Search results for "parasite"
showing 10 items of 827 documents
Continental-scale patterns of pathogen prevalence: a case study on the corncrake
2014
Pathogen infections can represent a substantial threat to wild populations, especially those already limited in size. To determine how much variation in the pathogens observed among fragmented populations is caused by ecological factors, one needs to examine systems where host genetic diversity is consistent among the populations, thus controlling for any potentially confounding genetic effects. Here, we report geographic variation in haemosporidian infection among European populations of corncrake. This species now occurs in fragmented populations, but there is little genetic structure and equally high levels of genetic diversity among these populations. We observed a longitudinal gradient…
Population structure of a parasitic plant and its perennial host
2002
Characterization of host and parasite population genetic structure and estimation of gene flow among populations are essential for the understanding of parasite local adaptation and coevolutionary interactions between hosts and parasites. We examined two aspects of population structure in a parasitic plant, the greater dodder (Cuscuta europaea) and its host plant, the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), using allozyme data from 12 host and eight parasite populations. First, we examined whether hosts exposed to parasitism in the past contain higher levels of genetic variation. Second, we examined whether host and parasite populations differ in terms of population structure and if their populati…
About the Influences of Some Major Biotic Drivers on the Population Dynamics in Host-parasite Systems: Interpretative Lessons from an Extended Nichol…
2020
Population dynamics within host-parasite systems in insects is governed by a series of factors, both endogenous and exogenous. Among them, five factors may be considered as major drivers: the respective inherent rates of increase of the host and of the parasite, the level of resource available to the host, the respective immigration rates of the host and of the parasite. While only the first two (the inherent rates of increase of host and parasite) are considered in the original Nicholson and Bailey model, an extended version of the model includes also the other three parameters, thus providing a broader (although still schematic) approach to the host-parasite population dynamics. A brief a…
Seasonal population dynamics of Zeuxapta seriolae (Monogenea: Heteraxinidae) parasitising Seriola dumerili (Carangidae) in the Western Mediterranean.
2013
We examined the seasonal and yearly population dynamics of the monogenean pathogen Zeuxapta seriolae on juvenile fish from wild populations of Seriola dumerili. The study is based on bimonthly monitoring between April, 2005 and April, 2007 off Majorca, and newly obtained monogenean population data for juvenile fish from three additional localities in the Western Mediterranean (off Alicante, Corsica and Sardinia). We documented the highest intensities and abundances of Z. seriolae, with mean abundance values similar to or higher than those reported in the single case of wild fish mortalities reported to date. There was a recurrent pattern of seasonal change in infection with Z. seriolae in t…
On the infracommunity structure of adult cestodes in freshwater fishes.
1990
The distribution–co-occurrence and exchange of adult cestode species in two fish communities (the Bothnian Bay and Lake Yli-Kitka both in Finland) was studied. Coexistence of two or more mature cestode species in the same fish host population was zero for all fish species studied (33) except pike in the Bothnian Bay and whitefish in the lake. It was found that 60% of the fish species studied in the Bothnian Bay and 80% of the fish species studied from Lake Yli-Kitka harboured only 1 mature cestode species. Exchange of adult cestode species between the different fish species in these two fish communities was found to be as rare as coexistence. The infra-community structure of adult cestodes …
Host‐parasite relationships between two seal populations and two species of Corynosoma (Acanthocephala) in Finland
1988
Ringed seals (Phoea hispida botnica), from the Bothnian Bay, north-eastern Baltic Sea were examined for acanthocephalan parasites in 1977-1982, and specimens from Lake Saimaa in south-eastern Finland (P. h. saimensis) were examined in 1980-1981. The two seal stocks have been isolated from Arctic stock for 11,000 years and from each other for 8,000 years. Corynosoma strumosum and C. semerme were found in the Baltic seals, but only C. strumosurn in those from the lake. Eighty two of the ringed seals caught in the Bothruan Bay were infected with both Corynosoma species, one with a single infection of C. strumosum and one with C. semerme inautumn. The total number of C. semerme increased in rel…
Differences in parasite susceptibility and costs of resistance between naturally exposed and unexposed host populations
2009
It is generally assumed that resistance to parasitism entails costs. Consequently, hosts evolving in the absence of parasites are predicted to invest less in costly resistance mechanisms than hosts consistently exposed to parasites. This prediction has, however, rarely been tested in natural populations. We studied the susceptibility of three naïve, three parasitized and one recently isolated Asellus aquaticus isopod populations to an acanthocephalan parasite. We found that parasitized populations, with the exception of the isopod population sympatric with the parasite strain used, were less susceptible to the parasite than the naïve populations. Exposed but uninfected (resistant) isopods f…
Parasitic infracommunities of the Aegean wall lizard Podarcis erhardii (Lacertidae, Sauria): isolation and impoverishment in small island populations
2009
AbstractThe Aegean wall lizard Podarcis erhardii, is widely distributed across the islands of the Aegean Sea (Greece). While there exists a relatively substantial body of knowledge on the ecology and life history of the species, the parasite communities of the taxon remain almost completely unknown. Quantifying the composition of these communities in P. erhardii is not only important for autoecological reasons, but also because inter-island comparisons of this lizard's parasite communities can shed light on the factors that structure parasite diversity in general. Here we investigate the gastrointestinal parasite communities of P. erhardii populations occurring on 16 landbridge islands of t…
Accumulation of plerocercoids of Triaenophorus crassus in the second intermediate host Coregonus lavaretus and their effect on growth of the host
1999
Patterns of accumulation of Triaenophorus crassus in its second intermediate host whitefish Coregonus lavaretus s.l. were studied between 1991 and 1996 from two host populations in two separate areas of Lake Saimaa, Finland. Whitefish were infected commonly with several T. crassus plerocercoids and the parasites were aggregated into the oldest hosts. In one host population the annual parasite accumulation was 0·9 parasites in all host age groups between 3 and 8 years. In the other host population the annual accumulation was 1·6 parasites in 3–5-year-old fish, but increased up to 3 to 4 parasites per year in fish over 5 years old. The increase did not coincide with the period of maturation o…
Salmon lice in the Pacific Ocean show evidence of evolved resistance to parasiticide treatment
2022
AbstractParasitic salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) threaten the economic and ecological sustainability of salmon farming, and their evolved resistance to treatment with emamectin benzoate (EMB) has been a major problem for salmon farming in the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the Pacific Ocean, where wild salmon are far more abundant, has not seen widespread evolution of EMB-resistant lice. Here, we use EMB bioassays and counts of lice on farms from the Broughton Archipelago, Canada—a core region of salmon farming in the Pacific—to show that EMB sensitivity has dramatically decreased since 2010, concurrent with marked decrease in the field efficacy of EMB treatments. Notably, these bioass…