School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
Parasitology. 2012 Sep;139(11):1478-91. doi: 10.1017/S0031182012000789.
Parasite 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 aculeatus L., 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.
寄生虫生态学家通常对寄生虫群落在空间和/或时间上的模式可重复性感兴趣，因为这对宿主-寄生虫相互作用的动态有影响。实地研究通常在隔离的情况下研究时间和空间变化，或者将自己局限于少数宿主种群。在这里，我们研究了苏格兰北尤伊斯特的 12 个三刺棘鱼种群（Gasterosteus aculeatus L.）的大型寄生虫群落，这些种群之间的地理距离很小，在连续两年（2007 年和 2008 年）的繁殖季节进行，以确定：（1）大型寄生虫群落的空间变异程度，（2）这种变异是否在各年均一致，以及（3）栖息地特征是否可以解释种群间大型寄生虫群落组成的差异。我们发现寄生虫群落在种群间存在很大的变异。一般来说，2008 年寄生虫群落组成的度量值高于 2007 年，但这种年份效应在各种群中是一致的，因此这些度量值在种群间的相对差异在两年之间变化不大。这些数据表明，北尤伊斯特棘鱼的大型寄生虫群落的空间变异具有短期稳定性。然而，测量的 5 个栖息地特征中没有一个解释了任何寄生虫群落组成度量的空间变异。
