subtly alter behaviour. Field evidence of how these subclinical infections induce changes in movement behaviour is scarce in free-ranging animals, yet it may be crucial for zoonotic disease surveillance. We used an ultra-high-resolution tracking system (ATLAS) to monitor the movements of 60 free-ranging swallows every 8 seconds across four breeding seasons, resulting in over 1 million localizations. About 40% of these swallows were naturally infected with haemosporidian parasites. Here, we show that infected individuals had reduced foraging ranges, foraged in lower quality habitats, and faced a lowered survival probability, with an average reduction of 7.4%, albeit with some variation between species and years. This study highlights the impact of subclinical infections on movement behaviour and survival, emphasizing the importance of considering infection status in movement ecology. Our findings provide insights into individual variations in behaviour and previously unobservable local parasite transmission dynamics.