Programa de Biología, Universidad de Pamplona, Grupo de investigación en Ecología y Biogeografía (GIEB), Pamplona, Norte de Santander, Colombia.
Centro Regional de Investigación en Salud Pública, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.
Med Vet Entomol. 2023 Mar;37(1):111-123. doi: 10.1111/mve.12615. Epub 2022 Oct 31.
Sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae) are suspected or proven vectors of Leishmania spp. in the American region. Understanding niche conservatism (NC) in insect vectors allows an understanding of constraints on adaptive responses, and thus implications for disease ecology. Therefore, in this study, the authors evaluated NC in three vector species of leishmaniasis (Lutzomyia gomezi, Psathyromyia shannoni and Pintomyia ovallesi) in Central and South America. For this, the authors performed niche identity and similarity testing through paired comparisons in ENMTools and niche overlap in Niche Analyst. The authors found that species niches were more similar to each other than if the points had been randomly extracted, and they also found extensive similarity between Pa. shannoni and Lu. gomezi niches and in Pa. shannoni niches over different timescales. The authors suggest Pa. shannoni as a priority species due to fundamental niche similarity with phylogenetically related species and also its extensive evolutionary history and ecological plasticity that could affect the emergence and resurgence of leishmaniasis in areas endemic by this vector.
白蛉种属（双翅目：白蛉科）被怀疑或已被证实是美洲地区利什曼原虫属的传播媒介。了解昆虫媒介的生态位保守性（NC）可以帮助理解对适应性反应的限制，从而对疾病生态学产生影响。因此，在这项研究中，作者评估了中美洲和南美洲三种利什曼病媒介白蛉种属（Lutzomyia gomezi、Psathyromyia shannoni 和 Pintomyia ovallesi）的 NC。为此，作者通过 ENMTools 中的配对比较进行了生态位同质性和相似性测试，并在 Niche Analyst 中进行了生态位重叠分析。作者发现，物种生态位比随机提取的点之间更相似，并且在不同时间尺度上，Pa. shannoni 和 Lu. gomezi 生态位之间以及 Pa. shannoni 生态位之间存在广泛的相似性。作者认为 Pa. shannoni 是一种优先物种，因为它与亲缘关系密切的物种具有基础生态位相似性，并且它具有广泛的进化历史和生态可塑性，这可能会影响该媒介流行地区利什曼病的出现和复发。
