The changing ecology of primate parasites: Insights from wild‐captive comparisons

Herrera, James P.; Chakraborty, Debapriyo; Rushmore, Julie; Altizer, Sonia; Nunn, Charles L.

doi:10.1002/ajp.22991

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…Parasites passed through close contact may have fewer opportunities for cross‐species transmission, potentially limiting the distribution of hosts infected (Altizer et al, 2003; Thrall & Antonovics, 1997). Parasites with intermediate hosts are subject to additional habitat and geographic limits that may reduce opportunities for transmission across a wide host range (Herrera et al, 2019). While many parasites have life stages that can survive long periods in the environment, ultimately transmission may be limited by parasite survival (Park et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting primate–parasite associations using exponential random graph models

Herrera

Moody

Nunn

2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Ecological associations between hosts and parasites are influenced by host exposure and susceptibility to parasites, and by parasite traits, such as transmission mode. Advances in network analysis allow us to answer questions about the causes and consequences of traits in ecological networks in ways that could not be addressed in the past. We used a network‐based framework (exponential random graph models or ERGMs) to investigate the biogeographic, phylogenetic and ecological characteristics of hosts and parasites that affect the probability of interactions among nonhuman primates and their parasites. Parasites included arthropods, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, viruses and helminths. We investigated existing hypotheses, along with new predictors and an expanded host–parasite database that included 213 primate nodes, 763 parasite nodes and 2319 edges among them. Analyses also investigated phylogenetic relatedness, sampling effort and spatial overlap among hosts. In addition to supporting some previous findings, our ERGM approach demonstrated that more threatened hosts had fewer parasites, and notably, that this effect was independent of hosts also having a smaller geographic range. Despite having fewer parasites, threatened host species shared more parasites with other hosts, consistent with loss of specialist parasites and threat arising from generalist parasites that can be maintained in other, non‐threatened hosts. Viruses, protozoa and helminths had broader host ranges than bacteria, or fungi, and parasites that infect non‐primates had a higher probability of infecting more primate species. The value of the ERGM approach for investigating the processes structing host–parasite networks provided a more complete view on the biogeographic, phylogenetic and ecological traits that influence parasite species richness and parasite sharing among hosts. The results supported some previous analyses and revealed new associations that warrant future research, thus revealing how hosts and parasites interact to form ecological networks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting primate–parasite associations using exponential random graph models

Herrera

Moody

Nunn

2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Studies in both free-ranging and captive NHPs are important, for instance, in the design of conservation strategies, reintroduction programs, and NHPs acquisition for research laboratories or zoos. Determining the composition of parasite communities in captive NHPs allows the identification of parasites of concern regarding the introduction of novel parasites to potentially susceptible wildlife populations during reintroduction programs, and also lead to a better understand parasite ecology, for instance, it has been observed that vector-borne parasites are more likely found in free-ranging NHPs, while parasites transmitted through either close and non-close contact, including the fecal-oral transmission, are more likely detected in captive NHPs [114].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites of Free-Ranging and Captive American Primates: A Systematic Review

et al. 2021

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The diversity, spread, and evolution of parasites in non-human primates (NHPs) is a relevant issue for human public health as well as for NHPs conservation. Although previous reviews have recorded information on parasites in NHPs (Platyrrhines) in the Americas, the increasing number of recent studies has made these inventories far from complete. Here, we summarize information about parasites recently reported in Platyrrhines, attempting to build on earlier reviews and identify information gaps. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), and following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Ninety-three studies were included after the screening process. Records for 20 genera of NHPs, including 90 species were found. Most of the studies were conducted on captive individuals (54.1%), and morphological approaches were the most used for parasite identification. The most commonly collected biological samples were blood and stool, and Protozoa was the most frequent parasite group found. There is still scarce (if any) information on the parasites associated to several Platyrrhine species, especially for free-ranging populations. The use of molecular identification methods can provide important contributions to the field of NHPs parasitology in the near future. Finally, the identification of parasites in NHPs populations will continue to provide relevant information in the context of pervasive habitat loss and fragmentation that should influence both human public health and wildlife conservation strategies.

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“…Wild populations are inherently more immunologically variable (Viney & Riley, 2014), which is reflected in the large confidence intervals around our posterior mean estimates in bats. Many factors can influence wild-derived variation, but wild and captive animals can especially differ in pathogen exposure and stressors that can affect leukocyte composition (Davis et al, 2008;Herrera et al, 2019). Alternatively, the absence of allometry in our bat data (when analyzed alone in exercise 1), which are from wild populations, might be more likely to reflect true developmental and environmental pressures on these species.…”

Section: Are Bats Immunologically Different?mentioning

confidence: 97%

Body size affects immune cell proportions in birds and non-volant mammals, but not bats

Ruhs

Becker

Oakey

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Powered flight has evolved several times in vertebrates and constrains morphology and physiology in ways that likely have shaped how organisms cope with infections. Some of these constraints likely have impacts on aspects of immunology, such that larger fliers might prioritize risk reduction and safety. Addressing how the evolution of flight may have driven relationships between body size and immunity could be particularly informative for understanding the propensity of some taxa to harbor many virulent and sometimes zoonotic pathogens without showing clinical disease. Here, we used a scaling framework to quantify scaling relationships between body mass and the proportions of two types of white blood cells--lymphocytes, and granulocytes (neutr-/heterophils)--across 60 bat species, 414 bird species, and 256 non-volant mammal species. By using phylogenetically-informed statistical models on field-collected data from wild Neotropical bats, data gleaned from other wild bats available in the literature, and data from captive non-volant mammals and birds, we show that lymphocyte and neutrophil proportions do not vary systematically with body mass among bats. In contrast, larger birds and non-volant mammals have disproportionately higher granulocyte proportions than expected for their body size. Future comparative studies of wild bats, birds, and non-volant mammals of similar body mass should aim to further differentiate evolutionary effects and other aspects of life history on immune defense.Summary statementPowered flight might constrain morphology such that certain immunological features are prioritized. We show that bats largely have similar cell proportions across body mass compared to strong allometric scaling relationships in birds and non-flying mammals.

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The changing ecology of primate parasites: Insights from wild‐captive comparisons

Cited by 11 publications

References 74 publications

Predicting primate–parasite associations using exponential random graph models

Predicting primate–parasite associations using exponential random graph models

Parasites of Free-Ranging and Captive American Primates: A Systematic Review

Body size affects immune cell proportions in birds and non-volant mammals, but not bats

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