Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species?
Information concerning factors regulating Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis) populations such as host-parasite interactions is missing as only a few parasitological surveys exist of this subspecies. Parasites are not only dependent on their host but also on suitable environmental conditio...
Published in: | International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545328/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6545328 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:6545328 2023-05-15T17:07:47+02:00 Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? Schai-Braun, Stéphanie C. Posautz, Annika Alves, Paulo C. Hackländer, Klaus 2019-05-29 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545328/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 en eng Elsevier http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545328/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 © 2019 The Authors 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 2019 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 2019-06-09T00:27:43Z Information concerning factors regulating Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis) populations such as host-parasite interactions is missing as only a few parasitological surveys exist of this subspecies. Parasites are not only dependent on their host but also on suitable environmental conditions for infestation. Abiotic environmental factors have an important regulating role on parasites in mammals. It is estimated that the elevation range of parasites is likely to shift in response to alternate host movement and changes in climate. Here we assess the parasitic infestation in the Alpine mountain hare by analysing the parasites in faeces and comparing the parasite infestation at different elevation ranges and at varied weather conditions for two years in the Austrian Alps. Almost half of the faecal samples were free of parasites (46.2%, n = 52). Most frequent was the infection by Coccidia (46.2%), whereas stomach intestine strongylids, Trichuris spp, and Cestoda were only found in 9.6% of all faeces. Hence, only Coccidia may be prevalent enough to regulate Alpine mountain hare populations in the Austrian Alps. Elevation had a significant positive effect on the infection of animals by Trichuris spp, whereas temperature had a significant negative effect on the infection by any parasite traceable in faeces and, when looking at the parasite groups individually, on Coccidia. Text Lepus timidus mountain hare PubMed Central (PMC) International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 9 202 208 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Article |
spellingShingle |
Article Schai-Braun, Stéphanie C. Posautz, Annika Alves, Paulo C. Hackländer, Klaus Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
topic_facet |
Article |
description |
Information concerning factors regulating Alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis) populations such as host-parasite interactions is missing as only a few parasitological surveys exist of this subspecies. Parasites are not only dependent on their host but also on suitable environmental conditions for infestation. Abiotic environmental factors have an important regulating role on parasites in mammals. It is estimated that the elevation range of parasites is likely to shift in response to alternate host movement and changes in climate. Here we assess the parasitic infestation in the Alpine mountain hare by analysing the parasites in faeces and comparing the parasite infestation at different elevation ranges and at varied weather conditions for two years in the Austrian Alps. Almost half of the faecal samples were free of parasites (46.2%, n = 52). Most frequent was the infection by Coccidia (46.2%), whereas stomach intestine strongylids, Trichuris spp, and Cestoda were only found in 9.6% of all faeces. Hence, only Coccidia may be prevalent enough to regulate Alpine mountain hare populations in the Austrian Alps. Elevation had a significant positive effect on the infection of animals by Trichuris spp, whereas temperature had a significant negative effect on the infection by any parasite traceable in faeces and, when looking at the parasite groups individually, on Coccidia. |
format |
Text |
author |
Schai-Braun, Stéphanie C. Posautz, Annika Alves, Paulo C. Hackländer, Klaus |
author_facet |
Schai-Braun, Stéphanie C. Posautz, Annika Alves, Paulo C. Hackländer, Klaus |
author_sort |
Schai-Braun, Stéphanie C. |
title |
Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
title_short |
Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
title_full |
Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
title_fullStr |
Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (Lepus timidus varronis): Are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
title_sort |
gastrointestinal parasite infestation in the alpine mountain hare (lepus timidus varronis): are abiotic environmental factors such as elevation, temperature and precipitation affecting prevalence of parasite species? |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545328/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 |
genre |
Lepus timidus mountain hare |
genre_facet |
Lepus timidus mountain hare |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545328/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 |
op_rights |
© 2019 The Authors 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/). |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.009 |
container_title |
International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife |
container_volume |
9 |
container_start_page |
202 |
op_container_end_page |
208 |
_version_ |
1766063293779148800 |