Tinamiphilopsis temmincki sp. n., a New Quill Mite Species from Tataupa Tinamou, and the Early History of Syringophilid Mites.

The quill mite fauna of the Syringophilidae family (Acariformes: Prostigmata), which is associated with palaeognathous birds of the Tinamiformes order, remains poorly studied. Thus far, only two species of syringophilid mites have been documented on four species of tinamous. In this study, we present a description of a new species, Tinamiphilopsis temmincki sp. n., which was found on the Tataupa Tinamou (Crypturellus tataupa) in South America. This newly identified species differs from others in the genus due to the short hysteronotal setae d2 in females, unlike the long setae d2 found in females of other Tinamiphilopsis species. In addition to describing the new species, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the primitive syringophilid genera. The results reveal that the Tinamiphilopsis genus does not emerge as a sister group to all other syringophilids. Instead, it is deeply embedded within the radiation of quill mites associated with neognathous birds. This study provided evidence that mites belonging to the genus Tinamiphilopsis initially parasitised Neoavian birds before host switching to tinamous birds. This placement carries significant implications for our understanding of the evolution of quill mites and their relationship with their avian hosts.

Population Density of European Hare Predicts Risk of Tularemia Infection, Czech Republic, 2006-2022.

Background: Over 200 different animal species are susceptible to infection by tularemia, highly infectious disease caused by Francisella tularensis. Hares (Lepus sp.) and small rodents, such as common vole (Microtus arvalis), have been acknowledged as the most significant sources of human tularemia infection in most European countries. Our objective was to verify ability of these species in predicting incidence of human tularemia in a Central European country, the Czech Republic. Materials and Methods: We used 17 years of data on densities of European hare (Lepus europaeus) and common vole, and climate variability to test effects of these factors on temporal dynamics of tularemia incidence. The data were obtained from annual reports available from online e-repositories. Results: The analysis showed that 33% of the yearly variation in human tularemia incidence was explained solely by the abundance of European hare in the Czech Republic during 2007-2022. Density of common vole and North Atlantic Oscillation index, a measure of climate variability, did not significantly explain tularemia incidence. While hare population declined severely during 1993-2022, we did not detect any clear accompanied decrease in the prevalence of tularemia in humans and hares. Conclusion: Contrary to expectations, only hares proved capable in predicting yearly dynamics in human tularemia incidence in the Czech Republic. We call for continued monitoring of infection rates in hares and advocate the use of hunter estimates of hare abundance as a cheap and effective means of predicting the risk of tularemia.

The Occurrence of Quill Mites (Arachnida: Acariformes: Syringophilidae) on Bee-Eaters (Aves: Coraciiformes: Meropidae: Merops) of Two Sister Clades.

We studied the quill mite fauna of the family Syringophilidae, associated with bee-eaters. We examined 273 bird specimens belonging to nine closely related species of the genus Merops, representing two phylogenetic sister clades of a monophyletic group. Our examination reveals the presence of two species of the genus Peristerophila, as follows: (1) a new species Peristerophila mayri sp. n. from Merops viridis in the Philippines, M. leschenaulti in Nepal and Sri Lanka, and M. orientalis in Sri Lanka; and (2) P. meropis from M. superciliosus in Tanzania and Egypt, M. persicus in Sudan, Tanzania, Liberia, Senegal, Kenya, and D.R. Congo, M. ornatus in Papua New Guinea, M. philippinus in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and M. americanus in the Philippines. The prevalence of host infestations by syringophilid mites varied from 3.1 to 38.2%. The distribution of syringophilid mites corresponds with the sister clade phylogenetic relationships of the hosts, except for P. meropis associated with Merops americanus. Possible hypotheses for the host lineage shift are proposed.

An Outbreak of Trichophyton quinckeanum Zoonotic Infections in the Czech Republic Transmitted from Cats and Dogs.

