Association of insularity and body condition to cloacal bacteria prevalence in a small shorebird.

ABSTRACT: Do islands harbour less diverse disease communities than mainland? The island biogeography theory predicts more diverse communities on mainland than on islands due to more niches, more diverse habitats and availability of greater range of hosts. We compared bacteria prevalences of Campylobacter, Chlamydia and Salmonella in cloacal samples of a small shorebird, the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) between two island populations of Macaronesia and two mainland locations in the Iberian Peninsula. Bacteria were found in all populations but, contrary to the expectations, prevalences did not differ between islands and mainland. Females had higher prevalences than males for Salmonella and when three bacteria genera were pooled together. Bacteria infection was unrelated to bird's body cond

SUBMITTER: Valdebenito JO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7430747 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature