Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou

The Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population is a small isolated relict herd considered endangered according to the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA). This population has low recruitment and survival rates but the potential role of parasites on individual fitness is unknown...

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Published in:International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
Main Authors: Turgeon, Geneviève, Kutz, Susan J., Lejeune, Manigandan, St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues, Pelletier, Fanie
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814373/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29487799
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001
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spelling ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:5814373 2023-05-15T18:04:22+02:00 Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou Turgeon, Geneviève Kutz, Susan J. Lejeune, Manigandan St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues Pelletier, Fanie 2018-02-02 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814373/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29487799 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001 en eng Elsevier http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814373/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29487799 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001 © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). CC-BY-NC-ND Article Text 2018 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001 2018-03-04T01:31:03Z The Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population is a small isolated relict herd considered endangered according to the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA). This population has low recruitment and survival rates but the potential role of parasites on individual fitness is unknown. In this context, we explored the parasite status of this population with the aim of 1) assessing the occurrence and intensity of parasite infections and the spatial, temporal and individual variations, 2) quantifying parasite richness and investigating factors such as sex and host body condition that may be associated with this variable and 3) evaluating the effects of parasite infections on survival in the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou population. We examined fecal samples from 32 animals captured in 2013–2014 for eggs, oocysts and larvae of parasites and detected 7 parasite species: dorsal-spined larvae protostrongylids, presumably Parelaphostrongylus andersoni based on PCR identification of a subset, Nematodirus odocoilei and other unidentified Strongyles, Trichuris sp., Capillaria sp., Moniezia sp. and Eimeria sp. For each caribou, mean parasite species richness was 1.8 ± 1.1 (SD). Sex, body condition, year and capture location did not explain parasite prevalence, intensity of infection or richness except for intensity of infection of Capillaria sp. that was positively influenced by body condition. Parasites did not influence survival although mortality was higher for males than for females. We suggest that the relatively low and common gastrointestinal and protostrongylid parasite infections will not be a short-term threat leading to extinction. Text Rangifer tarandus PubMed Central (PMC) International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 7 1 90 94
institution Open Polar
collection PubMed Central (PMC)
op_collection_id ftpubmed
language English
topic Article
spellingShingle Article
Turgeon, Geneviève
Kutz, Susan J.
Lejeune, Manigandan
St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues
Pelletier, Fanie
Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
topic_facet Article
description The Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population is a small isolated relict herd considered endangered according to the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA). This population has low recruitment and survival rates but the potential role of parasites on individual fitness is unknown. In this context, we explored the parasite status of this population with the aim of 1) assessing the occurrence and intensity of parasite infections and the spatial, temporal and individual variations, 2) quantifying parasite richness and investigating factors such as sex and host body condition that may be associated with this variable and 3) evaluating the effects of parasite infections on survival in the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou population. We examined fecal samples from 32 animals captured in 2013–2014 for eggs, oocysts and larvae of parasites and detected 7 parasite species: dorsal-spined larvae protostrongylids, presumably Parelaphostrongylus andersoni based on PCR identification of a subset, Nematodirus odocoilei and other unidentified Strongyles, Trichuris sp., Capillaria sp., Moniezia sp. and Eimeria sp. For each caribou, mean parasite species richness was 1.8 ± 1.1 (SD). Sex, body condition, year and capture location did not explain parasite prevalence, intensity of infection or richness except for intensity of infection of Capillaria sp. that was positively influenced by body condition. Parasites did not influence survival although mortality was higher for males than for females. We suggest that the relatively low and common gastrointestinal and protostrongylid parasite infections will not be a short-term threat leading to extinction.
format Text
author Turgeon, Geneviève
Kutz, Susan J.
Lejeune, Manigandan
St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues
Pelletier, Fanie
author_facet Turgeon, Geneviève
Kutz, Susan J.
Lejeune, Manigandan
St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues
Pelletier, Fanie
author_sort Turgeon, Geneviève
title Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
title_short Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
title_full Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
title_fullStr Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
title_full_unstemmed Parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the Atlantic-Gaspésie caribou
title_sort parasite prevalence, infection intensity and richness in an endangered population, the atlantic-gaspésie caribou
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2018
url http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814373/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29487799
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001
genre Rangifer tarandus
genre_facet Rangifer tarandus
op_relation http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814373/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29487799
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001
op_rights © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian Society for Parasitology.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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op_doi https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2018.02.001
container_title International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife
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