Seabirds are highly threatened, including by fisheries bycatch. Accurate understanding of offshore distribution of seabirds is crucial to address this threat. Tracking technologies revolutionised insights into seabird distributions but tracking data may contain a variety of biases. We tracked two threatened seabirds (Salvin’s Albatross Thalassarche salvini n = 60 and Black Petrel Procellaria parkinsoni n = 46) from their breeding colonies in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to their non-breeding grounds in South America, including Peru, while simultaneously completing seven surveys in Peruvian waters. We then used species distribution models to predict occurrence and distribution using either data source alone, and both data sources combined. Results showed seasonal differences between estimates of occurrence and distribution when using data sources independently. Combining data resulted in more balanced insights into occurrence and distributions, and reduced uncertainty. Most notably, both species were predicted to occur in Peruvian waters during all four annual quarters: the northern Humboldt upwelling system for Salvin’s Albatross and northern continental shelf waters for Black Petrels. Our results highlighted that relying on a single data source may introduce biases into distribution estimates. Our tracking data might have contained ontological and/or colony-related biases (e.g. only breeding adults from one colony were tracked), while our survey data might have contained spatiotemporal biases (e.g. surveys were limited to waters <200 nm from the coast). We recommend combining data sources wherever possible to refine predictions of species distributions, which ultimately will improve fisheries bycatch management through better spatiotemporal understanding of risks.

Relapsing fever, a disease characterized by recurrent episodes of high fevers, is caused by geographically distinct spirochetes of the genus Borrelia,transmitted by ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. In the Northwestern United States, the soft tick Ornithodoros hermsi has been identified as the vector for the spirochete Borrelia hermsii. The life cycle of O.hermsi includes larval and multiple nymphal stages prior to full maturation into an adult male or female (Fig.1). Progression into each stage requires a blood-meal typically provided by squirrels and chipmunks, and incidentally humans. Feeding is rapid, lasting 10-60 minutes, and during this time an infected tick can transmit the agent of relapsing fever, B. hermsii. Following ingestion, spirochetes are initially found in the tick midgut. Within 1-3 weeks, they are found in other organs, including the central ganglion and salivary glands. Since saliva is the primary mode of transmission of these bacteria during tick feeding, we assessed by electron microscopy the structural and functional relationships between the spirochetes and the salivary glands.

Chlamydia trachomatis is responsible for several significant human diseases including trachoma, the primary source of preventable blindness in developing countries, and is the most common cause of sexually transmitted disease. C. trachomatis is an obligate intracellular prokaryote (ICP) relying on eukaryotic host cells for growth and replication. Typically, microorganisms engulfed by host cells, are trafficked through maturing endosomes to the lysosomal pathway and ultimately destroyed. Survival in a host cell requires the invading organism to either adapt or modify their host environment to avoid fusion with lysosomal vesicles. Organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis have evolved mechanisms to arrest maturation of the endosomes, such that they avoid lysosomal fusion.3 C trachomatis has developed alternative strategies for successful intracellular survival and growth.

C. trachomatis exists in two morphologically and functionally distinct forms which multiply in vacuoles termed inclusions. A small dense form known as the elementary body (EB), is the stable extracellular stage of the life cycle capable of attachment and entry into host cells.