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opennotspecifiedAug 2011View details →

Distribution. Sulawesi and adjacent Is (Buton, Kabaena, Muna, Peleng, Lembeh, and on some of the Togian Is); thought to be extinct on Selayar I. Pigs have been widely domesticated through the Indonesian archipelago and beyond. This primarily involved the Eurasian Wild Pig (S. scrofa), but also S. celebensis, the only other species of pig successfully domesticated. Mitochondrial DNA studies of the dispersion of these domesticated forms agree on three major dispersal events, two involving S. scrofa and one S. celebensis. Evidence supports an early human-mediated translocation of S. celebensis to Flores and Timor and two later, separate human-mediated dispersals of domestic pig through islands of SE Asia into Oceania. In addition to Flores and Timor, S. celebensis is also thought to occur in its domesticated form on Halmahera, Lendu, Roti, and Savur Is, and even on Simeulue and Nias Is to the W of Sumatra and far from its island of origin, Sulawesi. In the Moluccas, and possibly elsewhere in this region, introduced S. celebensis are thought to have hybridized with other introduced pigs of S. scrofa derivation, and apparent hybrids between these species are now reported to survive on a number of islands, including Salawatti, Great Kei, Dobu, Seram, Ambon, Bacan, Ternate, Morotai, and New Guinea. It is also reported that in the 19" century the sows of domestic pigs in Sulawesi frequently mated with wild animals, after which they returned to their villages. in Suidae

Distribution. Sulawesi and adjacent Is (Buton, Kabaena, Muna, Peleng, Lembeh, and on some of the Togian Is); thought to be extinct on Selayar I. Pigs have been widely domesticated through the Indonesian archipelago and beyond. This primarily involved the Eurasian Wild Pig (S. scrofa), but also S. celebensis, the only other species of pig successfully domesticated. Mitochondrial DNA studies of the dispersion of these domesticated forms agree on three major dispersal events, two involving S. scrofa and one S. celebensis. Evidence supports an early human-mediated translocation of S. celebensis to Flores and Timor and two later, separate human-mediated dispersals of domestic pig through islands of SE Asia into Oceania. In addition to Flores and Timor, S. celebensis is also thought to occur in its domesticated form on Halmahera, Lendu, Roti, and Savur Is, and even on Simeulue and Nias Is to the W of Sumatra and far from its island of origin, Sulawesi. In the Moluccas, and possibly elsewhere in this region, introduced S. celebensis are thought to have hybridized with other introduced pigs of S. scrofa derivation, and apparent hybrids between these species are now reported to survive on a number of islands, including Salawatti, Great Kei, Dobu, Seram, Ambon, Bacan, Ternate, Morotai, and New Guinea. It is also reported that in the 19" century the sows of domestic pigs in Sulawesi frequently mated with wild animals, after which they returned to their villages.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Persistence of seed dispersal in agroecosystems: effects of landscape modification and intensive soil management practices in avian frugivores, frugivory and seed deposition in olive croplands

Farming impacts on animal-mediated seed dispersal through mechanisms operating at least at two spatial scales: first, at the landscape scale, through habitat loss and land conversion to agriculture/livestock grazing, and second, by local intensification (farm scale) of the agricultural practices. Nonetheless, these two scales of farming impact on the seed dispersal function have been rarely integrated. In particular, studies evaluating the effect of agriculture in the seed dispersal function of frugivorous birds in Mediterranean ecosystems are lacking. We evaluate the role of the landscape transformation, from fruit-rich woodland habitats to olive grove landscapes, together with the local intensive practices of soil management on the persistence of the seed dispersal function for Mediterranean fleshy-fruited plants in olive landscapes of south Spain. We used bird censuses, mist-nets and seed traps to characterize avian frugivore assemblages, frugivory, and seed deposition in seminatural woodland habitat (SNWH) patches and olive fields of 40 olives farms of 20 localities distributed across the whole range of olive cultivation in Andalusia (southern Spain). We found that despite of a still remarkable dispersal function in olive grove landscapes, avian frugivore abundance and diversity, frugivory, and seed arrival decreased in olive fields compared to SNWH patches. Likewise, SNWH cover loss and/or olive growing expansion decreased avian frugivory and seed arrival. Interestingly, habitat effects in the olive farms often depended on the landscape context. In particular, less diverse fruit-eating bird assemblages pooled in SNWH patches as olive grove cover increased or SNWH decreased in the landscape, while remained relatively invariant in the olive fields. Finally, compared to conventional intensive agriculture, low-intensity management increased frugivory and seed deposition. We conclude that olive fields are less permeable to frugivores than expected by its agroforest-like nature, and that presence of SNWH patches is crucial for the maintenance of frugivory and seed dispersal in agricultural landscapes. Results evidence that woodland habitat loss by olive expansion and the intensive practices seriously threaten the dispersal service in olive-dominated landscapes. Maintenance, restoration and promotion of woodland patches should be prioritized for the conservation of the seed dispersal service and for enhancing the functional connectivity in human-shaped olive landscapes.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Distribution of 8 species of large-seeded pines and their primary animal seed-dispersers in China: match or mismatch?

