[Trematode distribution in Littorina saxatilis populations can support the reproductive potential of the host: "toilers" and "idlers" among female periwinkles].

ABSTRACT

Co-evolution between parasites and their hosts can involve adaptations on the individual and population levels likely to be especially prominent in the systems where parasites have a direct strong impact on the hosts fitness, as is the case with castrating trematodes and their gastropod hosts. We studied populations of the rough periwinkles Littorina saxatilis in the White Sea infested by castrating trematodes to determine whether spatial and temporal variations in the trematode prevalence affect the demographic structure of the host population. Sex, age, reproductive status and infestation of L. saxatilis from 19 populations with different trematode burdens (from < 1 % to 30-50%); in two of these 19 populations (RI and KLN) a long-term monitoring over the period of 15-20 years was also performed. These analyses showed that (1) the average age of gravid females did not correlate with the trematode prevalence of the population, (2) the ratio was skewed towards females, (3) the trematode prevalence in females tended to be higher than in males, (4) the proportion of the non-infested gravid females of the younger ages classes (2-4 years) did not correlate with trematode prevalence of the population. The proportion of young non-infested females that were not reproducing ("idlers") decreased significantly with increasing infestation prevalence when compared among different populations of L. saxatilis, but remained relatively stable within two heavily infested populations RI and KLN despite the year-to-year fluctuations of the infestation prevalence. Thus, a demographic mechanism to compensate for the parasite pressure in L. saxatilis populations may involve the maintenance of a relatively constant proportion of uninfected gravid female ("toilers") at the expense of uninfected, but not reproducing females of fertile age ("idlers"); the latter can be viewed a reproductive reserve of the population tapped into under the conditions of high infestation prevalence. This mechanism, in combination with the previously described elevated individual fecundity of females in heavily infested populations, may compensate for the parasite-induced decrease in the reproductive potential of the host population and ensure the stability of the host-parasite system.