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, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
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, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel.
Int J Parasitol. 2022 Jul;52(8):475-484. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2022.04.003. Epub 2022 May 27.
The structure of ecological interaction networks is associated with evolutionary histories of the interacting species. This is reflected by the phylogenetic signals (PS) in these networks when closely related species interact with similar partners because some traits inherited from the ancestors may determine ecological interactions. We investigated PS for small mammalian hosts and fleas in 80 regional interaction networks from four biogeographic realms (the Palearctic, the Nearctic, the Afrotropics, and the Neotropics). We asked (i) whether the relative strength of PS in host-flea networks is similar between hosts and fleas and/or between realms; (ii) how environmental variation affects the PS of hosts and fleas in their interaction networks; and (iii) whether the PS for hosts or fleas is affected by the phylogenetic diversity of either hosts or fleas, respectively. We found that the PS for hosts was stronger than that for fleas in all realms. An environmental effect on the PS for hosts, but not for fleas, was found in three of the four realms (except the Neotropics). In the Palearctic and the Nearctic, a stronger PS was characteristic for cooler and/or drier regions, whereas the opposite was the case for the Afrotropics in regard to precipitation. The phylogenetic diversity of regional host and flea assemblages was not associated with the values of the respective PS in any realm. We conclude that the pattern of the relative strength of the PS for hosts and fleas in their interaction networks is similar in different biogeographic realms with vastly different host and flea faunas. However, the environmental effects on the PS are geographically variable and might be associated with the history of host-flea associations, as well as the spatial pattern of environmental variation, within a realm.
生态相互作用网络的结构与相互作用物种的进化历史有关。当密切相关的物种与相似的伙伴相互作用时，这些网络中的系统发育信号（PS）反映了这一点，因为从祖先那里继承的一些特征可能决定了生态相互作用。我们研究了来自四个生物地理区（古北界、新北界、非洲热带区和新热带区）的 80 个区域相互作用网络中小哺乳动物宿主和跳蚤的 PS。我们提出了以下问题：(i) 宿主-跳蚤网络中 PS 的相对强度在宿主和跳蚤之间以及/或在区系之间是否相似；(ii) 环境变化如何影响宿主和跳蚤在其相互作用网络中的 PS；以及 (iii) 宿主或跳蚤的 PS 是否分别受到宿主或跳蚤的系统发育多样性的影响。我们发现，在所有区系中，宿主的 PS 都强于跳蚤的 PS。在四个区系中的三个区系（新热带区系除外）中发现了对宿主 PS 的环境影响，但对跳蚤 PS 没有影响。在古北界和新北界，PS 较强的特征是较凉爽和/或干燥的地区，而在非洲热带地区则相反，降水较多的地区 PS 较弱。区域宿主和跳蚤组合的系统发育多样性与任何区系中各自 PS 的值都没有关联。我们得出的结论是，在具有截然不同的宿主和跳蚤动物群的不同生物地理区系中，宿主和跳蚤在其相互作用网络中的 PS 相对强度模式相似。然而，PS 的环境影响在地理上是可变的，可能与宿主-跳蚤关联的历史以及区系内环境变化的空间模式有关。
