Abstract
In the tropical rainforests of northern Australia, we investigated the effects of habitat fragmentation and ecological parameters on the prevalence of blood-borne parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in bird communities. Using mist-nets on forest edges and interiors, we sampled bird communities across six study sites: 3 large fragments (20–85 ha) and 3 continuous-forest sites. From 335 mist-net captures, we recorded 28 bird species and screened 299 bird samples with PCR to amplify and detect target DNA. Of the 28 bird species sampled, 19 were infected with Plasmodium and/or Haemoproteus and 9 species were without infection. Over one third of screened birds (99 individuals) were positive for Haemoproteus and/or Plasmodium. In forest fragments, bird capture rates were significantly higher than in continuous forests, but bird species richness did not differ. Unexpectedly, we found that the prevalence of the dominant haemosporidian infection, Haemoproteus, was significantly higher in continuous forest than in habitat fragments. Further, we found that ecological traits such as diet, foraging height, habitat specialisation and distributional ranges were significantly associated with blood-borne infections.
Highlights
Emerging infectious diseases are a growing global concern and could have large impacts on wildlife and human populations [1,2]
We investigated the effects of habitat fragmentation on the prevalence of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus blood parasites in rainforest birds in northeastern Australia
Our ordination analysis identified a significant gradient in the dataset (Axis 1) that explained 59.5% of the data variance, but did not reflect a fragmentation or edge effect pattern in bird community composition (PerMANOVA analysis:Table 2, P = 0.227), but was influenced by the distribution of four rainforest species: Largebilled Scrubwren (Sericornis magnirostra), Atherton Scrubwren (Sericornis keri), Bridled Honeyeater (Lichenostomus frenatus) and Pale-yellow Robin (Tregellasia capito)
Summary
Emerging infectious diseases are a growing global concern and could have large impacts on wildlife and human populations [1,2]. By definition, such diseases have recently moved to a new host, increased in prevalence or range, are newly discovered, or are recently evolved [3,4,5]. Forest edges dramatically increase in fragmented landscapes [10] These rapidly expanding edge environments juxtapose dense rainforest with open pasture or cropland and provide opportunities for vectors or hosts to move between habitats, increasing their potential disease exposure through novel species interactions [11,12]. By diminishing vertebrate-host diversity [20,21], habitat fragmentation can increase pathogen prevalence because vectors are concentrated on the remaining species and thereby increase their disease load [22]
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