Benedek Ana Maria, Boeraș Ioana, Lazăr Anamaria, Sandu Alexandra, Cocîrlea Maria Denisa, Stănciugelu Maria, Cic Niculina Viorica, Postolache Carmen
Doctoral School in Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, 050095 Bucharest, Romania.
Faculty of Sciences, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, 550012 Sibiu, Romania.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Jan 18;14(2):304. doi: 10.3390/ani14020304.
Despite the large number of studies on rodent ectoparasites-most of them vectors of epidemiologically important pathogens-infestation patterns remain poorly understood in various ecological contexts, such as the highly patchy agricultural landscapes. We aimed to relate the infestation of rodents to temporal, habitat, and host variables. We assessed the difference in parasite prevalence and mean abundance depending on host sex, age, and body weight, season, and land use intensity. Furthermore, we analysed the effect of host species abundance and the differential responses of parasites in main and minor host species. The field survey was conducted in a rural landscape in southern Transylvania (Romania) between June and September 2010-2011. We live-trapped small mammals, collected the ticks and fleas, and recorded the presence of lice and mites. Overall, we found the same infestation patterns largely reported in the literature: higher prevalence and mean abundance in heavier adult males, significant seasonality and differences among host species, and evidence of the dilution effect. The uniqueness of our study system was the negative effect of the land use intensity on the prevalence and mean abundance of parasites, explained by the highly patchy mosaic landscape.
尽管对啮齿动物体外寄生虫进行了大量研究（其中大多数是具有重要流行病学意义的病原体的传播媒介），但在各种生态环境中，如高度斑块化的农业景观中，其感染模式仍知之甚少。我们旨在将啮齿动物的感染情况与时间、栖息地和宿主变量联系起来。我们评估了寄生虫患病率和平均丰度在宿主性别、年龄、体重、季节和土地利用强度方面的差异。此外，我们分析了宿主物种丰度的影响以及主要宿主物种和次要宿主物种中寄生虫的不同反应。2010 - 2011年6月至9月期间，在特兰西瓦尼亚南部（罗马尼亚）的一个乡村景观中进行了实地调查。我们活捉小型哺乳动物，收集蜱虫和跳蚤，并记录虱子和螨虫的存在情况。总体而言，我们发现了文献中大量报道的相同感染模式：体重较重的成年雄性患病率和平均丰度较高、明显的季节性以及宿主物种之间的差异，还有稀释效应的证据。我们研究系统的独特之处在于土地利用强度对寄生虫患病率和平均丰度有负面影响，这可以由高度斑块化的镶嵌景观来解释。