Trichophyton quinckeanum, a zoophilic dermatophyte mostly known as the causative agent of rodent favus, is relatively rarely reported to cause human infections. Indeed, no infections were detected in Czechia between 2012 and 2015 despite routine verification of species identification by ITS rDNA sequencing. By contrast, 25 human and 11 animal cases of infection were documented from December 2016 to December 2020 and the rates tended to grow every following year. Interestingly, most of the cases were reported in the Olomouc region, suggesting a local outbreak. We bring the evidence that human T. quinckeanum infections are most commonly contracted from infected cats or, less frequently, dogs. Although rodents or contaminated soil and environment could be the source of infection to cats and dogs, the occurrence of infections in multiple animals in the same household suggests direct transmission among animals. Confirmation of the identification by molecular methods is highly recommended due to morphological similarity with T. mentagrophytes/T. interdigitale. Antifungal susceptibility testing of isolates to eight antifungals was performed using EUCAST methodology (E.Def 11.0). Among the tested antifungals, terbinafine, amorolfine, ciclopirox and efinaconazole were most potent in vitro and elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations were obtained for fluconazole and ketoconazole.

Hunter estimates of game density as a simple and efficient source of information for population monitoring: A comparison to targeted survey methods.

Hunters in Europe gather non-survey game species population estimates to inform wildlife management, however, the quality of such estimates remains unclear. We compared estimates of game density, realized annual intrinsic growth rates, and period mean growth rates between hunter obtained data and data obtained by targeted survey methods for four species in Poland from 1960 to 2014. Raw hunter estimates were strongly positively correlated to spotlight counts of red fox (18 years of monitoring), strip counts of brown hare (21 years) and grey partridge (25 years), male call counts of partridge (24 years), and complete counts of roe deer (49 years), and not related to spotlight counts of brown hare (15 years). Realized annual intrinsic growth rates derived from hunter estimates were strongly positively related to annual intrinsic growth rates derived from strip counts of grey partridge and complete counts of roe deer, but only weakly or not related to strip counts of brown hare, spotlight counts of red fox and brown hare, and male call counts of grey partridge. The period length at which the period mean growth rates derived from hunter estimates and estimates from other methods were strongly correlated was largely variable among methods and species. In the roe deer, correlation between these variables was strong across all years, while in smaller game species the period mean growth rates based on hunter estimates and other methods had the strongest association in period lengths of 6 to 11 years. We conclude that raw hunter estimates convey largely similar information to that provided by other targeted survey methods. Hunter estimates provide a source of population data for both the retrospective and prospective analysis of game population development when more robust estimates are unavailable.

Why Do the Boreal Forest Ecosystems of Northwestern Europe Differ from Those of Western North America?

The boreal forest is one of the largest terrestrial biomes on Earth. Conifers normally dominate the tree layer across the biome, but other aspects of ecosystem structure and dynamics vary geographically. The cause of the conspicuous differences in the understory vegetation and the herbivore-predator cycles between northwestern Europe and western North America presents an enigma. Ericaceous dwarf shrubs and 3- to 4-year vole-mustelid cycles characterize the European boreal forests, whereas tall deciduous shrubs and 10-year snowshoe hare-lynx cycles characterize the North American ones. We discuss plausible explanations for this difference and conclude that it is bottom-up: Winter climate is the key determinant of the dominant understory vegetation that then determines the herbivore-predator food-web interactions. The crucial unknown for the twenty-first century is how climate change and increasing instability will affect these forests, both with respect to the dynamics of individual plant and animal species and to their community interactions.

Impact of nesting mortality on avian breeding phenology: a case study on the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio).

The seasonal timing of avian reproduction is supposed primarily to coincide with favourable feeding conditions. Long-term changes in avian breeding phenology are thus mostly scrutinized in relation to climatic factors and matching of the food supplies, while the role of nesting mortality is largely unexplored. Here we show that higher seasonal mean daily mortality rate leads to a shift in the distribution of breeding times of the successful nests to later dates in an an open-nesting passerine bird, the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio. The effect appeared to be strong enough to enhance or counteract the influence of climatic factors and breeding density on the inter-annual variation in mean hatching dates. Moreover, the seasonal distribution of reproductive output was shifted to larger, or smaller, broods early in the season when the nesting mortality increased, or decreased, respectively, during the season. We suggest that population level changes in timing of breeding caused by a general advancement of spring and of the food supplies might be altered by the seasonality in nesting mortality. Hence, we argue that consideration of nesting mortality is of major importance for understanding long-term trends in avian phenology, particularly in species capable of renesting.