Seasonal variation in immunity

Environmental conditions fluctuate seasonally across the globe.  Thus animals must allocate limited resources among competing processes to thrive.  We study the causes and consequences of temporal variation in immune defenses and the hormonal mechanisms that mediate these changes.

Relevant publications:

Martin, LB, ZM Weil, and RJ Nelson. 2008. Seasonal changes in vertebrate immune activity: mediation by physiological trade-offs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 363: 321-339

Martin, LB, EM Johnson, CR Hutch, and RJ Nelson. 2008. 6MBOA affects reproductive tissue, but not cutaneous immune activity, in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 149-181-187

Wikelski, M, LB Martin, MT Robinson, ND Robinson, A Scheuerlein, M Hau, and E Gwinner. 2008. Avian circannual clocks: adaptive significance and possible involvement of energy turnover in their proximate control. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 363: 411-423

Martin, LB, MI Pless, and M Wikelski. 2007. Greater seasonal variation in blood and ectoparasite infections in a temperate than a tropical population of House SparrowsPasser domesticus in North America. Ibis 149: 419-423.

Nelson, RJ and LB Martin. 2007. Seasonal changes in stress responses. In: Encyclopedia of Stress. Vol.3 Edited by George Fink. Academic Press: New York.

Martin, LB, P Han, J Kwong, and M. Hau. 2006. Cutaneous immune activity varies with physiological state in female house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 79: 775-783

Greenman, CG, LB Martin, and M Hau. 2005. Reproductive state, but not testosterone, reduces immune function in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 78: 60-68