Aim: The geographic distribution of plants influenced by seed dispersal, but this influence on plants that use animals as seed dispersers is often overlooked. Here, we took large-seeded pines and primary seed dispersers as examples to explore the effects of existing or potential seed dispersal on the distribution of plants based on the geographical distribution of the two trophic species, it required understanding of (a) the distribution range and distribution characteristics of each species, and (b) the overlapping of distribution areas of animals and plants to explore whether they match. Location: China Methods: To find the target species, we identified eight large-seeded pine species in China in terms of seed size and wing traits as well as four primary seed disperser species in terms of body size, seed-diet, food hoarding behavior and frequencies in existing studies. Then, we obtained species distribution information from books and literature and used ArcGIS for mapping. Finally, we analyzed the distribution relationship by overlapping the distribution areas and patterns comprehensively. Results: We identified eight species of large-seeded pines (Pinus fenzeliana, P. gerardiana, P. dabeshanensis, P. koraiensis, P. pumila, P. bungeana, P. armandii, and P. sibirica) and four species of primary seed dispersers (Nucifraga caryocatactes, Sciurus vulgaris, Tamias sibiricus, and Sciurotamias davidianus). These eight species of large-seeded pines interlaced from the Northeast to the Southwest of China along the mountains with an average altitude of 1000-2000 m, while each species of primary seed disperser had a wide distribution range that overlapped completely or partially with that of four or more species of the large-seeded pines. Not only that, our findings provided potential seed dispersers for pines that lack sufficient research on seed dispersal. Main conclusions: The distribution pattern of large-seeded pines and the primary seed dispersers was matched, we believed that reciprocal relationship promotes this distribution pattern. Our study highlights the importance of incorporating the ecological consequences of geographical distribution into reciprocal interactions between species and biodiversity conservation.

opencc-zeroNov 2021View details →

Data for the manuscript: Historical biogeography of Pomaderris (Rhamnaceae): continental vicariance in Australia and repeated independent dispersals to New Zealand

Gondwanan biogeographic patterns include a combination of old vicariance events following the breakup of the supercontinent, and more recent long-distance dispersals across the southern landmasses. Floristic relationships between Australia and New Zealand have mostly been attributed to recent dispersal events rather than vicariance. We assessed the biogeographic history of Pomaderris (Rhamnaceae), which occurs in both Australia and New Zealand, by constructing a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny to infer (1) phylogenetic relationships and (2) the relative contributions of vicariance and dispersal events in the biogeographic history of the genus. Using hybrid capture and high throughput sequencing, we generated nuclear and plastid data sets to estimate phylogenetic relationships and fossil calibrated divergence time estimates for Pomaderris . BioGeoBEARS and biogeographical stochastic mapping (BSM) were used to assess the ancestral area of the genus and the relative contributions of vicariance vs dispersal, and the directionality of dispersal events. Our analyses indicate that Pomaderris originated in the Oligocene and had a widespread Australian distribution. Vicariance of western and eastern Australian clades coincides with the uplift of the Nullarbor Plain c. 14 Ma, followed by subsequent in-situ and within-biome diversification with little exchange across regions. A rapid radiation of southeastern Australian taxa beginning c. 10 Ma was the source for at least six independent long-distance dispersal events to New Zealand during the Pliocene–Pleistocene. Our study demonstrates the importance of dispersal in explaining not only the current cross-Tasman distributions of Pomaderris, but for the New Zealand flora more broadly. The pattern of multiple independent long-distance dispersal events for Pomaderris , without significant radiation within New Zealand, is congruent with other lowland plant groups, suggesting that this biome has a different evolutionary history compared with the younger alpine flora of New Zealand, which exhibits extensive radiations often following single long distance dispersal events.

