Population- and age-specific patterns of haemosporidian assemblages and infection levels in European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster).

We describe and compare the composition of their parasite fauna as well as host population-, age- and sex-specific patterns in the frequency and intensity of infections. We found haemosporidian prevalence to be higher in Portugal compared with Germany and the prevalence generally increased with host age in both populations. Bee-eaters breeding in Portugal and wintering in western Africa mostly hosted parasites of the genus Haemoproteus, while Plasmodium lineages prevailed in birds breeding in Germany and wintering in central Africa. We found 18 genetic lineages, of which nine uniquely occurred in Germany, three uniquely in Portugal and six occurred in both breeding populations. The infection intensities (= % infected per inspected erythrocytes) ranged from 0.002% up to maximally 2.5% in Portugal and 9.6% in Germany. The intensity was higher in Germany compared with Portugal, vastly varied between the parasite genera (Haemoproteus >Plasmodium), but also differed between lineages of the same genus. Our results suggest that populations from different parts of a host's breeding range differ in prevalence and the composition of their haemosporidian assemblages, rather than in the intensity of their infections. Whether these patterns are mainly caused by differential habitat use throughout the annual cycle and/or the population-specific co-evolutionary backgrounds of a host species in range expansion remains to be elucidated. PMID: 32866492 [PubMed - as supplied by publi...
Source: International Journal for Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Authors: Tags: Int J Parasitol Source Type: research