Role of ecology and phylogeny in determining tapeworm assemblages in skates (Rajiformes)

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 738-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Beer ◽  
T. Ingram ◽  
H.S. Randhawa
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Host Switching ◽  
Host Diet ◽  
Host Ecology ◽  
Ecological Parameters ◽  
Average Body

AbstractAn understanding of the mechanisms that determine host and parasite relationships is a central aim in parasitology. Association of a parasite species with a host species may be influenced primarily by phylogenetic constraints that cause parasite species to co-speciate with their host species, or predominantly by ecological parameters that influence all other co-evolutionary scenarios. This study aimed to investigate the role of co-speciation as well as other co-evolutionary scenarios in influencing the assemblages of tapeworm parasites (marine cestodes) in skate hosts (Rajiformes) using a modification of the PACo (Procrustean Approach to Cophylogeny) method. The study found that phylogeny and host ecology are both significant predictors of skate–tapeworm relationships, implying that co-speciation as well as other co-evolutionary scenarios are shaping these associations. The study also investigated the key ecological parameters influencing host-switching and found that host diet, distribution depth, average body size and geographical location have a combined effect. Given the importance of parasites in ensuring healthy and stable marine ecosystems, the findings of this study have implications for conservation management worldwide.

Structuring mechanisms of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) parasite communities: host age, diet, and local factors

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (8) ◽  
pp. 1291-1301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W Johnson ◽  
Patrick A Nelson ◽  
Terry A Dick
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Host Age ◽  
Local Factors ◽  
Dietary Preference ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Host Diet ◽  
Shield Lakes

Seventeen parasite species were recovered from perch in four small Canadian Shield lakes with different fish species compositions. Parasite species such as Urocleidus adspectus Müller, 1936, Bunodera sacculata Van Cleave and Müller, 1932, and Proteocephalus pearsei La Rue, 1919 are phylogenetically associated with perch and (or) percids; others, such as Crepidostomum cooperi Hopkins, 1931, Spinitectus gracilis Ward and Magath, 1917, and Echinorhyn chus salmonis Müller, 1784, are related to dietary sharing; and larval species such as Apophallus brevis Ransom, 1920 and Raphidascaris acus (Bloch, 1779) are phylogenetically tied to perch but also to bird and fish definitive hosts. Variable patterns of dominance were dependent on trophic level and other host species in the system. As matrix fill increased with host age, the dependence of the parasite component communities on the given infracommunities decreased, confirming that predictable component communities depend on repetitive infracommunities. Shifts in dietary preference with age and (or) size and dietary sharing among host species were important in producing repetitive infracommunities. Host diet and age contributed significantly to the rate of parasite species accumulation. Parasite composition at the infracommunity scale changes with local community structure across the watershed and regardless of lake connectivity. The presence of ecologically derived parasite species is strongly influenced by local factors.

Helminth parasite species richness in rodents from Southeast Asia: role of host species and habitat

2014 ◽  
Vol 113 (10) ◽  
pp. 3713-3726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Palmeirim ◽  
Frédéric Bordes ◽  
Kittipong Chaisiri ◽  
Praphaiphat Siribat ◽  
Alexis Ribas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Helminth Parasite ◽  
Parasite Species Richness

scholarly journals Context Is Key: Comparative Biology Illuminates the Vertebrate Microbiome

mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Hird
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Cumulative Effect ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Comparative Methods ◽  
Comparative Biology ◽  
Host Ecology ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT Microbes affect vertebrates on timescales from daily to evolutionary, and the cumulative effect of these interactions is immense. However, how microbiomes compare across (host) species is poorly understood, as most studies focus on relatively few species. A recent mBio article by S. J. Song, J. G. Sanders, F. Delsuc, J. Metcalf, et al. (mBio 11:e02901-19, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.02901-19) expands our collective understanding of the vertebrate microbiome by analyzing ∼900 species. They demonstrate that patterns within mammals contrast with those within birds. Their results suggest many hypotheses about the role of host ecology and evolution on microbiome variation. Bats, the only volant mammals, appear to contradict many of the general mammal microbiome trends, in some ways resembling birds. What role has powered flight, and the evolution thereof, played in microbiome structure and function? Comparative methods, mechanistic hypotheses, and theory will elucidate this exciting question (and others) that we can ask using Song, Sanders et al.’s data and results.

scholarly journals Long-term changes in the plant ecology of an African savanna landscape and the implications for ecosystem theory and conservation management

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Western ◽  
Victor N. Mose ◽  
David Maitumo ◽  
Caroline Mburu
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Conservation Management ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Ecosystem Theory ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Studies of the African savannas have used national parks to test ecological theories of natural ecosystems, including equilibrium, non-equilibrium, complex adaptive systems, and the role of top-down and bottom-up physical and biotic forces. Most such studies have excluded the impact of pastoralists in shaping grassland ecosystems and, over the last half century, the growing human impact on the world’s rangelands. The mounting human impact calls for selecting indicators and integrated monitoring methods able to track ecosystem changes and the role of natural and human agencies. Our study draws on five decades of monitoring the Amboseli landscape in southern Kenya to document the declining role of natural agencies in shaping plant ecology with rising human impact. Results We show that plant diversity and productivity have declined, biomass turnover has increased in response to a downsizing of mean plant size, and that ecological resilience has declined with the rising probability of extreme shortfalls in pasture production. The signature of rainfall and physical agencies in driving ecosystem properties has decreased sharply with growing human impact. We compare the Amboseli findings to the long-term studies of Kruger and Serengeti national parks to show that the human influence, whether by design or default, is increasingly shaping the ecology of savanna ecosystems. We look at the findings in the larger perspective of human impact on African grasslands and the world rangelands, in general, and discuss the implications for ecosystem theory and conservation policy and management. Conclusions The Amboseli study shows the value of using long-term integrated ecological monitoring to track the spatial and temporal changes in the species composition, structure, and function of rangeland ecosystems and the role of natural and human agencies in the process of change. The study echoes the widespread changes underway across African savannas and world’s rangelands, concluding that some level of ecosystem management is needed to prevent land degradation and the erosion of ecological function, services, and resilience. Despite the weak application of ecological theory to conservation management, a plant trait-based approach is shown to be useful in explaining the macroecological changes underway.

