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The distribution of echinostome parasites in ponds and implications for larval anuran survival

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2017

JOHN A. MARINO JR. ,
MANJA P. HOLLAND  and
EARL E. WERNER
JOHN A. MARINO JR.*
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2019 Kraus Natural Sciences Building, 830 North University Ave., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
MANJA P. HOLLAND
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2019 Kraus Natural Sciences Building, 830 North University Ave., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
EARL E. WERNER
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 2019 Kraus Natural Sciences Building, 830 North University Ave., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Biology, Bradley University, 06 Olin Hall, 1501 W. Bradley Ave., Peoria, IL 61625, USA. E-mail: jmarino@fsmail.bradley.edu
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Summary

Parasites can influence host population dynamics, community composition and evolution. Prediction of these effects, however, requires an understanding of the influence of ecological context on parasite distributions and the consequences of infection for host fitness. We address these issues with an amphibian – trematode (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) host–parasite system. We initially performed a field survey of trematode infection in first (snail) and second (larval green frog, Rana clamitans) intermediate hosts over 5 years across a landscape of 23 ponds in southeastern Michigan. We then combined this study with a tadpole enclosure experiment in eight ponds. We found echinostomes in all ponds during the survey, although infection levels in both snails and amphibians differed across ponds and years. Echinostome prevalence (proportion of hosts infected) in snails also changed seasonally depending on host species, and abundance (parasites per host) in tadpoles depended on host size and prevalence in snails. The enclosure experiment demonstrated that infection varied at sites within ponds, and tadpole survival was lower in enclosures with higher echinostome abundance. The observed effects enhance our ability to predict when and where host–parasite interactions will occur and the potential fitness consequences of infection, with implications for population and community dynamics, evolution and conservation.

Keywords

Host–parasite interactionsmortalityseasonalityEchinostomatidaeRana clamitans
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 144 , Issue 6 , May 2017 , pp. 801 - 811
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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