Hybridisation boosts dispersal of two contrasted ecotypes in a grass species

Genetic exchanges between closely related groups of organisms with different adaptations have well-documented beneficial and detrimental consequences. In plants, pollen-mediated exchanges affect the sorting of alleles across physical landscapes, and influence rates of hybridisation. How these dynamics affect the emergence and spread of novel ecological strategies remains only partially understood. Here, we use phylogenomics and population genomics to retrace the origin and spread of two geographically overlapping ecotypes of the African grass Alloteropsis angusta. Besides an ecotype inhabiting wetlands, we report the existence of a previously undescribed ecotype inhabiting miombo woodlands and grasslands. The two ecotypes are consistently associated with different nuclear groups, which represent an advanced stage of divergence with secondary low-level gene flow. However, the seed-transported chloroplast genomes are consistently shared by distinct ecotypes inhabiting the same region. These patterns suggest that the nuclear genome of one ecotype can reach the seeds of the other via occasional pollen movements with sorting of nuclear groups in subsequent generations. The contrasting ecotypes of A. angusta can thus use each other as a gateway to new locations across a large part of Africa, showing that hybridisation can facilitate the geographical dispersal of distinct ecotypes of the same grass species.

Figure 5 in Geographic isolation and human-assisted dispersal in land snails: a Mediterranean story of Helix borealis and its relatives (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae)

Figure 5. Results of biogeographic reconstruction using the DEC model in RASP using 1000 time-trees estimated with BEAST from the full dataset (see text). Maximum of three areas was allowed for ancestral ranges and unlikely disjunctive ranges were prohibited. The areas (A–F, in parentheses) of which the ranges of the terminals consist are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 in Geographic isolation and human-assisted dispersal in land snails: a Mediterranean story of Helix borealis and its relatives (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae)

Figure 2. Distribution of sampling sites and assignment of locally sampled individuals to major mitochondrial clades of the Mediterranean clade of Helix. Different symbols and colours correspond to different groups as in Figure 4. Areas used for biogeographic reconstructions are shown and labelled with letters corresponding to those in Figure 5. A, northern Adriatic basin; B, northern Africa; C, Apennine Peninsula and Corsica; D, Greece, western Aegean and Crete; E, eastern Aegean and western Anatolia; F, northern Levant.

Figure 1 in Geographic isolation and human-assisted dispersal in land snails: a Mediterranean story of Helix borealis and its relatives (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae)

Figure 1. Live individuals of the Mediterranean clade Helix species: H. cincta (A), H. borealis (B–E) and H. melanostoma (F). A, Cyprus, Kato Drys; B, Greece, Evvia, between Vassilika and Ellinika; C, Greece, Peloponnese, by Rogi near Kalavryta; D, Greece, Kefalonia: Asos; E, Greece, Peloponnese, near Sparti; F, north-western Tunisia, Kef Governorate, near Sers.

Figure 4 in Geographic isolation and human-assisted dispersal in land snails: a Mediterranean story of Helix borealis and its relatives (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora: Helicidae)

Figure 4. Detailed unrooted phylogeny of the Mediterranean clade inferred from a concatenated alignment of partial mitochondrial COI and 16S gene sequences. The tree is a 50% majority rule consensus of the posterior of a Bayesian analysis with MrBayes. Branch labels indicate SH-aLRT support values, standard bootstrap proportions from 1000 pseudoreplicates, and posterior probabilities from a Bayesian analysis, respectively. Only posterior probabilities are shown for some branches near the tips due to space constraints. Tips are labelled by isolate codes (our data) or GenBank accession numbers of 16S sequences (data from other authors) and two-letter ISO country codes; where needed for interpretation of the results, geographic origin of the sample is given, usually by the closest significant town. Red arrowheads point to samples presumed here to be taken outside of the native range of the respective species. Clade symbols and colours correspond to Figure 2. Abbreviations: anct, anctostoma; thiess, thiesseana; undesc, undescribed; valent, valentini.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2021View details →

Austroasiatic Dispersal: the AA "Water-World" Extended

This paper asks if the locations of non-Northern Austroasiatic branches can be explained by maritime migrations from a centre of dispersal in northern Indo-China. Assuming that early Austroasiatics had an aquatic subsistence orientation in addition to cereal farming, they may have sought out new island or estuarine living spaces by near-coastal navigation.

