DOI: 10.5061/dryad.d51c5b0cf
title: High temperatures are associated with decreased immune system performance in a wild primate

description: 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.
description: Between Sep 2021 and Aug 2023 we collected 676 urine samples from
 three habituated groups of wild <em>C. imitator</em>
 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 <em>C. imitator</em>
 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.
description: # High temperatures are associated with decreased immune system
 performance in a wild primate
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d51c5b0cf](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: * GitHub: [https://github.com/jlucore/neopterin_temperature](https://github.com/jlucore/neopterin_temperature) 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/](https://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/reanalysis/MERRA-2/)