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Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities

The dilution effect describes the negative association between host biodiversity and the risk of infectious disease. Tests designed to understand the relative roles of host species richness, host species identity, and rates of exposure within experimental host communities would help resolve ongoing...

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Autores principales: Ahn, Sangwook, Goater, Cameron P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8328402/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34367566
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7823
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author Ahn, Sangwook
Goater, Cameron P.
author_facet Ahn, Sangwook
Goater, Cameron P.
author_sort Ahn, Sangwook
collection PubMed
description The dilution effect describes the negative association between host biodiversity and the risk of infectious disease. Tests designed to understand the relative roles of host species richness, host species identity, and rates of exposure within experimental host communities would help resolve ongoing contention regarding the importance and generality of dilution effects. We exposed fathead minnows to infective larvae of the trematode, Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus in minnow‐only containers and in mixed containers that held 1–3 other species of fish. Parasite infection was estimated as the number of encysted worms (i.e., brainworms) present in minnows following exposure. The results of exposure trials showed that nonminnow fish species were incompatible with O. ptychocheilus larvae. There was no reduction in mean brainworm counts in minnows in mixed containers with brook sticklebacks or longnose dace. In contrast, brainworm counts in minnows declined by 51% and 27% in mesocosms and aquaria, respectively, when they co‐occurred with emerald shiners. Dilution within minnow + shiner containers may arise from shiner‐induced alterations in minnow or parasite behaviors that reduced encounter rates between minnows and parasite larvae. Alternatively, shiners may act as parasite sinks for parasite larvae. These results highlight the role of host species identity in the dilution effect. Our results also emphasize the complex and idiosyncratic effects of host community composition on rates of parasite infection within contemporary host communities that contain combinations of introduced and native species.
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spelling pubmed-83284022021-08-06 Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities Ahn, Sangwook Goater, Cameron P. Ecol Evol Original Research The dilution effect describes the negative association between host biodiversity and the risk of infectious disease. Tests designed to understand the relative roles of host species richness, host species identity, and rates of exposure within experimental host communities would help resolve ongoing contention regarding the importance and generality of dilution effects. We exposed fathead minnows to infective larvae of the trematode, Ornithodiplostomum ptychocheilus in minnow‐only containers and in mixed containers that held 1–3 other species of fish. Parasite infection was estimated as the number of encysted worms (i.e., brainworms) present in minnows following exposure. The results of exposure trials showed that nonminnow fish species were incompatible with O. ptychocheilus larvae. There was no reduction in mean brainworm counts in minnows in mixed containers with brook sticklebacks or longnose dace. In contrast, brainworm counts in minnows declined by 51% and 27% in mesocosms and aquaria, respectively, when they co‐occurred with emerald shiners. Dilution within minnow + shiner containers may arise from shiner‐induced alterations in minnow or parasite behaviors that reduced encounter rates between minnows and parasite larvae. Alternatively, shiners may act as parasite sinks for parasite larvae. These results highlight the role of host species identity in the dilution effect. Our results also emphasize the complex and idiosyncratic effects of host community composition on rates of parasite infection within contemporary host communities that contain combinations of introduced and native species. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-06-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8328402/ /pubmed/34367566 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7823 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Ahn, Sangwook
Goater, Cameron P.
Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title_full Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title_fullStr Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title_full_unstemmed Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title_short Nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
title_sort nonhost species reduce parasite infection in a focal host species within experimental fish communities
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8328402/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34367566
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7823
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