High temperatures are associated with decreased immune system performance in a wild primate
Data files
Nov 07, 2024 version files 1.21 MB
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2024-07-25_compiled_neopterin.csv
573.44 KB
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MERRA2_maxt.csv
630.54 KB
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README.md
6.40 KB
Abstract
Rising temperatures due to climate change are predicted to threaten the persistence of wild animals, but there is little evidence that climate change has pushed species beyond their thermal tolerance. The immune system is an ideal avenue to assess the effects of climate change because immune performance is sensitive to changes in temperature and immune competency can affect reproductive success. We investigate the effect of rising temperatures on a biomarker of non-specific immune performance in a wild population of capuchin monkeys and provide compelling evidence that immune performance is associated with ambient temperature. Critically, we found that immune performance in young individuals is more sensitive to high temperatures compared to other age groups. Coupled with evidence of rising temperatures in the region, our results offer insight into how climate change will affect the immune system of wild mammals.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d51c5b0cf
Description of the data and file structure
Between Sep 2021 and Aug 2023 we collected 676 urine samples from three habituated groups of wild C. imitator associated with the Capuchinos de Taboga research project in the Taboga Forest Reserve.
Files and variables
File: MERRA2_maxt.csv
Description: File containing the temperature observations from MEERA-2
Variables
- Row number: unique ID for temperature observations
- Temperature: Maximum temperature recording (°C)
- Date: Day of temperature observation
File: 2024-07-25_compiled_neopterin.csv
Description: File containing the metadata for the neopterin samples.
Variables
- sample: Neopterin sample number
- date: Day of sample collection
- time: Time of sample collection (HH:MM:SS)
- ID: Monkey indentification code
- neo_nmol_SG: Neopterin concentration controlled for specific gravity (ng/mL)
- datetime1: Date and time of sample collection (YYYY:MM:DD:HH:MM:SS)
- group: Monkey social group
- sex: Monkey sex (F= Female, M= Male)
- age: Monkey age (years)
- repro: Monkey reproductive status (juv = juvenile, M = male)
- max_t_days1: Average maximum temperature day of sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days10: Average maximum temperature of the 10 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days11: Average maximum temperature of the 11 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days12: Average maximum temperature of the 12 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days13: Average maximum temperature of the 13 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days14: Average maximum temperature of the 14 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days15: Average maximum temperature of the 15 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days16: Average maximum temperature of the 16 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days17: Average maximum temperature of the 17 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days18: Average maximum temperature of the 18 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days19: Average maximum temperature of the 19 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days2: Average maximum temperature of the 2 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days20: Average maximum temperature of the 20 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days21: Average maximum temperature of the 21 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days28: Average maximum temperature of the 28 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days3: Average maximum temperature of the 3 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days35: Average maximum temperature of the 35 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days5: Average maximum temperature of the 5 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days7: Average maximum temperature of the 7 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- max_t_days9: Average maximum temperature of the 9 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days1: Average minimum temperature day of sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days10: Average minimum temperature of the 10 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days11: Average minimum temperature of the 11 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days12: Average minimum temperature of the 12 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days13: Average minimum temperature of the 13 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days14: Average minimum temperature of the 14 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days15: Average minimum temperature of the 15 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days16: Average minimum temperature of the 16 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days17: Average minimum temperature of the 17 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days18: Average minimum temperature of the 18 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days19: Average minimum temperature of the 19 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days2: Average minimum temperature of the 2 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days20: Average minimum temperature of the 20 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days21: Average minimum temperature of the 21 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days28: Average minimum temperature of the 28 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days3: Average minimum temperature of the 3 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days35: Average minimum temperature of the 35 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days5: Average minimum temperature of the 5 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days7: Average minimum temperature of the 7 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- min_t_days9: Average minimum temperature of the 9 days interval before sample collection (°C)
- rain_days1: Average rain day of sample collection (mL)
- rain_days2: Average rain of the 2 day interval before sample collection (mL)
- rain_days3: Average rain of the 3 day interval before sample collection (mL)
- rain_days4: Average rain of the 4 day interval before sample collection (mL)
Code/software
The script Lucore_etal_neoperin_temp_anlaysis_figures.Rmd includes all code to run the analysis and figures. The code is annotated throughout. All code was run in R version 4.3.1. Below is a list of relevant libraries to run the code:
library(tidyverse)
library(lme4)
library(bbmle)
library(mgcv)
library(broom.mixed)
library(ggpubr)
library(flextable)
Access information
Other publicly accessible locations of the data:
Data was derived from the following sources:
- MERRA-2 data was derived from the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office: https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/
Between Sep 2021 and Aug 2023 we collected 676 urine samples from three habituated groups of wild C. imitator associated with the Capuchinos de Taboga research project in the Taboga Forest Reserve. We measured the neopterin concentration of all samples using a commercially available competitive exclusion neopterin ELISA (Neopterin ELISA, Ref. RE59321, IBL International GMBH, Hamburg, Germany) in the Capuchinos de Taboga field laboratory. The kit was developed to detect neopterin concentration in human serum, plasma, and urine, but has been validated for use in the wild C. imitator population associated with the Capuchinos de Taboga research project. We removed three samples that were 4 SD above the mean before conducting our analysis. We also removed three samples associated with the oldest individual in our population (34 years of age at the beginning of the study) to standardize the age spread across social groups.