Neglected parasite reservoirs in wetlands: Prevalence and diversity of avian haemosporidians in waterbird communities in Northeast China.

ABSTRACT: The diversity of waterbirds is threatened, and haemosporidian parasite infection is considered one of the most important causative factors. However, to date, only a few studies focusing on specific parasite species have been carried out, which cannot reflect the general patterns at the community level. To test whether the reported haemosporidian diversity in waterbirds is underestimated, we estimated the prevalence and lineage diversity of avian haemosporidian parasites in 353 waterbirds from 26 species in the Tumuji National Nature Reserve, Northeast China, as well as the host-parasite associations. According to the molecular analysis of cytochrome b (cyt b) barcode sequences, 28.3% of the birds were infected by 49 distinct parasite lineages, including 11 Plasmodium,

SUBMITTER: Yang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8182418 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature