DOI: 10.5061/dryad.m63xsj4fb
title: Data and code from: The macroecology of immunity: predominant influence of climate on invertebrate immune response

description: The immune system serves as the first line of defense against attack by
 parasites. With the ever-increasing rate of disease, epidemiologic models
 that consider geographic variation in the strength of immune responses
 among individuals and populations could prove useful. Although
 there is increasing interest in the macroecology of parasitism and
 infectious diseases, we know very little about the macroecology of immune
 responses. Characteristics of the host, exposure to parasites,
 and environmental factors can all affect immunity, but how these factors
 interact to shape spatial variation in the strength of immune responses
 remains unexplored. We captured odonates (dragonflies and damselflies) and
 their conspicuous ectoparasitic mites across a geographic area spanning
 two biomes in eastern Canada. We then conducted immune response bioassays
 on 1,237 individuals from 63 odonate species. We estimated the strength of
 a key aspect of odonate immune response against ectoparasites by inserting
 a nylon thread into adult individuals and quantifying the encapsulation
 response. We then used linear regressions and structural equation models
 to relate these measurements to host body size, parasite load, pH,
 temperature, and precipitation while accounting for evolutionary
 relationships among host species. We found significant differences in the
 strength of immune response among host individuals, and this variation was
 best explained by climatic conditions, specifically decreasing with
 precipitation and, to a lesser degree, temperature. While host species
 significantly differed in the strength of their immune response, we found
 no effect of host body size, evolutionary relationships among hosts, or
 parasitism on immune response. Our study investigating the drivers of
 immune response across dozens of species spread in two biomes is the most
 comprehensive to date. Climatic conditions have a strong influence on host
 immune response, regardless of host characteristics or parasitism rates.
 In this specific case, strong immune responses were associated with low
 levels of annual precipitation, which could possibly relate to the role of
 cuticular melanin content in desiccation resistance, and the melanin-based
 encapsulation response being a byproduct of this adaptation. A
 spatially-explicit understanding of the biological processes affecting
 immunity could improve epidemiological models of disease risk that inform
 disease management globally.
description: # Dryad dataset Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.m63xsj4fb](10.5061/dryad.m63xsj4fb) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Associated data files for: The macroecology of
 immunity: predominant influence of climate on invertebrate immune response
 Adam Z. Hasik^1^ (ORCiD ID 0000-0002-4069-7186), Maggie Blondeau^2,3^,
 Jake Harvey^2,3^, Tania Groleau^2^, Tonia de Bellis^2,4^, Eric J.
 Pedersen^2^, Alex Córdoba-Aguilar^5^, Katie Marshall^6^, Laura
 Ferguson^7^, Jean-Philippe Lessard^2^ ^1^ Institute of Evolutionary
 Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh,
 Edinburgh, United Kingdom ^2^ Department of Biology, Concordia University,
 Montreal, QC, Canada ^3^ Department of Biology, McGill University,
 Montreal, QC, Canada ^4^ Department of Biology, Dawson College, Montreal,
 QC, Canada ^5^ Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
 México, Ciudad de México, Mexico ^6^ Department of Zoology, University of
 British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ^7^ Department of Biology, Acadia
 University, Wolfville, Canada *Author for correspondence: Adam Z. Hasik,
 Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK;
 email: [adamzhasik@gmail.com](mailto:adamzhasik@gmail.com) This file
 contains: Descriptions of the data set associated with the analyses
 presented in the paper. code.R – R file containing all code necessary to
 analyze the data corrected_data.csv – this is the data file containing
 collection and immune data for all of the sampled odonates. The following
 are explanations of the variables: ``` Year - Year of sampling Site -
 Sampling site Log.pH- pH of site on log scale Latitude- Latitude of site
 Longitude- Longitude of site Genus - Genus of sampled odonate Species -
 Species of sampled odonate Weight - Weight of sampled odonate
 Mite_Abundance - Number of mites on sampled odonate Melanization - Immune
 response of sampled odonate ``` env_data.csv – this is the data file
 containing environmental data for collection sites. The following are
 explanations of the variables: ``` Site - Sampling site Latitude- Latitude
 of site Longitude- Longitude of site Temp - Mean temperature of the site
 (from WorldClim) Prec - Mean precipitation of the site (from WorldClim)
 ``` temp_date_melan.csv – this is the data file containing fine-scale
 temperature and time data for the sampling trips. The following are
 explanations of the variables: ``` Date - Sampling date pH - pH at
 sampling Temperature - Temperature at sampling Immune response - immune
 response of a given odonate ``` total_tree.tre – this is the data file
 containing all odonate species for the odonate phylogeny