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The importance of host spatial distribution for parasite specialization and speciation: a comparative study of bird fleas (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae)
Author(s) -
Tripet Frédéric,
Christe Philippe,
Møller Anders Pape
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2656.2002.00639.x
Subject(s) - biology , flea , host (biology) , range (aeronautics) , parasite hosting , nest (protein structural motif) , ecology , adaptation (eye) , zoology , local adaptation , abundance (ecology) , spatial distribution , population , geography , biochemistry , materials science , demography , remote sensing , neuroscience , sociology , world wide web , computer science , composite material
Summary1 The environment of parasites is determined largely by their hosts. Variation in host quality, abundance and spatial distribution affects the balance between selection within hosts and gene flow between hosts, and this should determine the evolution of a parasite's host‐range and its propensity to locally adapt and speciate. 2 We investigated the relationship between host spatial distribution and (1) parasite host range, (2) parasite mobility and (3) parasite geographical range, in a comparative study of a major group of avian ectoparasites, the birds fleas belonging to the Ceratophyllidae (Siphonaptera). 3 Flea species parasitizing colonial birds had narrower host ranges than those infesting territorial nesters or birds with an intermediate level of nest aggregation. 4 The potential mobility and geographical ranges of fleas decreased with increasing level of aggregation of their hosts and increased with the fleas’ host ranges. 5 Birds with aggregated nest distribution harboured more flea species mainly due to a larger number of specialists than solitarily nesting hosts. 6 These results emphasize the importance of host spatial distribution for the evolution of specialization, and for local adaptation and speciation in Ceratophyllid bird fleas.