Habitat fragmentation and vegetation structure impact gastrointestinal parasites of small mammalian hosts in Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: Deleterious effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on biodiversity have been demonstrated in numerous taxa. Although parasites represent a large part of worldwide biodiversity, they are mostly neglected in this context. We investigated the effects of various anthropogenic environmental changes on gastrointestinal parasite infections in four small mammal hosts inhabiting two landscapes of fragmented dry forest in northwestern Madagascar. Coproscopical examinations were performed on 1,418 fecal samples from 903 individuals of two mouse lemur species, Microcebus murinus (n = 199) and M. ravelobensis (n = 421), and two rodent species, the native Eliurus myoxinus (n = 102) and the invasive Rattus rattus (n = 181). Overall, sixteen paras

SUBMITTER: Kiene F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8207415 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature