Abstract
Avian blood parasites have been preliminarily studied in East Asia, but no data are available from long-term monitoring. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, genetic diversity, and temporal dynamics of Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon in two passerine communities (one forest and one urban) in north China from 2008 to 2013, as well as the association between infected lineages and host specificities. Out of 633 birds from 40 species, 157 individuals (24.8 %) were infected; overall prevalence was 26.7 % and 16.8 % in two sites, respectively. The dominant avian blood parasite genus in the forest park changed yearly between Plasmodium and Haemoproteus, while the Leucocytozoon maintained a low infection level. Forty-four haplotypes were identified by sequencing a 432-bp fragment of the cytochrome b (cyt b) gene; more than 70 % were novel (six Plasmodium lineages, 16 Haemoproteus lineages, and nine Leucocytozoon lineages). Based on our data gathered over consecutive years, we found that the highly observed lineages of Haemoproteus showed higher host diversities than those of Plasmodium, and the most infected lineage EMEL01 (100 % identity with SGS1) take on the highest host diversity but low temporal diversity of the two genera, implying that this lineage infected a great diversity of species in certain years, but maintained a lower infection level or even disappeared in other years. The results suggest that genetic diversity of avian blood parasites in East Asia is high and provides scope for further research. In addition, compared with overall analysis, yearly prevalence monitoring is important in uncovering the temporal dynamic and host specificity variations over time.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00436-015-4695-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Understanding the prevalence and evolutionary pattern of parasites is of fundamental importance in basic research on both wildlife epidemic diseases and host–parasite co-evolution
Most long-term studies have so far aimed at revealing genetic diversity and infection features of samples collected in different years of one or a few host species, and limited data are available on temporal dynamics or lineagebased phylogenies
We established the temporal dynamic of avian blood parasites in wild birds in north China across 6 years
Summary
Understanding the prevalence and evolutionary pattern of parasites is of fundamental importance in basic research on both wildlife epidemic diseases and host–parasite co-evolution. Research on genetic diversity and infection patterns of avian blood parasites is of great importance when predicting wildlife diseases; it has gained considerable attention in recent decades (Riper et al 1986; Scheuerlein and Ricklefs 2004; Valkiūnas 2004; Woodworth et al 2005). Long-term research on blood parasites in wild birds, which was mainly conducted in Europe, America, and Oceania, was helpful in detecting the key traits and variations in pathogens (Imura et al 2012). Research on the temporal dynamic of avian blood parasites in Parasitol Res (2015) 114:4513–4520 the wild bird community can help to understand local changes and how lineages affect each other in the natural environment (Synek et al 2013). A non-parallel annual variation in prevalence of two Plasmodium parasites, Plasmodium relictum and Plasmodium circumflexum, was reported in a population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) (Knowles et al 2011)
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