Abstract
In the present study, we investigate the effect extrinsic (habitat and season) and intrinsic (host’s age and sex) factors on the richness, diversity, and structure of parasite component communities and aggregation patterns in the helminth fauna of the great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo from northeastern Poland. The helminth fauna of cormorants from the brackish water habitat was far richer (30 species) than in those from freshwater lakes (18 species) and strongly depend on season and age of the host. The values of diversity index strongly varied in relation to habitat and host age with clear seasonal differences in the value of diversity index, i.e., its value increased over time in adults from the brackish water habitat and decreased in those from the freshwater lakes. The number of helminths in adult and immature birds varied, depending on the season and habitat: in the brackish water habitat, the overall percentage of helminths was higher in spring than in summer, while in the freshwater habitat a higher proportion of helminths was recorded in summer. During spring, in the brackish water habitat, we observed a higher level of aggregation (for all groups of helminths) than in autumn. The opposite pattern was found in the freshwater habitat. However, this regularity was typical of adult birds only. In immature hosts, the level of aggregation was not predictable and varied among the higher taxa. Our study clearly showed that processes determinate diversity, structure, richness, and patterns of aggregation in helminth assemblages of avian hosts are multi-origin and highly complex.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00436-013-3714-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Parasitic assemblages are highly structured groups, composed of many species and shaped by an array of ecological and evolutionary factors
Most of the collected helminth species were detected in the intestine, except five species found in the proventriculus and gizzard (A. simplex, C. rudolphii, C. obvelatus, S. squamata, and E. excisus), one each in the gall bladder (M. xanthosomus ), trachea (C. microspiculum), and air sacks (D. incognita)
The helminth fauna of Ph. carbo from northeastern Poland is rich in species and individuals which is characteristic of parasite assemblages of most water and wetland birds (Bush and Holmes 1986; Stock and Holmes 1987; Edwards and Bush 1989)
Summary
Parasitic assemblages are highly structured groups, composed of many species and shaped by an array of ecological and evolutionary factors. A number of papers described the effects of several extrinsic (geographical distribution of host species, quality and diversity of habitat, season, etc.) and intrinsic (host’s age and sex, migrations, etc.) factors on the formation and functioning of helminth assemblages. They primarily focused on the analysis of temporal and spatial variability of helminth communities of available hosts: fishes (e.g., Seifertová et al 2008; Timi et al 2010; Pérez-del-Olmo et al 2011) and small mammals (e.g., Goüy de Bellocq et al 2003; Behnke et al 2008a, b). Most of the studies dealing with the variation of structure, richness, and diversity of helminth assemblages in avian hosts overlooked key interactions between the various
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