Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads
In birds, parasites cause detrimental effects to the individual host, including reduced survival and reproductive output. The level of parasitic infection can vary with a range of factors, including migratory status, body size, sex, and age of hosts, or season. Understanding this baseline variation...
Published in: | International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 https://doaj.org/article/f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 2023-05-15T15:11:21+02:00 Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads Stine Vestbo Claus Hindberg Mark R. Forbes Mark L. Mallory Flemming Merkel Rolanda J. Steenweg Peter Funch H. Grant Gilchrist Gregory J. Robertson Jennifer F. Provencher 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 https://doaj.org/article/f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213224419300173 https://doaj.org/toc/2213-2244 2213-2244 doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 https://doaj.org/article/f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, Vol 9, Iss , Pp 184-194 (2019) Zoology QL1-991 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 2022-12-31T04:15:52Z In birds, parasites cause detrimental effects to the individual host, including reduced survival and reproductive output. The level of parasitic infection can vary with a range of factors, including migratory status, body size, sex, and age of hosts, or season. Understanding this baseline variation is important in order to identify the effects of external changes such as climate change on the parasitic load and potential impacts to individuals and populations. In this study, we compared the infection level (prevalence, intensity, and abundance) of gastrointestinal parasites in a total of 457 common eiders (Somateria mollissima) from four different sampling locations (Belcher Islands, Cape Dorset, West Greenland and Newfoundland), and explored the effects of migration, sex and age on levels of parasitism. Across all samples, eiders were infected with one nematode genus, two acanthocephalan genera, three genera of cestodes, and three trematode genera. Migratory phase and status alone did not explain the observed variation in infection levels; the expectation that post-migratory eiders would be more parasitized than pre-migratory eiders, due to the energetic cost of migration, did not fit our results. No effect of age was detected, whereas effects of sex and body size were only detected for certain parasitic taxa and was inconsistent with location. Since gastrointestinal helminths are trophically-transmitted, future studies of the regional and temporal variation in the diet of eiders and the associated variation and infestation level of intermediate hosts might further explain the observed variation of the parasitic load in eiders in different regions. Keywords: Arctic parasitology, Body size, Gastrointestinal parasites, Migration, Seabird Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Belcher Islands Cape Dorset Climate change Greenland Newfoundland Somateria mollissima Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Greenland Belcher ENVELOPE(-94.172,-94.172,57.936,57.936) Cape Dorset ENVELOPE(-76.482,-76.482,64.179,64.179) Belcher Islands ENVELOPE(-79.250,-79.250,56.184,56.184) International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 9 184 194 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Stine Vestbo Claus Hindberg Mark R. Forbes Mark L. Mallory Flemming Merkel Rolanda J. Steenweg Peter Funch H. Grant Gilchrist Gregory J. Robertson Jennifer F. Provencher Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
In birds, parasites cause detrimental effects to the individual host, including reduced survival and reproductive output. The level of parasitic infection can vary with a range of factors, including migratory status, body size, sex, and age of hosts, or season. Understanding this baseline variation is important in order to identify the effects of external changes such as climate change on the parasitic load and potential impacts to individuals and populations. In this study, we compared the infection level (prevalence, intensity, and abundance) of gastrointestinal parasites in a total of 457 common eiders (Somateria mollissima) from four different sampling locations (Belcher Islands, Cape Dorset, West Greenland and Newfoundland), and explored the effects of migration, sex and age on levels of parasitism. Across all samples, eiders were infected with one nematode genus, two acanthocephalan genera, three genera of cestodes, and three trematode genera. Migratory phase and status alone did not explain the observed variation in infection levels; the expectation that post-migratory eiders would be more parasitized than pre-migratory eiders, due to the energetic cost of migration, did not fit our results. No effect of age was detected, whereas effects of sex and body size were only detected for certain parasitic taxa and was inconsistent with location. Since gastrointestinal helminths are trophically-transmitted, future studies of the regional and temporal variation in the diet of eiders and the associated variation and infestation level of intermediate hosts might further explain the observed variation of the parasitic load in eiders in different regions. Keywords: Arctic parasitology, Body size, Gastrointestinal parasites, Migration, Seabird |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stine Vestbo Claus Hindberg Mark R. Forbes Mark L. Mallory Flemming Merkel Rolanda J. Steenweg Peter Funch H. Grant Gilchrist Gregory J. Robertson Jennifer F. Provencher |
author_facet |
Stine Vestbo Claus Hindberg Mark R. Forbes Mark L. Mallory Flemming Merkel Rolanda J. Steenweg Peter Funch H. Grant Gilchrist Gregory J. Robertson Jennifer F. Provencher |
author_sort |
Stine Vestbo |
title |
Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
title_short |
Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
title_full |
Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
title_fullStr |
Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
title_full_unstemmed |
Helminths in common eiders (Somateria mollissima): Sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
title_sort |
helminths in common eiders (somateria mollissima): sex, age, and migration have differential effects on parasite loads |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 https://doaj.org/article/f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-94.172,-94.172,57.936,57.936) ENVELOPE(-76.482,-76.482,64.179,64.179) ENVELOPE(-79.250,-79.250,56.184,56.184) |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland Belcher Cape Dorset Belcher Islands |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland Belcher Cape Dorset Belcher Islands |
genre |
Arctic Belcher Islands Cape Dorset Climate change Greenland Newfoundland Somateria mollissima |
genre_facet |
Arctic Belcher Islands Cape Dorset Climate change Greenland Newfoundland Somateria mollissima |
op_source |
International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, Vol 9, Iss , Pp 184-194 (2019) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213224419300173 https://doaj.org/toc/2213-2244 2213-2244 doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 https://doaj.org/article/f9fafb5b047e4ffca1702f0491effcf7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.004 |
container_title |
International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife |
container_volume |
9 |
container_start_page |
184 |
op_container_end_page |
194 |
_version_ |
1766342214548455424 |