Abstract
Biological interactions play an important role in regulating and maintaining natural populations. Like most interactions, parasitism may be influenced by environmental conditions. Therefore, changes caused by human activity may drastically affect the equilibrium of the assemblages of parasitized organisms (hosts). Herein, we described the composition of hemoparasites of anurans from two distinct environments: forest and oil palm plantations. We identified the most frequent groups of blood parasites, and whether infections differ between habitats (forest and plantation) and between microhabitats (arboreal or terrestrial). We collected 128 anurans, of which 46 (36%) were parasitized by hemoparasites. The genus Trypanosoma spp. was found in 30% (n = 37/128) of the infected anurans in both habitats, recorded mostly in terrestrial anurans in oil palm plantations. Apicomplexa hemoprotozoans were also found in 13% (n=17/128) of the anurans, which mainly were terrestrial species collected in oil palm plantations. There was no difference in parasitism between the two assemblies and between the studied microhabitats. This is the first study that has analyzed the ecological relationship between anurans as hosts and their blood parasites, in a region under intense anthropic pressure, in the Brazilian Amazon.
Highlights
Biological interactions play a key role in the dynamics of natural populations
Parasitism can be influenced by environmental conditions (Ferreira 1973, Von Zuben 1997), which affects the development of both infection and disease (Ferreira et al 2012)
We found 36% (n = 46/128) of the individuals with hemoparasites (Table I), 28% (n = 18/65) of which were found in forest fragments and 44% (n = 28/63) in oil palm plantations
Summary
Biological interactions play a key role in the dynamics of natural populations. Like most interactions, parasitism can be influenced by environmental conditions (Ferreira 1973, Von Zuben 1997), which affects the development of both infection and disease (Ferreira et al 2012). Environmental changes on habitats may increase parasitism (Hudson et al 2006, Froeschke et al 2013, Cable et al 2017), with adverse effects on the hosts Such effects can include consequences on the ability to prey and reproduce, and obtain resources to survive (Von Zuben 1997, Moretti et al 2017). For this reason, parasites play an important role in natural ecosystems (Hudson et al 2006), affecting the life of their hosts at different levels, from the individual to the population, and influencing natural selection (Marcogliese et al 2009, Thompson et al 2010, Goater et al 2013)
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