Haemosporidian infections in skylarks ( Alauda arvensis ):A comparative PCR-based and microscopy study on the parasite diversity and prevalence in southern Italy and the Netherlands

Changes in agricultural management have been identified as the most probable cause for the decline of Skylark (Alauda arvensis) populations in Europe. However, parasitic infections have not been considered as a possible factor influencing this process. Four hundred and thirty-four Skylarks from the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European Journal of Wildlife Research
Main Authors: Zehtindjiev, Pavel, Krizanauskiene, Asta, Scebba, Sergio, Dimitrov, Dimitar, Valkiunas, Gediminas, Hegemann, Arne, Tieleman, B. Irene, Bensch, Staffan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2012
Subjects:
Avian malaria
Haemoproteus
Plasmodium
Microscopy
PCR
Mitochondrial DNA
AVIAN BLOOD PARASITES
MALARIA PARASITES
HAEMOPROTEUS INFECTIONS
HOST-SPECIFICITY
MIXED INFECTIONS
BIRDS
HEMATOZOA
POPULATION
SONGBIRD
Alauda arvensis
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/da6a12f9-f099-45b7-89ce-60e2aa276329
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/da6a12f9-f099-45b7-89ce-60e2aa276329
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-011-0586-y
Description
Summary:Changes in agricultural management have been identified as the most probable cause for the decline of Skylark (Alauda arvensis) populations in Europe. However, parasitic infections have not been considered as a possible factor influencing this process. Four hundred and thirty-four Skylarks from the Southern Italy and the Netherlands were screened for haemosporidian parasites (Haemosporida) using the microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods. The overall prevalence of infection was 19.5%; it was 41.8% in Italian birds and 8.3% in Dutch birds. The prevalence of Plasmodium spp. was 34.1% and 6.5% in Skylarks from Italy and Netherlands, respectively. Approximately 15% of all recorded haemosporidian infections were simultaneous infections both in Italian and Dutch populations. Six different mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) lineages of Plasmodium spp. and three lineages of Haemoproteus tartakovskyi were found. The lineage SGS1 of Plasmodium relictum was the most prevalent at both study sites; it was recorded in 24.7% of birds in Italy and 5.5% in the Netherlands. The lineages SYAT05 of Plasmodium vaughani and GRW11 of P. relictum were also identified with a prevalence of

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