Drivers of community turnover differ between avian hemoparasite genera along a North American latitudinal gradient.

ABSTRACT: The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is an established macroecological pattern, but is poorly studied in microbial organisms, particularly parasites. In this study, we tested whether latitude, elevation, and host species predicted patterns of prevalence, alpha diversity, and community turnover of hemosporidian parasites. We expected parasite diversity to decrease with latitude, alongside the diversity of their hosts and vectors. Similarly, we expected infection prevalence to decrease with latitude as vector abundances decrease. Lastly, we expected parasite community turnover to increase with latitudinal distance and to be higher between rather than within host species. We tested these hypotheses by screening blood and tissue samples of three closely related avian species in a clade of

SUBMITTER: Starkloff NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7319150 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature