Habitat modification and seasonality influence avian haemosporidian parasite distributions in southeastern Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Habitat modification may change vertebrate and vector-borne disease distributions. However, natural forest regeneration through secondary succession may mitigate these effects. Here we tested the hypothesis that secondary succession influences the distribution of birds and their haemosporidian parasites (genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in a seasonally dry tropical forest, a globally threatened ecosystem, in Brazil. Moreover, we assessed seasonal fluctuations in parasite prevalence and distribution. We sampled birds in four different successional stages at the peak and end of the rainy season, as well as in the middle and at the end of the dry season. A non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis revealed that bird communities in the pasture (i.e., highly modified) areas were different

SUBMITTER: Ferreira Junior FC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5456369 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature