Diversity and patterns of interaction of an anuran–parasite network in a neotropical wetland

Parasitology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 142 (14) ◽  
pp. 1751-1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. CAMPIÃO ◽  
A. RIBAS ◽  
L. E. R. TAVARES
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Mixed Effect Models ◽  
Host Phylogeny ◽  
Host Parasite

SUMMARYWe describe the diversity and structure of a host–parasite network of 11 anuran species and their helminth parasites in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. Specifically, we investigate how the heterogeneous use of space by hosts changes parasite community diversity, and how the local pool of parasites exploits sympatric host species of different habits. We examined 229 anuran specimens, interacting with 32 helminth parasite taxa. Mixed effect models indicated the influence of anuran body size, but not habit, as a determinant of parasite species richness. Variation in parasite taxonomic diversity, however, was not significantly correlated with host size or habit. Parasite community composition was not correlated with host phylogeny, indicating no strong effect of the evolutionary relationships among anurans on the similarities in their parasite communities. Host–parasite network showed a nested and non-modular pattern of interaction, which is probably a result of the low host specificity observed for most helminths in this study. Overall, we found host body size was important in determining parasite community richness, whereas low parasite specificity was important to network structure.

The ecology of parasites of freshwater fishes: the search for patterns

Parasitology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 136 (12) ◽  
pp. 1653-1662 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. KENNEDY
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Freshwater Fishes ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Population And Community Dynamics ◽  
Parasite Populations

SUMMARYDevelopments in the study of the ecology of helminth parasites of freshwater fishes over the last half century are reviewed. Most research has of necessity been field based and has involved the search for patterns in population and community dynamics that are repeatable in space and time. Mathematical models predict that under certain conditions host and parasite populations can attain equilibrial levels through operation of regulatory factors. Such factors have been identified in several host-parasite systems and some parasite populations have been shown to persist over long time-periods. However, there is no convincing evidence that fish parasite populations are stable and regulated since in all cases alternative explanations are equally acceptable and it appears that they are non-equilibrial systems. It has proved particularly difficult to detect replicable patterns in parasite communities. Inter-specific competition, evidenced by functional and numerical responses, has been detected in several communities but its occurrence is erratic and its significance unclear. Some studies have failed to find any nested patterns in parasite community structure and richness, whereas others have identified such patterns although they are seldom constant over space and time. Departures from randomness appear to be the exception and then only temporary. It appears that parasite communities are non-equilibrial, stochastic assemblages rather than structured and organized.

Consistent differences in macroparasite community composition among populations of three-spined sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatusL.

Parasitology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 139 (11) ◽  
pp. 1478-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOB DE ROIJ ◽  
ANDREW D. C. MacCOLL
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Geographical Distances ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Relative Differences

SUMMARYParasite ecologists are often interested in the repeatability of patterns in parasite communities in space and/or time, because of implications for the dynamics of host-parasite interactions. Field studies usually examine temporal and spatial variation in isolation or limit themselves to a small number of host populations. Here, we studied the macroparasite communities of 12 populations of three-spined stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatusL., on North Uist, Scotland, separated by small geographical distances, during the breeding season in 2 consecutive years (2007 and 2008) to determine: (1) the extent of spatial variation in macroparasite communities, (2) whether this variation is consistent across years, and (3) whether habitat characteristics can explain differences in macroparasite community composition among populations. We found substantial variation in parasite communities among populations. Generally, measures of parasite community composition were higher in 2008 than in 2007, but this effect of year was consistent across populations, such that the relative differences in these measures among populations changed little between years. These data suggest that there is short-term stability in the spatial variation in macroparasite communities of North Uist sticklebacks. However, none of the 5 habitat characteristics measured explained spatial variation in any measure of parasite community composition.

Intestinal helminth parasites in flounderPlatichthys flesusfrom the River Thames: an infracommunity analysis

2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Guillen-Hernandez ◽  
P.J. Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Parasite Species ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Intestinal Helminth ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Intermediate Hosts ◽  
Component Community ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Marine Influence ◽  
River Thames

AbstractAn analysis was undertaken of intestinal helminth communities in flounderPlatichthys flesusfrom two sites on the River Thames. A comparison was made between helminth community richness and diversity from these sites at the component and infracommunity levels. At the component community level, a richer and more diverse parasite community was found in flounder from the Tilbury location (marine influence) than that from the Lots Road location (freshwater influence). At the infracommunity level, more parasite species and parasite individuals per host were found at Lots Road and the percentage of similarity values were low at both locations. Helminth species with high prevalence values in the parasite communities of the flounder are the dominant species in any individual fish, harbouring multi-specific infections. The presence of more invertebrate species, which are intermediate hosts in the helminth life cycle in the Thames, fish vagility and the high prevalence and abundance values ofPomphorhynchus laevisin the flounder, may explain the differences between the two locations.