Data from: Can matrix structure affect animal navigation between fragments? A dispersal experiment using release platforms

The persistence of species in fragmented landscapes relies on landscape connectivity and individuals' ability in dispersing among habitat patches. Accordingly, matrix structure can affect the orientation of dispersing individuals across the landscape. In this study, we measured the impact of matrix structure on the dispersal performance of the white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris). We released individuals in three types of matrix: bare field, corn crops and soybean crops, with distances of 30, 50 and 100 m to the nearest habitat patch. To test if the release height would affect the individuals' dispersal performance, we released animals from the ground and from 2 m high platforms. We released and tracked 14 individuals in bare field on the ground; 30 in corn crops, 22 on the ground and 8 on platforms; 17 on soybeans crop, 12 on the ground and 5 on platforms. The type of matrix influenced the perceptual range. Perceptual range was 100 m in bare field, 50 m in cornfield and less than 30 m in soybean field. The platforms only increased the perceptual range of individuals in the cornfield from 50 to 100 m. Visual and olfactory cues would cause this effect. We conclude that matrix structure affects dispersal performance, and that vertical elements of the matrix, such as scattered trees, may increase orientation in crop fields during inter-patch dispersal.

Dispersal and life history of brown widow spiders in dated invasive populations on two continents

Theory and empirical work suggest that behaviours such as dispersal and exploration are predictors of invasive success, and that behaviours may shift predictably after invasive populations have established and spread. However, there are limited data on temporal patterns in the distribution of behavioural traits linked to the timeline of establishment of invasive species. We examine dispersal and exploration, along with life history traits that may be linked to behaviour, across multiple invasive populations of the brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus). This global invader has established populations across the United States and Israel. Using this temporal and spatial variation, we tested predictions about changes in suites of traits over establishment time. We compared trait distributions of four U.S. populations of L. geometricus to patterns in four populations in Israel. We predicted that selective filters during the invasion process would result in more dispersive, more exploratory spiders that are larger and more fecund in recently established populations, but, if tradeoffs occur, dispersal would be favoured at the expense of fecundity and size in recent populations. We found more frequent and faster dispersal in more recently established populations in Israel, but not the United States. Spiders in more recently established populations in Israel were larger than those in older populations, but there were no consistent patterns across U.S. populations. However, there was evidence in both the U.S. and Israel for differing tradeoffs among fecundity, dispersal, and size. In more recently-established populations, spiders had lower fecundity than expected based on body size, but were more variable in resource allocation to egg sacs. The results suggest that in some populations, trade-offs underlying dispersal, fecundity, and body size are shaped by the time interval, and thus the number of generations, since establishment, with implications for the role of evolutionary processes in invasion success.

Forbidden fruits? Ecosystem services from seed dispersal by fruit bats in the context of latent zoonotic risk

Old world fruit bats are important seed dispersers of forest plants as well as of commercial fruit crops. Bats scatter seeds across landscapes and also aggregate (clump) seeds under feeding and roosting trees. In agroforestry landscapes, bat frugivory and seed dispersal can result in simultaneous accrual of socio-economic benefits and costs to humans, which may be further affected by human health risks from zoonotic spillover through human-bat interactions. In our study, we used an integrated approach to assess socio-economic benefits (from seed dispersal) and costs (from frugivory) from bats, in relation to latent zoonotic risk. We carried out the study in five agroforestry landscapes along India's Western Ghats, for selected commercial fruit crops (cashew, areca, banana, and other pulpy/fleshy fruits). Specifically, we hypothesized that people's perceptions of benefits from fruit bats would be correlated with measured extents of clumped seed dispersal in fruit plantations. We conducted ecological studies to investigate the effects of fruit crop type and plantation attributes on clump-dispersal, and in turn, on perceived "net benefits" assessed from interviews with plantation-associated people. We then explored associations between perceived socio-economic net benefits and spatial data on disease risk factors for fruit-bat-linked henipavirus transmission. We found that the extent of bat-mediated clump-dispersal was highest for cashew, especially in isolated plantations. People's perceptions of benefits from fruit bats matched the measured extents of clump-dispersal of cashew and areca. These benefits came with some costs from scatter-dispersal and damage to other fleshy fruits from frugivory by bats. Interestingly, we did not detect tradeoffs between perceived net benefits from bats and disease risk, which is of significance for bat conservation and its implications for human well-being. Overall, our results highlight that bat-mediated seed dispersal needs to be sustained as an important ecosystem service, despite some latent zoonotic risk, in the Anthropocene.

