Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species?

Abstract

Information concerning factors regulating Alpine mountain hare ( Lepus timidus varronis ) populations such as host-parasite interactions is missing as only a few parasitological surveys exist of this subspecies. Parasites are not only dependent on their host but also on suitable environmental conditions for infestation. Abiotic environmental factors have an important regulating role on parasites in mammals. It is estimated that the elevation range of parasites is likely to shift in response to alternate host movement and changes in climate. Here we assess the parasitic infestation in the Alpine mountain hare by analysing the parasites in faeces and comparing the parasite infestation at different elevation ranges and at varied weather conditions for two years in the Austrian Alps. Almost half of the faecal samples were free of parasites (46.2%, n = 52). Most frequent was the infection by Coccidia (46.2%), whereas stomach intestine strongylids, Trichuris spp, and Cestoda were only found in 9.6% of all faeces. Hence, only Coccidia may be prevalent enough to regulate Alpine mountain hare populations in the Austrian Alps. Elevation had a significant positive effect on the infection of animals by Trichuris spp, whereas temperature had a significant negative effect on the infection by any parasite traceable in faeces and, when looking at the parasite groups individually, on Coccidia.

Host phylogeny and elevation predict infection by avian haemosporidians in a diverse New Guinean bird community

“…While it is often thought that parasites are most common in warmer environments near the equator and at lower elevations, a recent meta‐analysis found that parasitism instead increases towards the poles (Zvereva & Kozlov, 2021). Evidence for patterns along elevational gradients is mixed, with some cases where the prevalence of infection decreases at higher elevations (Bears, 2004; Meléndez et al, 2014; Zamora‐Vilchis et al, 2012; Zanet et al, 2017) but others that show the opposite trend (Álvarez‐Ruiz et al, 2018; Davis et al, 2016; Schai‐Braun et al, 2019), or even prevalence peaks at mid‐elevations (Bodawatta et al, 2020). One possible resolution to these conflicting reports is that patterns differ among different lineages of parasites (González et al, 2014; Merino et al, 2008; Preisser, 2019).…”

Plant‐eating carnivores: Multispecies analysis on factors influencing the frequency of plant occurrence in obligate carnivores

“…These Myricaria plants have anti‐inflammatory properties and have been used as traditional medicines (Chernonosov et al., 2017 ; Liu et al., 2009 ). Cold and dry climates restrict the transmission and growth of parasites (Morris, 2002 ), whereas low temperature increases the probability of infection in the alpine hare (Schai‐Braun et al., 2019 ). As such, snow leopards, which had the highest frequency of plant occurrence among Panthera species, may utilize medicinal compounds derived from plants against parasites.…”

A tale of two nematodes: Climate mediates mustelid infection by nematodes across the geographical range

“…Global bioclimatic variables, derived from monthly temperature and precipitation values according to the ANUCLIM scheme ( Abatzoglou et al, 2018 ), were obtained from WorldClim (version 2.1; Fick and Hijmans, 2017 ) as an average for 1970–2000 at 30 s spatial resolution. Out of the 19 standard bioclimatic variables, we selected eight reflecting temperature and precipitation (average over the whole year, coldest and warmest quarters, and their seasonality) as they were likely to affect the infection parameters ( Schai-Braun et al, 2019 ; Stromberg, 1997 ). Seasonality reflects the variability of a climatic variable within a year and is taken to be the standard deviation of monthly averages multiplied by 100 for temperature and the coefficient of variation of monthly values for precipitation.…”

“…With such a simple life cycle, the abundance of released eggs in the environment is partially related to the intensity of host infection. The survival and persistence of eggs or larvae are both also related to environmental conditions, mainly ambient temperature and humidity, and is often higher in warm and humid environments ( Froeschke et al, 2010 ; Rodel and Starkloff, 2014 ; Schai-Braun et al, 2019 ; Stromberg, 1997 ). In the Nearctic and Palearctic, seasonal variations in these two environmental parameters may also affect the mortality of free-living parasite stages, e.g.…”