The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites?
SUMMARY The suggestion that there may be a limit to the number of niches available to helminth species in the intestine of Anguilla anguilla was investigated by examining the frequency distributions of the number of helminth species per eel and the relationships between maximum and mean infracommuni...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1996
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000082068 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000082068 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0031182000082068 2024-06-16T07:33:26+00:00 The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? Kennedy, C. R. Guégan, J.-F. 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000082068 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000082068 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Parasitology volume 113, issue 3, page 293-302 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 journal-article 1996 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000082068 2024-05-22T12:56:05Z SUMMARY The suggestion that there may be a limit to the number of niches available to helminth species in the intestine of Anguilla anguilla was investigated by examining the frequency distributions of the number of helminth species per eel and the relationships between maximum and mean infracommunity richness and component community richness in 1 locality over 17 years and in 64 localities throughout Ireland and England. The maximum number of species per eel did not exceed 4 in the 1 locality, or 3 in the 64 localities. In both the single and the several localities, the relationship between maximum and mean infracommunity richness and component community richness was curvilinear and best described by a power or polynomial function. This was interpreted to mean that infracommunity richness became increasingly independent of component community richness, and that infracommunities were saturated at values well below the higher level of helminth richness immediately available for colonization i.e. component community richness. It is argued that these findings cannot be explained by supply-side ecology, pool exhaustion or transmission rates, but only by infracommunity processes acting to impose a fixed limit to the number of species in an infracommunity. Most infracommunities are species poor, and the limiting factors will only operate as species richness rises to determine a maximum. Acceptance of a limit to the number of niches available also resolves the apparent inconsistency between the occurrence and importance of interspecific competition and the nature of isolationist communities. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Cambridge University Press Parasitology 113 3 293 302 |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
SUMMARY The suggestion that there may be a limit to the number of niches available to helminth species in the intestine of Anguilla anguilla was investigated by examining the frequency distributions of the number of helminth species per eel and the relationships between maximum and mean infracommunity richness and component community richness in 1 locality over 17 years and in 64 localities throughout Ireland and England. The maximum number of species per eel did not exceed 4 in the 1 locality, or 3 in the 64 localities. In both the single and the several localities, the relationship between maximum and mean infracommunity richness and component community richness was curvilinear and best described by a power or polynomial function. This was interpreted to mean that infracommunity richness became increasingly independent of component community richness, and that infracommunities were saturated at values well below the higher level of helminth richness immediately available for colonization i.e. component community richness. It is argued that these findings cannot be explained by supply-side ecology, pool exhaustion or transmission rates, but only by infracommunity processes acting to impose a fixed limit to the number of species in an infracommunity. Most infracommunities are species poor, and the limiting factors will only operate as species richness rises to determine a maximum. Acceptance of a limit to the number of niches available also resolves the apparent inconsistency between the occurrence and importance of interspecific competition and the nature of isolationist communities. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kennedy, C. R. Guégan, J.-F. |
spellingShingle |
Kennedy, C. R. Guégan, J.-F. The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
author_facet |
Kennedy, C. R. Guégan, J.-F. |
author_sort |
Kennedy, C. R. |
title |
The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
title_short |
The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
title_full |
The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
title_fullStr |
The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
title_full_unstemmed |
The number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of Anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
title_sort |
number of niches in intestinal helminth communities of anguilla anguilla: are there enough spaces for parasites? |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000082068 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0031182000082068 |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla |
op_source |
Parasitology volume 113, issue 3, page 293-302 ISSN 0031-1820 1469-8161 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031182000082068 |
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Parasitology |
container_volume |
113 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
293 |
op_container_end_page |
302 |
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1802004461454884864 |