@misc{10481/56617,
year = {2018},
month = {2},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/56617},
abstract = {Studying the causes of parasite geographic distribution is relevant to understand ecological and
evolutionary processes that affect host populations as well as for species conservation.
Temperature is one of the most important environmental variables affecting parasite distribution,
as raising temperatures positively affect development, reproduction, and rate of transmission of
both endo- and ectoparasites. In this context, it is generally accepted that, in mountains, parasite
abundance decreases with elevation. However, empirical evidence on this topic is limited. In the
present study, we analyzed the elevational variation of hemoparasites and ectoparasites of a lizard,
Psammodromus algirus, along a 2,200-m elevational gradient in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain). As predicted,
ectoparasite (mites, ticks, mosquitoes, and sandflies) abundance decreased with elevation.
However, hemoparasite prevalence and intensity in the lizard augmented with altitude, showing a
pattern contrary to their vectors (mites). We suggest that tolerance to hemoparasites may increase
with elevation as a consequence of lizards at high altitudes taking advantage of increased body
condition and food availability, and reduced oxidative stress. Moreover, lizards could have been selected
for higher resistance against hemoparasites at lowlands (where higher rates of replication
are expected), thus reducing hemoparasite prevalence and load. Our findings imply that, in a scenario
of climate warming, populations of lizards at high elevation may face increased abundance of
ectoparasites, accompanied with strong negative effects.},
organization = {This work was funded by the European Union the Spanish government
(Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Ministerio de Economía y Ciencia
(FEDER-MINECO), projects CGL2009-13185, CGL2014-55969-P,
CGL2015-65055-P, and CGL2015-67789. F.J.Z.-C (AP2009-3505) and S.R.
(AP2009-1325)},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
keywords = {Elevation},
keywords = {Immune system},
keywords = {Parasite distribution},
keywords = {Psammodromus algirus},
keywords = {Reptile},
title = {Opposed elevational variation in prevalence and intensity of endoparasites and their vectors in a lizard},
doi = {10.1093/cz/zoy002},
author = {Álvarez-Ruiz, Lola and Megía-Palma, Rodrigo and Reguera, Senda and Ruiz, Santiago and Zamora Camacho, Francisco Javier and Figuerola, Jordi and Moreno Rueda, Gregorio},
}