Host foraging behavior and nest type influence prevalence of avian haemosporidian parasites in the Pantanal.
Parasitol Res
; 121(5): 1407-1417, 2022 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35106653
ABSTRACT
Avian haemosporidians from the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus are vector transmitted parasites. A growing body of evidence suggests that variation in their prevalence within avian communities is correlated with a variety of avian ecological traits. Here, we examine the relationship between infection probability and diversity of haemosporidian lineages and avian host ecological traits (average body mass, foraging stratum, migratory behavior, and nest type). We used molecular methods to detect haemosporidian parasites in blood samples from 642 individual birds of 149 species surveyed at four localities in the Brazilian Pantanal. Based on cytochrome b sequences, we recovered 28 lineages of Plasmodium and 17 of Haemoproteus from 31 infected avian species. Variation in lineage diversity among bird species was not explained by avian ecological traits. Prevalence was heterogenous across avian hosts. Bird species that forage near the ground were less likely to be infected by Haemoproteus, whereas birds that build open cup nests were more likely infected by Haemoproteus. Furthermore, birds foraging in multiple strata were more likely to be infected by Plasmodium. Two other ecological traits, often related to host resistance (body mass and migratory behavior), did not predict infection probability among birds sampled in the Pantanal. Our results suggest that avian host traits are less important determinants of haemosporidian diversity in Pantanal than in other regions, but reinforces that host attributes, related to vector exposure, are to some extent important in modulating infection probability within an avian host assemblage.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Parasitos
/
Plasmodium
/
Infecções Protozoárias em Animais
/
Doenças das Aves
/
Haemosporida
Tipo de estudo:
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Parasitol Res
Assunto da revista:
PARASITOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil