The influence of life history characteristics on flea (Siphonaptera) species distribution models.

Luther Van Der Mescht,Peter C Le Roux,Sonja Matthee,Morgan J Raath,Conrad A Matthee

doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1466-9

Luther Van Der Mescht, Peter C Le Roux + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-016-1466-9

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Abstract

BackgroundEctoparasites exhibit pronounced variation in life history characteristics such as time spent on the host and host range. Since contemporary species distribution (SD) modelling does not account for differences in life history, the accuracy of predictions of current and future species’ ranges could differ significantly between life history groups.ResultsSD model performance was compared between 21 flea species that differ in microhabitat preferences and level of host specificity. Distribution models generally performed well, with no significant differences in model performance based on either microhabitat preferences or host specificity. However, the relative importance of predictor variables was significantly related to host specificity, with the distribution of host-opportunistic fleas strongly limited by thermal conditions and host-specific fleas more associated with conditions that restrict their hosts’ distribution. The importance of temperature was even more pronounced when considering microhabitat preference, with the distribution of fur fleas being strongly limited by thermal conditions and nest fleas more associated with variables that affect microclimatic conditions in the host nest.ConclusionsContemporary SD modelling, that includes climate and landscape variables, is a valuable tool to study the biogeography and future distributions of fleas and other parasites taxa. However, consideration of life history characteristics is cautioned as species may be differentially sensitive to environmental conditions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1466-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Ectoparasites exhibit pronounced variation in life history characteristics such as time spent on the host and host range
A total of 21 flea species from small mammals were selected with known microhabitat preference, host specificity, and sufficient occurrence records (Table 1)
Model performance was highly variable between flea species (AUC from 0.545 to 0.978; true skill statistic (TSS) from 0.067 to 0.804; Table 1), but was good to excellent on average

Summary

Introduction

Ectoparasites exhibit pronounced variation in life history characteristics such as time spent on the host and host range. Ectoparasites exhibit pronounced variation in life history strategies with parasite-host associations ranging from one-to-one symbiosis (host-specific) to multi-partner symbiosis (host generalist). The increasing threat posed by emerging infectious diseases [5, 6] coupled with an increase in the availability of species occurrence records, has stimulated renewed interest in predicting the current and future distributions of arthropod vectors. In the latter study the authors used standard climatic variables (temperature, relative humidity and precipitation) in a GARP modelling approach to estimate the regional distribution of 18 flea species that act as vectors of Yersinia pestis, the bacterial agent of plague in California, USA. Given the recent reemergence of certain flea-borne diseases [6] any improvements in our understanding of changes in flea vector distributions is valuable for the field of epidemiology

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