Helminth parasite communities of macropodoid marsupials of the genera Hypsiprymnodon, Aepyprmnus, Thylogale, Onychogalea, Lagorchestes and Dendrolagus from Queensland

1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Beveridge ◽  
R Speare ◽  
PM Johnson ◽  
DM Spratt
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Helminth Community ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Helminth Communities ◽  
Host Phylogeny ◽  
Dendrolagus Lumholtzi

Helminth parasites were examined from 4 Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, 18 Aepyprymnus rufescens, 13 Thylogale stigmatica, 13 Onychogalea unguifera, 2 0. fraenata, 8 Lagorchestes conspicillatus and 7 Dendrolagus lumholtzi from north and central Queensland. In all, 63 species of nematodes, ten species of cestodes and a single species of trematode were encountered. Helminth communities in H. moschatus and A. rufescens were characterised by few, highly specific parasites; D. lumholtzi similarly harboured few parasites; those of Onychogalea spp. and L. conspicillatus were more diverse and included a number of taxa shared with other macropodine hosts. The helminth community of T. stigmatica was extremely diverse and was dominated by helminths specific to Thylogale spp. The helminth communities of the various host genera showed little similarity to one another, even in the case of host species that were broadly sympatric. This lack of similarity is probably due to a mixture of factors, some related to host phylogeny and others ecological, particularly habitat type and feeding behaviour. The data presented illustrate a wider range of types of helminth communities in macropodoids than reported to date, and little evidence of exchange of parasites with rock-wallabies, Petrogale spp., examined from the same regions of Queensland.

Endoparasite communities of five fish species (Labridae: Cheilininae) from Lizard Island: how important is the ecology and phylogeny of the hosts?

Parasitology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 132 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. MUÑOZ ◽  
A. S. GRUTTER ◽  
T. H. CRIBB
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Parasite Species ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Host Diet ◽  
Host Phylogeny ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Host Characteristics

The parasite community of animals is generally influenced by host physiology, ecology, and phylogeny. Therefore, sympatric and phylogenetically related hosts with similar ecologies should have similar parasite communities. To test this hypothesis we surveyed the endoparasites of 5 closely related cheilinine fishes (Labridae) from the Great Barrier Reef. They were Cheilinus chlorourus, C. trilobatus, C. fasciatus, Epibulus insidiator and Oxycheilinus diagramma. We examined the relationship between parasitological variables (richness, abundance and diversity) and host characteristics (body weight, diet and phylogeny). The 5 fishes had 31 parasite species with 9–18 parasite species per fish species. Cestode larvae (mostly Tetraphyllidea) were the most abundant and prevalent parasites followed by nematodes and digeneans. Parasites, body size and diet of hosts differed between fish species. In general, body weight, diet and host phylogeny each explained some of the variation in richness and composition of parasites among the fishes. The 2 most closely related species, Cheilinus chlorourus and C. trilobatus, had broadly similar parasites but the other fish species differed significantly in all variables. However, there was no all-encompassing pattern. This may be because different lineages of parasites may react differently to ecological variables. We also argue that adult parasites may respond principally to host diet. In contrast, larval parasite composition may respond both to host diet and predator-prey interactions because this is the path by which many parasites complete their life-cycles. Finally, variation in parasite phylogeny and parasite life-cycles among hosts likely increase the complexity of the system making it difficult to find all-encompassing patterns between host characteristics and parasites, particularly when all the species in rich parasite communities are considered.

scholarly journals Predator morphology affects prey consumption: evidence from an anuran population in subtropical wetlands

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Maria Mendonça da Silva ◽  
Diego Anderson Dalmolin ◽  
Laura Kauer Schuck ◽  
Camila Fernanda Moser ◽  
Alexandro Marques Tozetti
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Mixed Effect Models ◽  
Mouth Width ◽  
Relationship Of

AbstractMorphology and diet are key factors in the ecology of organisms, determining aspects of natural history and evolution of the species. In this work, we evaluated the diet-morphology relationship in an anuran population, measuring the influence of morphological traits on the variation in the diet of individuals of Leptodactylus latrans. For this purpose, we collected individuals from a natural grassland habitat in southern Brazil. We analyzed the stomach content of individuals and consumed food items were classified up to the level of order. We also measured four morphological traits per individual of L. latrans: snout-vent length, relative limb length, distance between eyes and relative mouth width. We applied Linear Mixed Effect Models to evaluate the relationship of anuran morphological traits, number of prey taxa and volume of consumed prey. We tested the hypothesis that the configuration of predator morphological traits determines both the number of taxa and the volume of consumed prey. Our results indicate that individuals of L. latrans with larger body size consume a larger volume of prey and mouth width is directly and positively associated with the number of consumed taxa. In the same way that body size seems to define the capacity to ingest a large number of prey items, mouth width could be a limiting factor in prey selection. The capacity to consume a large prey volume could be an advantage in unpredictable environments, especially those with great daily thermal amplitudes such as the subtropical Brazilian grasslands.

