Stability in abundance and niche breadth of gamasid mites across environmental conditions, parasite identity and host pools |
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Authors: | Natalia P Korallo-Vinarskaya Boris R Krasnov Maxim V Vinarski Georgy I Shenbrot David Mouillot Robert Poulin |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Arthropod-Borne Viral Infections, Omsk Research Institute of Natural Foci Infections, Mira str. 7, 644080 Omsk, Russia;(2) Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84490 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel;(3) Ramon Science Center, P.O. Box 194, 80600 Mizpe Ramon, Israel;(4) Department of Ecology and Environment Conservation, Omsk State Pedagogical University, Tukhachevskogo emb. 14, 644099 Omsk, Russia;(5) UMR CNRS-UMII 5119 Ecosystemes Lagunaires, University of Montpellier II, CC093, 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France;(6) Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand; |
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Abstract: | There is substantial variability among populations of the same species in basic features such as abundance or niche breadth,
and it is unclear to what extent these are true species traits as opposed to the product of local environmental factors. In
parasites, abundance and niche breadth, i.e. host specificity, show repeatability among different populations of the same
species, but may also be influenced by external forces, depending on the parasite taxa studied. We tested whether the abundance
and host specificity of gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals from 26 different geographic regions of the Palaearctic,
are species-specific or instead determined by host identity and/or parameters of the biotic and abiotic environment. Values
of abundance and host specificity (measured as the number of host species used) were significantly more similar among populations
of the same mite species than among different mite species; despite also showing consistency within particular host species
or regions independently of mite species identity, both abundance and the number of host species used appear to be true mite
species traits. In contrast, the taxonomic distinctness of host species used by a mite showed little repeatability among populations
of the same mite species, and appears mostly determined by the local pool of available host species. Within given mite species,
all three variables (abundance, number of host species used, and their taxonomic distinctness) covaried to some extent with
one or more environmental factors (e.g., nature of the local host assemblage, temperature, precipitation) across geographical
regions, but there was no universal pattern among results from different mite species. These results are similar to those
obtained earlier on other taxa, e.g. fleas, and suggest that there are general laws acting on spatial patterns of parasite
abundance and host specificity. |
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Keywords: | Abundance Environment Gamasid mites Host specificity Small mammals Repeatability |
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