High prevalence and genetic diversity of Haemoproteus columbae (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae) in feral pigeons Columba livia in Cape Town, South Africa

Carina Nebel,Herbert Weissenböck,Petra Sumasgutner,Adrien Pajot,Arjun Amar,Josef Harl

doi:10.1007/s00436-019-06558-6

Abstract

In this study, we explore blood parasite prevalence, infection intensity, and co-infection levels in an urban population of feral pigeons Columba livia in Cape Town. We analyze the effect of blood parasites on host body condition and the association between melanin expression in the host’s plumage and parasite infection intensity and co-infection levels. Relating to the haemosporidian parasite itself, we study their genetic diversity by means of DNA barcoding (cytochrome b) and show the geographic and host distribution of related parasite lineages in pigeons worldwide. Blood from 195 C. livia individuals was collected from April to June 2018. Morphometric measurements and plumage melanism were recorded from every captured bird. Haemosporidian prevalence and infection intensity were determined by screening blood smears and parasite lineages by DNA sequencing. Prevalence of Haemoproteus spp. was high at 96.9%. The body condition of the hosts was negatively associated with infection intensity. However, infection intensity was unrelated to plumage melanism. The cytochrome b sequences revealed the presence of four Haemoproteus lineages in our population of pigeons, which show high levels of co-occurrence within individual birds. Three lineages (HAECOL1, COLIV03, COQUI05) belong to Haemoproteus columbae and differ only by 0.1% to 0.8% in the cytochrome b gene. Another lineage (COLIV06) differs by 8.3% from the latter ones and is not linked to a morphospecies, yet. No parasites of the genera Leucocytozoon and Plasmodium were detected.

Highlights

Wild feral pigeon populations of Columba livia f. domestica Gmelin, 1789 are typical inhabitants of urban landscapes, where they are associated with humans due to the availability of suitable nesting sites and anthropogenic food
We explored whether individual body condition was associated with blood parasite parameters using linear models (LMs), and whether blood parasite parameters were associated with plumage phenotype using LM and a multinomial logistic regression
In the first set of the main analysis, we explored the effect of infection intensity and co-infection on individual condition and we fitted a linear model with body mass as the response variable and infection intensity (%) or co-infection of Haemoproteus spp. lineages as explanatory variables

Summary

Introduction

Wild feral pigeon populations of Columba livia f. domestica Gmelin, 1789 are typical inhabitants of urban landscapes, where they are associated with humans due to the availability of suitable nesting sites and anthropogenic food. Domestica Gmelin, 1789 are typical inhabitants of urban landscapes, where they are associated with humans due to the availability of suitable nesting sites and anthropogenic food. Wild feral pigeon populations of Columba livia f. These factors have enabled feral pigeons and many of its parasites to colonize cities across the globe (Johnston and Janiga 1995). The undomesticated relative is the rock pigeon Columba livia, whose native range is restricted to Western and Southern Europe. Feral pigeons have successfully expanded their range and established wild populations worldwide, mainly in urban environments. Cape Town is a hotspot of biodiversity (Myers et al 2000) and of special interest

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