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Understanding Parasite Ecology at Multiple Scales: Patterns and Drivers from Two Host-Parasite Systems
This work is a broad integration of ecology and parasitology that aims to describe parasite distributions and their biotic and abiotic drivers in two distinct host-parasite systems using a variety of methods. Parasites are an important and often overlooked component of biodiversity with effects from the individual to the community level. In the first study system, amphibians and their macroparasites offer an informative host-parasite system from an ecological perspective, because amphibians can function as both predators and prey in food webs and occupy a variety of microhabitats. In Chapters 2 and 3, I describe patterns of parasitism in amphibians and biotic and abiotic correlates associated with these patterns. Chapter 2 focuses on data from a field study of trematode infections in Woodhouse’s toads (Anaxyrus woodhousii) in eastern Colorado agricultural wetlands. Chapter 3 covers a meta-analysis of 70 years of data on parasite infections in amphibians from all over the world. In the second study system, I examine parasite infections in the context of wild canine conservation and the urban-wildland interface. In Chapter 4, I test new molecular methods for gastronintestinal parasite detection in Mexican wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) and coyotes (Canis latrans) from New Mexico and Arizona and in coyotes, foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) from Boulder, Colorado. I conclude that given the complexity of parasite life cycles and the relative lack of data on their ecology, a variety of methods are necessary to effectively study this underappreciated component of biodiversity
Community richness of amphibian skin bacteria correlates with bioclimate at the global scale
Animal-associated microbiomes are integral to host health, yet key biotic and abiotic factors that shape host-associated microbial communities at the global scale remain poorly understood. We investigated global patterns in amphibian skin bacterial communities, incorporating samples from 2,349 individuals representing 205 amphibian species across a broad biogeographic range. We analysed how biotic and abiotic factors correlate with skin microbial communities using multiple statistical approaches. Global amphibian skin bacterial richness was consistently correlated with temperature-associated factors. We found more diverse skin microbiomes in environments with colder winters and less stable thermal conditions compared with environments with warm winters and less annual temperature variation. We used bioinformatically predicted bacterial growth rates, dormancy genes and antibiotic synthesis genes, as well as inferred bacterial thermal growth optima to propose mechanistic hypotheses that may explain the observed patterns. We conclude that temporal and spatial characteristics of the host’s macro-environment mediate microbial diversity.National Science Foundation/[DEB-1146284]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[IOS-1121758]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DEB-1310036]/NSF/Estados UnidosJohn Templeton Foundation/[]/JTF/Estados UnidosDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/[]/DFG/AlemaniaDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/[VE247/9-1]/DFG/AlemaniaCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/[]/CAPES/BrasilFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo/[#2013/50741-7]/FAPESP/BrasilConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/[]/CNPq/BrasilSimons Foundation/[429440, WTW]//Estados UnidosDeutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst/[]/DAAD/AlemaniaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[801-B2-029]/UCR/Costa RicaMinisterio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones/[849-PINN-2015]/MICITT/Costa RicaNational Research Foundation of Korea/[2015R1D1A1A01057282]/NRF/Corea del SurUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Biología Celular y Molecular (CIBCM)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas (CIEMIC