Absence of variation in body size of the alpine salamander between allotopic and syntopic populations in a contact zone with the fire salamander

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philine Werner ◽  
Stefan Lötters ◽  
Benedikt R. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Contact Zone ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Contact Zones ◽  
Mixed Effect Models ◽  
Fire Salamander

Competition can lead to differences in body size between syntopic and allotopic conspecific populations. Salamandra atra and S. salamandra are parapatric but have narrow contact zones where the two species are likely to compete. To test for divergence in functional traits in S. atra, we compared its body size and mass between locations where the species is syntopic or allotopic with S. salamandra. Using mixed-effect models, we found no significant differences in body size or mass between syntopic and allotopic locations. This suggests either that the two species do not compete or that competition does not lead to divergence in body size in S. atra.

Diversity of helminth parasites in aquatic invertebrate hosts in Latin America: how much do we know?

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.L. Aguirre-Macedo ◽  
A.L. May-Tec ◽  
A. Martínez-Aquino ◽  
F. Cremonte ◽  
S.R. Martorelli
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Aquatic Invertebrate ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Helminth Parasites ◽  
Host Group ◽  
Geographical Scale ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Host Parasite

AbstractHelminths in aquatic invertebrate hosts have been overlooked in comparison with vertebrate hosts. Therefore, the known diversity, ecology and distribution of these host–parasite systems are very limited in terms of their taxonomic diversity, habitat and geographic regions. In this study we examined the published literature on helminth parasites of aquatic invertebrates from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to identify the state of the knowledge in the region and to identify patterns of helminth diversity. Results showed that 67% of the literature is from Argentina, Mexico and Brazil. We found records for 772 host–parasite associations. Most records relate to medically or economically important hosts. Molluscs were the most studied host group with 377 helminth records (80% trematodes). The lymnaeids and planorbids were the most studied molluscs across LAC. Arthropods were the second most studied host group with 78 helminth records (trematodes 38%, cestodes 24% and nematodes 20%), with shrimps and crabs being the most studied hosts. Host species with the largest number of helminth taxa were those with a larger sampling effort through time, usually in a small country region. No large geographical-scale studies were identified. In general, the knowledge is still too scarce to allow any zoogeographical or helminth diversity generalization, as most hosts have been studied locally and the studies on invertebrate hosts in LAC are substantially uneven among countries.

Discrimination of fish populations using parasites: Random Forests on a ‘predictable’ host-parasite system

Parasitology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 137 (12) ◽  
pp. 1833-1847 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. PÉREZ-DEL-OLMO ◽  
F. E. MONTERO ◽  
M. FERNÁNDEZ ◽  
J. BARRETT ◽  
J. A. RAGA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Random Forests ◽  
Predictive Models ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
Mediterranean Population ◽  
Classification Problems ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Data Mining Approach ◽  
Community Data ◽  
Host Parasite

SUMMARYWe address the effect of spatial scale and temporal variation on model generality when forming predictive models for fish assignment using a new data mining approach, Random Forests (RF), to variable biological markers (parasite community data). Models were implemented for a fish host-parasite system sampled along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Spain and were validated using independent datasets. We considered 2 basic classification problems in evaluating the importance of variations in parasite infracommunities for assignment of individual fish to their populations of origin: multiclass (2–5 population models, using 2 seasonal replicates from each of the populations) and 2-class task (using 4 seasonal replicates from 1 Atlantic and 1 Mediterranean population each). The main results are that (i) RF are well suited for multiclass population assignment using parasite communities in non-migratory fish; (ii) RF provide an efficient means for model cross-validation on the baseline data and this allows sample size limitations in parasite tag studies to be tackled effectively; (iii) the performance of RF is dependent on the complexity and spatial extent/configuration of the problem; and (iv) the development of predictive models is strongly influenced by seasonal change and this stresses the importance of both temporal replication and model validation in parasite tagging studies.

Anuran helminth communities from contrasting nature reserve and pasture sites in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.M. Campião ◽  
A.C.A Ribas ◽  
I.C.O. Silva ◽  
G.T. Dalazen ◽  
L.E.R Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Parasite Community ◽  
Helminth Species ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Biodiversity Knowledge ◽  
Mixed Effect Models ◽  
Helminth Communities ◽  
Pseudis Paradoxa ◽  
Collection Sites

AbstractStudies of amphibian macroparasites are relevant for the investigation of parasite community ecology and disease dynamics. Here, the parasite communities of five anuran species (Hypsiboas raniceps, Phyllomeduza azurea, Pseudis paradoxa, Leptodactylus fuscus and Leptodactylus podicipinus) are described from two habitats with different levels of preservation (pasture versus nature reserve). Specifically, we used mixed-effect models to test whether helminth species richness, prevalence and abundance differ between the two host collection sites. A total of 120 anuran individuals and 25 helminth parasite taxa were collected. Helminth communities differed between collection sites and among host species. In general, helminth species richness, prevalence and abundance were higher in hosts collected in the pond from the nature reserve. In all, these data help fill the gap in parasite biodiversity knowledge in a changing area, within a sensitive group of vertebrate hosts.

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