Risky movements? Natal dispersal does not decrease survival of a large herbivore

Natal dispersal is assumed to be a particularly risky movement behavior as individuals transfer, often long distances, from birth site to site of potential first reproduction. Though, because this behavior persists in populations, it is assumed that dispersal increases the fitness of individuals despite the potential for increased risk of mortality. The extent of dispersal risk, however, has rarely been tested, especially for large mammals. Therefore, we aimed to test the relationship between dispersal and survival for both males and females in a large herbivore. Using a radio-transmittered sample of 398 juvenile male and 277 juvenile female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), we compared survival rates of dispersers and non-dispersers. We predicted that dispersing deer would experience greater overall mortality than philopatric deer due to direct transfer-related risks (e.g., vehicular collision), indirect immigration-related mortality attributable to colonization of unfamiliar habitat, and increased over-winter mortality associated with energetic costs of movement and unfamiliarity with recently colonized habitat. For both male and female yearlings, survival rates of dispersers (male = 49.9%, female = 64.0%) did not differ from non-dispersers (male = 51.6%, female = 70.7%). Only two individuals (both female) were killed by vehicular collision during transfer, and over-winter survival patterns were similar between the two groups. Although dispersal movement likely incurs energetic costs on dispersers, these costs do not necessarily translate to decreased survival. In many species, including white-tailed deer, dispersal is likely condition-dependent, such that larger and healthier individuals are more likely to disperse; therefore, costs associated with dispersal are more likely to be borne successfully by those individuals that do disperse. Whether low-risk dispersal of large mammals is the rule or the exception will require additional research. Further, future research is needed to evaluate non-survival fitness-related costs and benefits of dispersal (e.g., increased reproductive opportunities for dispersers).

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2021View details →

Data from: Schneider et al. (2021). Predominantly eastward long-distance dispersal in pantropical Ochnaceae inferred from ancestral range estimation and phylogenomics. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

The data contains (a) DNA sequence alignments of concatenated nuclear loci, near-complete plastid genomes and plastid genomes with sites removed at a 10% gap threshold; (b) maximum clade credibility trees obtained from divergence time estimation in BEAST with each of the alignments; (c) area codings and the input tree (nuclear DNA only) for the ancestral area analysis in BioGeoBears.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2022View details →

Mammal-mediated seed dispersal in Vanilla: its rewards and clues to the evolution of fleshy fruits in orchids

Data on frequency of visits by Vanilla bahiana dispersers and data on acid scarification of seeds.

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2022View details →

Inducing seed dispersal by ants of valuable plant species for restoration

Database that supports the manuscript (not yet published) entitled: "Inducing seed dispersal by ants of valuable plant species for restoration".

Climate change reshapes the eco-evolutionary dynamics of a Neotropical seed dispersal system

Aim: Global changes will redistribute biodiversity, reshaping ecological interactions and ecosystem processes. The distribution decoupling of plants and their mutualistic seed dispersers, for instance, may have overlooked eco-evolutionary effects. How animal-dispersed plants will respond to changes in the distribution of their seed dispersers is, however, an open question. Here, we forecast the consequences of climate change and frugivory interactions for the spatial distribution and seed size evolution of a Neotropical palm. Location: Atlantic forests of South America Time period: Present day, end of 21st Century Major taxa studied: Thirty-two species of frugivorous birds, and a palm (Euterpe edulis). Methods: Future patterns of animal-plant co-occurrence were derived from ecological niche models, climate forecasts, projections of future forest loss, and seed dispersal simulations. We further explored the evolutionary effect of the spatial reorganization of interactions by modelling palm seed sizes as function of changes in the distribution of frugivore traits. Results: Our models indicate that future climate change and deforestation may reduce the palm's suitable distribution by 20-50%. However, our simulations suggest that 66% of all remaining future suitable distribution (76.200 km²) would still be inaccessible to the palm without the active dispersal of seeds by frugivores. In addition, novel frugivore communities are projected to have smaller body mass and gape size (-23% and -10%, respectively), due to the loss of large frugivores, which may translate into a 6–17% reduction of seed sizes across the palm's remaining distribution. Main conclusion: Our projections indicate that frugivore seed dispersal may be critical to allow occupancy of future habitat by the studied plant. However, loss of large frugivores may affect trait selection regimes, creating hotspots of plant evolution towards smaller seeds. We argue that such complex dynamics from species-specific responses to global change may drive the distribution and evolution of several interacting partners worldwide.

