Compositional turnover in ecto- and endoparasite assemblages of an African bat, Miniopterus natalensis (Chiroptera, Miniopteridae): effects of hierarchical scale and host sex.

ABSTRACT: We studied the compositional turnover in infracommunities and component communities of ecto- and endoparasites infesting a bat, Miniopterus natalensis (Chiroptera, Miniopteridae), across seven sampling sites using the zeta diversity metric (measuring similarity between multiple communities) and calculating zeta decline and retention rate (both scales) and zeta decay (component communities). We asked whether the patterns of zeta diversity differ between (a) infracommunities and component communities; (b) ecto- and endoparasites and (c) subsets of communities infecting male and female bats. The pattern of compositional turnover differed between infracommunities and component communities in endoparasites only. The shape of zeta decline for infracommunities indicated that there were approximat

SUBMITTER: Krasnov BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10317742 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature