Urbanization effects on temporal variations of avian haemosporidian infections

Jiménez‐Peñuela, Jéssica; Ferraguti, Martina; Puente, Josué Martínez‐de la; Soriguer, Ramón C.; Figuerola, Jordi

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.111234

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Surprisingly however, the diversity of Haomosporidian lineages at the non-urban site of La Rouvière, 20 km away from the city of Montpellier, ranked among the lowest in richness and evenness (Table 1 and Figures 3 and 4), which contrasts with previous results found showing opposite trends (e.g., in the House Sparrow : Jiménez-Peñuela et al 2021). The difference in diversity highlighted by these indices may however be biologically small, as the dissimilarity between ROU and the other sites was in the range of any other pairs of sites.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

“…Despite the fact that no clear pattern of diversity emerged along the urbanization gradient, we found that the non-urban sites had the lowest Haemosporidian lineage diversity, whereas the large zoo urban park had the highest. Interestingly, previous studies reported that urban parks with higher diversity of plant and bird species were also the most diverse in terms of Haemosporidian lineages (in multiple species: Carbó-Ramírez et al 2017 ; in the House Sparrow: Jiménez-Peñuela et al 2021). In our case, the Zoo du Lunaret consists of an 80-ha natural area where a large diversity of both native and exotic plant and bird species coexist.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cities as parasitic amplifiers? Malaria prevalence and diversity in great tits along an urbanization gradient

Caizergues

Robira

Perrier

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon tremendously modifying environmental features. By affecting the reservoirs of pathogens and the body and immune conditions of hosts, it is expected that urbanization alters the epidemiological dynamics and diversity of diseases. Cities could act as a shield against the parasite load or as a parasite burden, depending on whether urban features have positive or negative effects on vectors and hosts. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and diversity of avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium/Haemoproteus sp. and Leucocytozoon sp.) in great tits (Parus major) living across an urbanization gradient. We overall observed high prevalence in adult birds (from 95% to 100%), yet low prevalence in fledglings (from 0% to 38%). Malaria prevalence tended to increase with increasing urbanization in adults, and urban nestlings were more infected with Plasmodium/Haemoproteus sp. than forest ones. We found evidence for lower diversity in malaria lineages in the most natural site but higher diversity in the most natural urban park, while parasite diversity was overall similar across other urbanization levels. Parasite lineages were not habitat specific but for one Plasmodium sp. lineage (YWT4) associated with urban areas and some rare lineages (AFR065) present only in a zoo area perhaps because of the presence of African birds there. This study suggests that urbanization can lead to a parasite burden for urban dwelling species and can favour different avian malaria lineages. Such results open questions on the eco-evolutionary processes favouring certain disease lineages in urban environments.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities as parasitic amplifiers? Malaria prevalence and diversity in great tits along an urbanization gradient

Caizergues

Robira

Perrier

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…We found a quite high prevalence of avian malaria parasites in redlegged partridges in central Spain. The results presented here revealed malaria prevalences that are among the highest found in bird populations, particularly for Plasmodium [4,[65][66][67][68], including studies on species from comparable habitats in Spain [69]. We also found notable differences in the spatial and temporal distribution of parasites at a local scale.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…In general, the absence or low prevalence of hematozoan recorded in many host species inhabiting open and arid environments has been commonly attributed to a reduced transmission rate of parasites due to the scarcity of suitable vectors in those habitats (review in [75]). However, our findings suggest that the abundance of suitable vectors (Culicidae mosquitoes; [69] should not be a limiting factor for the existence and dispersion of malaria parasites in agricultural habitats, at least in our study area (see also [67] for the Mediterranean island of Sardinia). Higher prevalences of these parasites in birds have been found in areas with elevated summer NDVI (a widely used index of vegetal productivity) at the continental level [65], but our study area has a semi-arid climate with very dry summers and consequently is expected to have a low summer NDVI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Risk of Infection, Local Prevalence and Seasonal Changes in an Avian Malaria Community Associated with Game Bird Releases

