Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA
Avian haemosporidians are protozoan parasites transmitted by insect vectors that infect birds worldwide, negatively impacting avian fitness and survival. However, the majority of haemosporidian diversity remains undescribed. Quantifying this diversity is critical to determining parasite–host relatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Parasitology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182023001087/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1827357762893381632 |
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| author | Viridiana Martinez Katrina D. Keith Jacquelyn K. Grace Gary Voelker L. C. Ranford-Cartwright |
| author_facet | Viridiana Martinez Katrina D. Keith Jacquelyn K. Grace Gary Voelker L. C. Ranford-Cartwright |
| author_sort | Viridiana Martinez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Avian haemosporidians are protozoan parasites transmitted by insect vectors that infect birds worldwide, negatively impacting avian fitness and survival. However, the majority of haemosporidian diversity remains undescribed. Quantifying this diversity is critical to determining parasite–host relationships and host-switching potentials of parasite lineages as climate change induces both host and vector range shifts. In this study, we conducted a community survey of avian haemosporidians found in breeding birds on the Davis Mountains sky islands in west Texas, USA. We determined parasite abundance and host associations and compared our results to data from nearby regions. A total of 265 birds were screened and infections were detected in 108 birds (40.8%). Most positive infections were identified as Haemoproteus (36.2%), followed by Plasmodium (6.8%) and Leucocytozoon (0.8%). A total of 71 haemosporidian lineages were detected of which 39 were previously undescribed. We found that regional similarity influenced shared lineages, as a higher number of lineages were shared with avian communities in the sky islands of New Mexico compared to south Texas, the Texas Gulf Coast and central Mexico. We found that migratory status of avian host did not influence parasite prevalence, but that host phylogeny is likely an important driver. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T05:45:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e048451337f403ba28298c54accff53 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0031-1820 1469-8161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T05:45:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Parasitology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e048451337f403ba28298c54accff532024-02-05T10:26:15ZengCambridge University PressParasitology0031-18201469-81612023-12-011501266127610.1017/S0031182023001087Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USAViridiana Martinez0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1666-1511Katrina D. Keith1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2399-2861Jacquelyn K. Grace2Gary Voelker3L. C. Ranford-CartwrightDepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USADepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USADepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USADepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USAAvian haemosporidians are protozoan parasites transmitted by insect vectors that infect birds worldwide, negatively impacting avian fitness and survival. However, the majority of haemosporidian diversity remains undescribed. Quantifying this diversity is critical to determining parasite–host relationships and host-switching potentials of parasite lineages as climate change induces both host and vector range shifts. In this study, we conducted a community survey of avian haemosporidians found in breeding birds on the Davis Mountains sky islands in west Texas, USA. We determined parasite abundance and host associations and compared our results to data from nearby regions. A total of 265 birds were screened and infections were detected in 108 birds (40.8%). Most positive infections were identified as Haemoproteus (36.2%), followed by Plasmodium (6.8%) and Leucocytozoon (0.8%). A total of 71 haemosporidian lineages were detected of which 39 were previously undescribed. We found that regional similarity influenced shared lineages, as a higher number of lineages were shared with avian communities in the sky islands of New Mexico compared to south Texas, the Texas Gulf Coast and central Mexico. We found that migratory status of avian host did not influence parasite prevalence, but that host phylogeny is likely an important driver.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182023001087/type/journal_articleavian malariahaemosporidianshost–parasite relationshipssky islandswest Texas |
| spellingShingle | Viridiana Martinez Katrina D. Keith Jacquelyn K. Grace Gary Voelker L. C. Ranford-Cartwright Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA Parasitology avian malaria haemosporidians host–parasite relationships sky islands west Texas |
| title | Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA |
| title_full | Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA |
| title_fullStr | Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA |
| title_short | Avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the Davis Mountains sky-islands of west Texas, USA |
| title_sort | avian haemosporidians of breeding birds in the davis mountains sky islands of west texas usa |
| topic | avian malaria haemosporidians host–parasite relationships sky islands west Texas |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182023001087/type/journal_article |
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