High fidelity defines the temporal consistency of host-parasite interactions in a tropical coastal ecosystem

Lopes, V. L.; Costa, Fernanda Vieira da; Rodrigues, Raquel A.; Braga, Érika Martins; Pichorim, Mauro; Moreira, Patrícia de Abreu

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-73563-6

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Firstly, sample sizes above 15 individuals are expected to produce robust prevalence estimates 41 . Secondly, although environmentally driven inter-annual variation in the prevalence of blood parasites is common 42 , 43 , antagonistic interactions between bird hosts and blood parasites tend to be stable over time 44 . Nevertheless, additional screening of birds in other years is desirable to fully confirm the absence of blood parasites in this booby colony.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Apparent absence of avian malaria and malaria-like parasites in northern blue-footed boobies breeding on Isla Isabel

Roldán-Zurabián

Ruiz‐López

Puente

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Haemosporidian parasites are common in birds but are seldom reported in seabirds. The absence of vectors or genetic resistance to infection have been proposed to explain this pattern. However, screening of blood parasites in many seabirds has been done only by visual inspection of blood smears, which can miss low-intensity infections, and molecular detection of blood parasites must be supported by detection in blood smears to confirm the presence of haemosporidians and avoid false positive cases. Here, we tested for the presence of blood parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon, combining inspection of blood smears and PCR-based detection methods in a highly philopatric colony of blue-footed boobies (Sula nebouxii) in the Tropical North Pacific. Our results indicate that adults in this colony are likely free of these blood parasites, probably due to unsuitable conditions for insect vectors in booby breeding sites, although potential genetic resistance of blue-footed boobies to infection deserves examination. Apparent absence of blood parasites in Isla Isabel boobies indirectly adds to the growing evidence of variation in parasite infections among avian host species that coexist locally.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Apparent absence of avian malaria and malaria-like parasites in northern blue-footed boobies breeding on Isla Isabel

Roldán-Zurabián

Ruiz‐López

Puente

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…This loss of tropical forests is widely expected to cause a massive extinction of species at the local scale, and probably also the global scale (Alroy, 2017; Janzen & Hallwachs, 2017). The species‐rich communities of tropical forests form complex interaction networks, for example between predators and prey (Gripenberg et al, 2019; Hoenle et al, 2019), hosts and parasites (Esser et al, 2016; Lopes et al, 2020), or plants and frugivores (Menke et al, 2011; Vidal et al, 2013). Identifying highly connected keystone species in these networks is crucial for efficient conservation measurements because their loss can have dramatic effects on community stability by causing the coextinction of many affiliated species (Dunne et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A remarkable legion of guests: Diversity and host specificity of army ant symbionts

et al. 2021

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Tropical rainforests are among the most diverse biomes on Earth. While species inventories are far from complete for any tropical rainforest, even less is known about the intricate species interactions that form the basis of these ecological communities. One fascinating but poorly studied example are the symbiotic associations between army ants and their rich assemblages of parasitic arthropod guests. Hundreds of these guests, or myrmecophiles, have been taxonomically described. However, because previous work has mainly been based on haphazard collections from disjunct populations, it remains challenging to define species boundaries. We therefore know little about the species richness, abundance and host specificity of most guests in any given population, which is crucial to understand co‐evolutionary and ecological dynamics. Here, we report a quantitative community survey of myrmecophiles parasitizing the six sympatric Eciton army ant species in a Costa Rican rainforest. Combining DNA barcoding with morphological identification of over 2,000 specimens, we discovered 62 species, including 49 beetles, 11 flies, one millipede and one silverfish. At least 14 of these species were new to science. Ecological network analysis revealed a clear signal of host partitioning, and each Eciton species was host to both specialists and generalists. These varying degrees in host specificities translated into a moderate level of network specificity, highlighting the system's level of biotic pluralism in terms of biodiversity and interaction diversity. By providing vouchered DNA barcodes for army ant guest species, this study provides a baseline for future work on co‐evolutionary and ecological dynamics in these species‐rich host–symbiont networks across the Neotropical realm.

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“…All fieldwork was legally permitted in the above countries and was also approved by relevant Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees. Molecular protocols, primers used and PCR protocols, can be found in Bell et al (2015), Lacorte et al (2013), Latta and Ricklefs (2010), Lopes et al (2020), Rodrigues et al (2020), Svensson-Coelho et al (2014, Soares et al (2016Soares et al ( , 2020 and Penha et al (2020); Supplementary Tables 1, 2 and Fig. 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host life-history traits predict haemosporidian parasite prevalence in tanagers (Aves: Thraupidae)

et al. 2022

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Vector-borne parasites are important ecological drivers influencing life-history evolution in birds by increasing host mortality or susceptibility to new diseases. Therefore, understanding why vulnerability to infection varies within a host clade is a crucial task for conservation biology and for understanding macroecological life-history patterns. Here, we studied the relationship of avian life-history traits and climate on the prevalence of Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus parasites. We sampled 3569 individual birds belonging to 53 species of the family Thraupidae. Individuals were captured from 2007 to 2018 at 92 locations. We created 2 phylogenetic generalized least-squares models with Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus prevalence as our response variables, and with the following predictor variables: climate PC1, climate PC2, body size, mixed-species flock participation, incubation period, migration, nest height, foraging height, forest cover, and diet. We found that Parahaemoproteus and Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species inhabiting open habitats. Tanager species with longer incubation periods had higher Parahaemoproteus prevalence as well, and we hypothesize that these longer incubation periods overlap with maximum vector abundances, resulting in a higher probability of infection among adult hosts during their incubation period and among chicks. Lastly, we found that Plasmodium prevalence was higher in species without migratory behaviour, with mixed-species flock participation, and with an omnivorous or animal-derived diet. We discuss the consequences of higher infection prevalence in relation to life-history traits in tanagers.

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High fidelity defines the temporal consistency of host-parasite interactions in a tropical coastal ecosystem

Cited by 13 publications

References 76 publications

Apparent absence of avian malaria and malaria-like parasites in northern blue-footed boobies breeding on Isla Isabel

Apparent absence of avian malaria and malaria-like parasites in northern blue-footed boobies breeding on Isla Isabel

A remarkable legion of guests: Diversity and host specificity of army ant symbionts

Host life-history traits predict haemosporidian parasite prevalence in tanagers (Aves: Thraupidae)

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