Spickett Andrea, Junker Kerstin, Krasnov Boris R, Haukisalmi Voitto, Matthee Sonja
Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute,Private Bag X05,Onderstepoort, 0110,South Africa.
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology,Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research,Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research,Ben-Gurion University of the Negev,Sede-Boqer Campus,84990 Midreshet Ben-Gurion,Israel.
Parasitology. 2017 Aug;144(9):1211-1220. doi: 10.1017/S003118201700049X. Epub 2017 May 9.
To reveal factors responsible for spatial variation in parasite community composition we studied patterns of similarity in helminth species composition in two closely-related rodents (Rhabdomys pumilio and Rhabdomys dilectus) that differ in their social and spatial behaviour and live under different environmental conditions across 20 localities in South Africa. We asked whether the two hosts harbour similar assemblages, whether these are more dissimilar between than within hosts and if host social structure, behaviour or environment affects similarity patterns in helminth infracommunities within and among localities. We also investigated whether similarity in species composition of helminth component communities decreases with an increase of geographic distance between host populations. We found that the pattern of space use by the hosts rather than their social behaviour promotes differences in helminth species composition between host species as well as among host populations from different localities. The rate of distance decay of similarity in species composition of helminth component communities differed between the two hosts due to difference in the degree of environmental variation across their geographic ranges. We conclude that patterns of spatial variation in helminth species composition are driven mainly by host spatial behaviour and, to a lesser extent, by environment-associated factors.
为了揭示导致寄生虫群落组成空间变异的因素，我们研究了两种亲缘关系密切的啮齿动物（南非小家鼠和喜爱小家鼠）体内蠕虫物种组成的相似性模式，这两种啮齿动物在社会行为和空间行为上存在差异，且生活在南非20个不同地点的不同环境条件下。我们探讨了这两种宿主是否拥有相似的组合，这些组合在宿主之间是否比在宿主内部更不相似，以及宿主的社会结构、行为或环境是否会影响不同地点内和不同地点间蠕虫群落内的相似性模式。我们还研究了蠕虫组成群落的物种组成相似性是否会随着宿主种群地理距离的增加而降低。我们发现，宿主的空间利用模式而非其社会行为促进了宿主物种之间以及来自不同地点的宿主种群之间蠕虫物种组成的差异。由于两种宿主地理分布范围内环境变异程度不同，蠕虫组成群落物种组成相似性的距离衰减率也有所不同。我们得出结论，蠕虫物种组成的空间变异模式主要由宿主的空间行为驱动，在较小程度上由与环境相关的因素驱动。
