Elevational Patterns of Blowfly Parasitism in Two Hole Nesting Avian Species
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Moreno Rueda, GregorioEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Elevational patterns Protocalliphora azurea Parus major Periparus ater Mediterranean environments
Fecha
2021Referencia bibliográfica
Moreno‐Rueda, G. Elevational Patterns of Blowfly Parasitism in Two Hole Nesting Avian Species. Diversity 2021, 13, 591. https://doi.org/10.3390/ d13110591
Patrocinador
Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Plan Nacional projects CGL2014‐55969‐P and CGL2017‐84938‐P); FEDER (European Un‐ ion)Resumen
Climate change is predicted to cause shifts in parasite distributions, leading to encounters
with new hosts. Mountains offer a natural experimental background to study how parasite distri‐
butions vary across climatic gradients. Parasite abundance is generally assumed to decrease with
ascending elevation, as colder climates may preclude several parasites to complete their life cycles.
The present study analyses the elevational variation in the prevalence and intensity of the blowfly
Protocalliphora azurea found in the nests of two hosts—the coal tit (Periparus ater) and great tit (Parus
major)—in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain). Protocalliphora azurea adults are free‐living flies, while their
larvae are nest‐dwelling parasites that feed on nestling blood. In contrast to initial predictions, P.
azurea larvae were less prevalent at lower elevations. In Mediterranean environments, the colder
and damper climate of medium and high elevations might favour this parasite. Alternatively,
greater anthropogenic perturbation in lowland environments may have a negative impact on the
parasite. The findings also show that the two host species had similar parasite loads. As coal tits are
half the size of great tits, this suggests that the coal tits were more severely parasitised. In conclusion,
the generalised assumption that parasite abundance decreases with elevation does not hold true for
the present case and elevational parasite patterns probably depend on specific host–parasite sys‐
tems and climatic conditions in the mountains.