Temporal and between-site variation in helminth communities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from N.E. Poland. 2. The infracommunity level

Abstract

. (2008) Temporal and between-site variation in helminth communities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from N.E. Poland: 2. The infracommunity level. Parasitology, 135 (8 A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. The relative importance of temporal and spatial effects was assessed in helminth communities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in 3 woodland sites in N.E. Poland in the late summers of 1999 and 2002. Among common species the rank order of sites in relation to prevalence and abundance of infection was maintained between surveys. Site effects accounted for most of the deviance (in statistical models), and time was less important, so the exact location from which voles were sampled was of critical importance. The only exception was Syphacia petrusewiczi. In contrast, for derived measures such as species richness and diversity, most deviance was accounted for by host age, and the interaction between site and year was significant, implying that rank order of sites changed between years. Temporal effects on derived measures were generated primarily by a combination of relatively small changes in prevalence and abundance of the common, rather than the rare, species between the years of the study. In the medium-term, therefore, helminth communities of bank voles in N.E. Poland had a stable core, suggesting a substantial strong element of predictability.

Temporal and between-site variation in helminth communities of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) from N.E. Poland. 1. Regional fauna and component community levels

“…and comparing isolates from M. glareolus and Mus spp. The prevalence of A. tetraptera also increased from 1999 to 2002, but curiously the abundance fell overall (Behnke et al 2008), and we have data that suggest a long-term trend of rising prevalence of this species across several years (Bajer et al unpublished). As the accompanying paper shows (Behnke et al 2008) the prevalence of A. tetraptera remained stable at about 58 % at Pilchy, but increased markedly at both Urwitałt and Tałty.…”

“…This change between years was predominantly due to S. petrusewiczi which accounted for 70 . 5 % (9516) of all the worms recovered, but which declined in abundance substantially between the 2 surveys (Behnke et al 2008). Without S. petrusewiczi and with sample size taken into consideration, helminth burdens declined moderately (by 13 .…”

“…Fourteen species of helminths were recorded in total, 8 nematodes and 6 cestodes (Tables 2 and 3 (Table 2 and for further details see Behnke et al 2008). The regional helminth community, combining all the data, was clearly dominated by nematodes which accounted for 90 .…”

“…Given the above discussion concerning our expectations of stability at the regional and component community levels, our null hypothesis is that the regional helminth fauna and helminth component communities in wild bank voles living in semi-isolated sites within the region, are generally predictable and relatively unchanging in the medium term (2-5 years or so), despite the evident within-year seasonal effects, and the expected age-effects on individual infracommunities. In the accompanying paper we consider effects on infracommunities (Behnke et al 2008).…”

Helminth fauna and zoonotic potential of the European hamster Cricetus cricetus Linnaeus, 1758 in agrobiocoenoses from Vojvodina province (Serbia)

“…Consequently, data on the topic is very scarce, which is an unfortunate situation considering the signifi cance of small mammals such as rodents and insectivores in the dissemination and maintenance of parasites in natural and urban environments. This becomes even more apparent through comparison with information available from other European countries where these studies are abundant, such as Hungary (Mészáros, 2001), Lithuania (Grikienienė, 2005;Binkienė, 2006), Poland (Behnke et al, 2001(Behnke et al, , 2008a(Behnke et al, , 2008b and Italy (Ferrari et al, 2004) to name just a few.…”