Vinagre-Izquierdo Celia, Bodawatta Kasun H, Chmel Kryštof, Renelies-Hamilton Justinn, Paul Luda, Munclinger Pavel, Poulsen Michael, Jønsson Knud A
Natural History Museum of Denmark University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark.
Section for Ecology and Evolution Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark.
Ecol Evol. 2022 Feb 14;12(2):e8497. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8497. eCollection 2022 Feb.
Haemosporidians are among the most common parasites of birds and often negatively impact host fitness. A multitude of biotic and abiotic factors influence these associations, but the magnitude of these factors can differ by spatial scales (i.e., local, regional and global). Consequently, to better understand global and regional drivers of avian-haemosporidian associations, it is key to investigate these associations at smaller (local) spatial scales. Thus, here, we explore the effect of abiotic variables (e.g., temperature, forest structure, and anthropogenic disturbances) on haemosporidian prevalence and host-parasite networks on a horizontal spatial scale, comparing four fragmented forests and five localities within a continuous forest in Papua New Guinea. Additionally, we investigate if prevalence and host-parasite networks differ between the canopy and the understory (vertical stratification) in one forest patch. We found that the majority of Haemosporidian infections were caused by the genus and that avian-haemosporidian networks were more specialized in continuous forests. At the community level, only forest greenness was negatively associated with infections, while the effects of abiotic variables on parasite prevalence differed between bird species. prevalence levels were significantly higher in the canopy, and an opposite trend was observed for . This implies that birds experience distinct parasite pressures depending on the stratum they inhabit, likely driven by vector community differences. These three-dimensional spatial analyses of avian-haemosporidians at horizontal and vertical scales suggest that the effect of abiotic variables on haemosporidian infections are species specific, so that factors influencing community-level infections are primarily driven by host community composition.
血孢子虫是鸟类中最常见的寄生虫之一，常常对宿主健康产生负面影响。众多生物和非生物因素影响着这些关联，但这些因素的影响程度会因空间尺度（即局部、区域和全球）的不同而有所差异。因此，为了更好地理解鸟类 - 血孢子虫关联的全球和区域驱动因素，在较小的（局部）空间尺度上研究这些关联至关重要。所以，在此我们探讨非生物变量（如温度、森林结构和人为干扰）对血孢子虫患病率以及水平空间尺度上宿主 - 寄生虫网络的影响，比较了巴布亚新几内亚的四片破碎森林和一片连续森林中的五个地点。此外，我们还研究了在一个森林斑块中，树冠层和林下植被层（垂直分层）之间的患病率和宿主 - 寄生虫网络是否存在差异。我们发现，大多数血孢子虫感染是由该属引起的，并且鸟类 - 血孢子虫网络在连续森林中更为特化。在群落层面，只有森林绿度与感染呈负相关，而非生物变量对寄生虫患病率的影响因鸟类物种而异。树冠层的患病率水平显著更高，而观察到相反的趋势。这意味着鸟类根据它们所栖息的层次经历不同的寄生虫压力，这可能是由媒介群落差异驱动的。这些在水平和垂直尺度上对鸟类血孢子虫的三维空间分析表明，非生物变量对血孢子虫感染的影响具有物种特异性，因此影响群落层面感染的因素主要由宿主群落组成驱动。
