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Prevalence and diversity patterns of avian blood parasites in degraded African rainforest habitats
Author(s) -
CHASAR ANTHONY,
LOISEAU CLAIRE,
VALKIŪNAS GEDIMINAS,
IEZHOVA TATJANA,
SMITH THOMAS B.,
SEHGAL RAVINDER N. M.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2009.04346.x
Subject(s) - haemoproteus , leucocytozoon , biology , plasmodium (life cycle) , ecology , habitat , zoology , deforestation (computer science) , cytochrome b , wildlife , avian malaria , malaria , parasite hosting , mitochondrial dna , plasmodium falciparum , biochemistry , immunology , world wide web , computer science , gene , gametocyte , programming language
Land use changes including deforestation, road construction and agricultural encroachments have been linked to the increased prevalence of several infectious diseases. In order to better understand how deforestation affects the prevalence of vector‐borne infectious diseases in wildlife, nine paired sites were sampled (disturbed vs. undisturbed habitats) in Southern Cameroon. We studied the diversity, prevalence and distribution of avian malaria parasites ( Plasmodium spp.) and other related haemosporidians (species of Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon ) from these sites in two widespread species of African rainforest birds, the yellow‐whiskered greenbul ( Andropadus latirostris , Pycnonotidae) and the olive sunbird ( Cyanomitra olivacea , Nectariniidae). Twenty‐six mitochondrial cytochrome b lineages were identified: 20 Plasmodium lineages and 6 Haemoproteus lineages. These lineages showed no geographic specificity, nor significant differences in lineage diversity between habitat types. However, we found that the prevalence of Leucocytozoon and Haemoproteus infections were significantly higher in undisturbed than in deforested habitats ( Leucocytozoon spp. 50.3% vs. 35.8%, Haemoproteus spp. 16.3% vs. 10.8%). We also found higher prevalence for all haemosporidian parasites in C. olivacea than in A. latirostris species (70.2% vs. 58.2%). Interestingly, we found one morphospecies of Plasmodium in C. olivacea , as represented by a clade of related lineages, showed increased prevalence at disturbed sites, while another showed a decrease, testifying to different patterns of transmission, even among closely related lineages of avian malaria, in relation to deforestation. Our work demonstrates that anthropogenic habitat change can affect host–parasite systems and result in opposing trends in prevalence of haemosporidian parasites in wild bird populations.