TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of seasonality and microclimate on the variation in bat-fly load (Diptera: Streblidae) in a cave bat assemblage in a dry forest
AU - Tlapaya-Romero, Liliana
AU - Santos-Moreno, Antonio
AU - Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2021.
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - Seasonality causes fluctuations in the availability of resources, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. These fluctuations can have an impact on parasite-host relationships, which in turn can be exacerbated by microclimatic changes to which bat-flies are exposed. We characterized the bat-fly load and evaluated the effect of seasonality on five bat species in a dry forest. We evaluated variations in microclimatic conditions inside the cave Cerro Huatulco between seasons and the response of the bat-fly load. We collected 1165 bat-fly specimens belonging to 16 species from 688 bats. The obtained results indicate that the mean abundance and infestation intensity exhibited changes between seasons in Artibeus jamaicensis, Desmodus rotundus, Glossophaga soricina, and Pteronotus parnellii. In the case of the effect of microclimate conditions, we observed that prevalence is negatively correlated with temperature in G. soricina, while mean abundance and mean infestation intensity were negatively related to temperature in A. jamaicensis and G. soricina. The present study provides significant information about host-parasite relationships in a dry forest and discusses the relevance of abiotic and biotic factors that could affect host-parasite interactions, as well as the importance of each parasite load parameter for the understanding of this interaction.
AB - Seasonality causes fluctuations in the availability of resources, affecting the presence and abundance of animal species. These fluctuations can have an impact on parasite-host relationships, which in turn can be exacerbated by microclimatic changes to which bat-flies are exposed. We characterized the bat-fly load and evaluated the effect of seasonality on five bat species in a dry forest. We evaluated variations in microclimatic conditions inside the cave Cerro Huatulco between seasons and the response of the bat-fly load. We collected 1165 bat-fly specimens belonging to 16 species from 688 bats. The obtained results indicate that the mean abundance and infestation intensity exhibited changes between seasons in Artibeus jamaicensis, Desmodus rotundus, Glossophaga soricina, and Pteronotus parnellii. In the case of the effect of microclimate conditions, we observed that prevalence is negatively correlated with temperature in G. soricina, while mean abundance and mean infestation intensity were negatively related to temperature in A. jamaicensis and G. soricina. The present study provides significant information about host-parasite relationships in a dry forest and discusses the relevance of abiotic and biotic factors that could affect host-parasite interactions, as well as the importance of each parasite load parameter for the understanding of this interaction.
KW - mean abundance
KW - mean infestation intensity
KW - parasitism
KW - prevalence
KW - roost
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101201890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/mammalia-2020-0115
DO - 10.1515/mammalia-2020-0115
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85101201890
SN - 0025-1461
VL - 85
SP - 345
EP - 354
JO - Mammalia
JF - Mammalia
IS - 4
ER -