«Love Rejoices in Truth …»: to the 20th anniversary of the journal «Solovyov Studies»

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-24
Author(s):  
M.V. Maksimov
Keyword(s):  
United States Of America ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
The United States ◽  
Information Support ◽  
The Past ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
Student Projects

This essay presents a description of the scholarly events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the journal “Solovyov Studies”. It gives an overview of the exhibition "20 years of the journal “Solovyov Studies”: 2001–2021," prepared by the editorial board of the journal together with the Library of the ISPU. It highlights a variety of the sections of the exposition and the materials presented, reflecting the development of the journal over two decades, the composition of its editorial board, including authoritative experts from Russia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the United States of America, Ukraine, and France. The reader’s attention is drawn to the information about the journal's position in various ratings schemes, both domestic and foreign, and citation indices, the share of publications by foreign authors and their geographical location, as well as the number of journal-views over the past five years. The article shows the role of scientific communications in the development of the journal, Information is given on the participation of the editorial board in international scientific events, on publications devoted to the journal and its presentations in Russian and foreign publications, universities and research centers. The article describes the Solovyov seminar’s cultural and student projects, which received substantial content and information support from “Solovyov Studies”. The level of interest of the scientific community in the journal is also noted.

scholarly journals Selecting the Strategic Port of “the Belt and Road” Based on the Global Network

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Zihui Yang ◽  
Qingchun Meng ◽  
Chanjuan Li
Keyword(s):  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Path Coverage ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Belt And Road

Under “the Belt and Road” initiative, China promoted cooperation between domestic enterprises and international ports vigorously, which brought back fruitful results, while the rational selection of strategic pivots ports and the optimization of the layout of the port network are important guarantees to a further promotion to the economic development of “the Belt and Road” ports and give full play to the driving and radiation role of strategic pivots ports. On the basis of constructing a network of 155 ports in the world, according to the number of ports crossed by the shortest path and betweenness centrality in the network, this paper uses K-Medoids clustering algorithm to train the strategic importance of ports and verifies the reliability of the analysis results. On this basis, the joint coverage analysis of strategically important ports is carried out, 17 ports are identified as strategic pivots ports of the global port network, and, finally, based on the two attributes of “the Belt and Road” and “Chinese enterprise participation” of strategic pivots ports, the leading role of strategic pivots ports in geographical location, path coverage, development potential, cooperation stability, and control is analyzed, and instructive suggestions are put forward.

scholarly journals Role of media in disaster preparedness: some case studies from calamity prone Odisha

2021 ◽  
Vol 331 ◽  
pp. 04010
Author(s):  
Fakira Mohan Nahak
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Indian State ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Cyclonic Storms

Odisha is a natural disaster prone state. Its geographical location contributes a lot for the disasters. The eastern Indian state has a 480 Kilometre long coastline. The Bay of Bengal which is the house of cyclonic storms is the major contributor for the calamities in the state. From time immemorial till today Odisha has been facing hundreds of calamities in the form of cyclones, floods and famines. It is a regular phenomenon that in the period of September to December every year Odisha faces varieties of cyclones. These affect human life, properties and agriculture to the maximum extent. After the super cyclone of 1999 the government became sensitive so also the media. In these two decades Odisha media has played a vital role in creating awareness about the disasters and helped people in displacement and rehabilitation. In recent pasts media helped the Government in reaching the “Zero Casualty” target. The role of media not only limited to this, even post-disasters it followed the condition of people and their lives. The researcher takes some case studies of different disasters and their handling by media. Also tries to find out the people’s perception about media in disaster preparedness and management.

scholarly journals Assessment of Vitamin D Status in Patients Suffering from Uncomplicated Malaria in a Health Center in the District of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Brice Kouakou Bla ◽  
Alexis Gnogbo Bahi ◽  
Juliana Mensah-Akaki ◽  
Souleymane Méité ◽  
Françis Adou Yapo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Parasite Density ◽  
Uncomplicated Malaria ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Complete Blood Count ◽  
Vitamin D Status ◽  
25 Oh Vitamin D ◽  
Stimulation Of

Aims: The pathophysiology of Plasmodium falciparum infection is most often associated with anemia and immune deficiency. Given the important role of vitamin D in the synthesis of hemoglobin and in the stimulation of the immune system, it would be essential to assess the vitamin D status of patients with malaria in order to improve the quality of treatment management. Methodology: A thick drop and a blood smear were used to determine parasite density and parasite species respectively. The complete blood count was performed using an automated analyzer labelled Sysmex XN 1000i. Biochemical parameters such as calcium and phosphorus were determined using the Cobas C311 Hitachi. The Vidas was used to determine the concentrations of 25 (OH) -vitamin D. Results: The results showed a decrease in 25 (OH) -vitamin D concentrations in relation to the parasite density and anemia observed in patients with uncomplicated malaria. Conclusion: Vitamin D status in patients with uncomplicated malaria could represent an essential biomarker in the monitoring of antimalarial treatment.

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