Abstract
Understanding the role of species traits in mediating ecological interactions and shaping community structure is a key question in ecology. In this sense, parasite population parameters allow us to estimate the functional importance of traits in shaping the strength of interactions among hosts and parasites in a network. The aim of this study was to survey and analyse the small mammal-helminth network in a forest reserve of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in order to understand (i) how functional traits (type of parasite life cycle, site of infection in their host, host and parasite body length, host diet, host locomotor habit and host activity period) and abundance influence host–parasite interactions, (ii) whether these traits explain species roles, and (iii) if this relationship is consistent across different parasite population parameters (presence and absence, mean abundance and prevalence). Networks were modular and their structural patterns did not vary among the population parameters. Functional traits and abundance shaped the interactions observed between parasites and hosts. Host species abundance, host diet and locomotor habit affected their centrality and/or vulnerability to parasites. For helminths, infection niche was the main trait determining their central roles in the networks.
Highlights
The mechanisms associated with the evolution of parasite’s host ranges, i.e. the number of host species in which a parasite occurs, can be understood by the concept of encounter and compatibility filters (Combes, 2001)
The aim of this study was to investigate whether abundance, functional traits or taxonomic distance can explain the role of species in the interaction network of small mammals and helminths at Serra dos Órgãos National Park (PARNASO), southeastern Brazil
The degree centrality was the highest for the marsupial D. aurita (12) and the rodent Akodon montensis Thomas, 1913 (6), indicating that these two host species interacted with a higher number of helminth species in the host–parasite network (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Table S4)
Summary
The mechanisms associated with the evolution of parasite’s host ranges, i.e. the number of host species in which a parasite occurs, can be understood by the concept of encounter (related to biodiversity and behaviour) and compatibility (related to resource and defence traits) filters (Combes, 2001). These filters are based on the niche theory and mediate host–parasite interactions, as certain host attributes would increase their chance of acquiring parasite infections, and parasite traits would influence their degree of specialization on hosts (Combes, 2001). It is still a challenge to understand how the functional traits of host and parasite species are related to their structural role in host–parasite networks
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