Effect of Population Fragmentation on Host-Parasite Interactions: Insights from an Island Lizard

host-parasite interactions;lizards;hemogregarines;biogeography;Natural Resources and Environment

Fornberg, JohannaZak, Donald ;

University of Michigan

关键词: host-parasite interactions;    lizards;    hemogregarines;    biogeography;    Natural Resources and Environment;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/136658/Fornberg_Johanna_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

I assessed the effect of island characteristics and population isolation on the endemicinsular lizard Podarcis erhardii and its native hemogregarine parasite Hepatozoon spp. Ianalyzed the relationships of prevalence, infection likelihood, and parasitemia to several factorsat the island (time of isolation, area, distance to nearest larger land mass), population (hostdensity), and organismal (load of hematophagous ectoparasites) levels. My results suggest thatsmaller islands, as well as islands that have been isolated for longer periods of time, showhigher infection rates and higher parasitemia in hosts than others. I also found that distancebetween a focal island to the nearest larger land mass, as well as the load of hematophagousectoparasites on an individual, were poor predictors of infection variables in P. erhardii. Theseresults indicate that island area, host population density, and island age are likely to besignificant drivers of changes in host-parasite interactions in fragmented populations.