Common palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) are positively associated with humans and forest degradation with implications for seed dispersal and zoonotic diseases

Habitat loss and degradation can undermine wildlife communities and ecosystem functioning. However, certain generalist wildlife species like mesopredators and omnivores can exploit these disturbed habitats, sometimes leading to population increases (e.g., "mesopredator release" in degraded areas). Although mesopredator release may cause negative effects on food webs and zoonotic disease management, some disturbance-tolerant species may help perpetuate important ecological interactions, such as seed dispersal. We evaluated the habitat associations of common palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), which are widespread generalist mesopredators in Southeast Asia. Common palm civets are also high-quality seed dispersers, and potential zoonotic disease hosts. We used published and new camera trapping data to map their probability of presence across Southeast Asia and evaluate regional-scale associations between capture rates and habitat variables such as elevation, ecoregion intactness, and Human Footprint Index, among others. We also assessed the influence of habitat variables on their relative abundance at the local scale. At the regional scale, we found that common palm civets showed significant positive associations with landscapes characterized by lower ecoregion intactness, higher Human Footprint Index, and lower elevations. At the local scale, their relative abundance showed a significant positive association with higher Human Footprint Index, but only to a certain point, after which it started decreasing. They also favored lower elevations at the local scale. These multi-scale results indicate that common palm civets' abundance can increase under certain levels of human disturbances, consistent with the "mesopredator release" hypothesis. This suggests they may be crucial seed dispersers in degraded forest landscapes, especially where more sensitive seed dispersers have disappeared. Our results are also consistent with previous studies reporting that habitat degradation increases populations of potential zoonotic disease hosts, and thus risks of transmission to humans.

Salmon louse infestation levels on sea trout can be predicted from a hydrodynamic lice dispersal model

The abundance of the parasitic salmon louse has increased with the growth in aquaculture of salmonids in open net pens. This represents a threat to wild salmonid populations as well as a key limiting factor for salmon farming. The Norwegian 'traffic light' management system for salmon farming aims to increase aquaculture production while securing sustainable wild salmonid populations. However, this system is at present solely focusing on mortality in wild Atlantic salmon, while responses of sea trout with different ecological characteristics are not included. We analyze lice counts on sea trout from surveillance data and use Bayesian statistical models to relate the observed lice infestations to the environmental lice infestation pressure, salinity, and current speed. These models can be used in risk assessment to predict when and where lice numbers surpass threshold levels for expected serious health effects in wild sea trout. We find that in production areas with the highest density of salmon farms (West coast), more than 50 % of the sea trout experienced lice infestations above levels of expected serious health effects. We also observed high lice infestations on sea trout in areas with salinities below louse tolerance levels, indicating that the fish had been infested elsewhere but were returning to low-saline waters to avoid lice or delouse. This behavioural response may over time disrupt anadromy in sea trout. The observed infestations on sea trout can be explained by the hydrodynamic lice dispersal model, which provides continuous estimates of lice exposure along the whole Norwegian coast. These estimates, which are used in Atlantic salmon research and management, can also be used for sea trout. Synthesis and policy implications: Wild sea trout, spending its entire feeding migration in fjords and coastal areas, is at higher risk than Atlantic salmon to lice infestations from aquaculture. The observed high levels of lice infestation on sea trout question the environmental sustainability of the current aquaculture industry in areas with intensive farming. We discuss the complex responses of sea trout to salmon lice and how the 'traffic light' management system may include data on this species.