et al. 2021

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Anthropogenic activities, such as the translocation or introduction of animals, may cause a parallel movement of exotic parasites harboured by displaced animals. Although introduction and/or relocation of animals for hunting purposes is an increasingly common management technique, the effects of gamebird release as a major vehicle for the introduction of parasites into new geographic regions have rarely been reported. We examined the prevalence and distribution of avian malaria parasites infecting resident avian hosts (red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa) at a local scale, with a particular emphasis on the effects of releasing farm-reared birds for hunting on the spatial and temporal structure of the parasite community. We collected blood samples from adult partridges from two game estates with partridge releases and two sites without releases over two periods (spring and autumn). We tested the probability of infection and differences in the parasite community in relation to the management model (releases vs. non releases) and sampling period, comparing autumn (when farm-reared birds are released) and spring (after hunting season, when mostly wild birds can be found in the population). We found a high prevalence (54%) of Plasmodium spp., and substantial differences in the spatial and temporal distribution of parasite lineages among the populations studied. Some parasite lineages occurred at high frequencies in game estates without introduction of farm-reared partridges, while other lineages were more abundant in game estates with releases than in those without releases. Overall, the prevalence of avian malaria was similar between spring and autumn at non-release sites, whereas in sites with releases, it was higher in autumn than in spring—probably due to artificial restocking with infected farm-reared birds at the onset of the hunting season. In short, humans may be an important agent driving the alteration of the spatial structure of local parasite fauna via the introduction of exotic parasites by gamebird release, which could cause avian malaria outbreaks with severe repercussions for native avifauna.

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“…Mosquitoes (Culicidae), biting midges ( Culicoides ) and black flies (Simuliidae) are biting vectors for avian Plasmodium , Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon respectively. Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon in natural habitats tends to be higher compared to in urban areas [ 45 , 46 ] as their vectors require stable environment such as soil–water interface and constant running water respectively for breeding grounds [ 47 ]. Whereas, Culicidae mosquitoes are able to thrive in urbanised environments, requiring small temporary water bodies which allows proliferation of their numbers and increasing numbers of Plasmodium vectors [ 48 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of haemosporidia in Asian Glossy Starling with discovery of misbinding of Haemoproteus-specific primer to Plasmodium genera in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Noni

Tan

2023

BMC Vet Res

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Background Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon are three mainly studied blood parasites known to cause malarial and pseudomalarial infections in avian worldwide. Although Sarawak is a biodiversity hotspot, molecular data on blood parasite diversity in birds are absent. The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of blood parasite in Asian Glossy Starlings (AGS), an urban bird with high population density in Sarawak and to elucidate the phylogenetic relationship with other blood parasite. Methods Twenty-nine carcasses of juvenile AGS that were succumbed to death due to window collision were collected around the vicinity of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Nested-multiplex and nested PCR targeting the Cytochrome B gene were used to detect Plasmodium and Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon respectively. Two primer sets were used for Haemoproteus detection to increase detection sensitivity, with one being a genus-specific primer. Results Fourteen samples (prevalence rate: 48.28%) were found positive for avian Plasmodium. Phylogenetic analysis divided our sequences into five lineages, pFANTAIL01, pCOLL4, pACCBAD01, pALPSIS01 and pALPSIS02, with two lineages being novel. No Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon was found in this study. However, Haemoproteus-specific primer used amplified our Plasmodium samples, making the primer non-specific to Haemoproteus only. Conclusion This is the first blood parasite detection study on AGS using carcasses and blood clot as sample source in Sarawak. Due to the scarcity of longer sequences from regions with high genetic plasticity, usage of genus-specific primers should be validated with sequencing to ensure correct prevalence interpretation.

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Urbanization effects on temporal variations of avian haemosporidian infections

Cited by 11 publications

References 86 publications

Cities as parasitic amplifiers? Malaria prevalence and diversity in great tits along an urbanization gradient

Cities as parasitic amplifiers? Malaria prevalence and diversity in great tits along an urbanization gradient

Risk of Infection, Local Prevalence and Seasonal Changes in an Avian Malaria Community Associated with Game Bird Releases

Prevalence of haemosporidia in Asian Glossy Starling with discovery of misbinding of Haemoproteus-specific primer to Plasmodium genera in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

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