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Landscape influence on spatial patterns of meningeal worm and liver fluke infection in white-tailed deer

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2014

KIMBERLY L. VANDERWAAL ,
STEVE K. WINDELS ,
BRYCE T. OLSON ,
J. TREVOR VANNATTA  and
RON MOEN
KIMBERLY L. VANDERWAAL*
Affiliation:
Conservation Department, Minnesota Zoo, 13000 Zoo Blvd., Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124, USA Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, Duluth. 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
STEVE K. WINDELS
Affiliation:
Voyageurs National Park, 360 Hwy 11. E, International Falls, Minnesota 56649, USA
BRYCE T. OLSON
Affiliation:
Voyageurs National Park, 360 Hwy 11. E, International Falls, Minnesota 56649, USA
J. TREVOR VANNATTA
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, Duluth. 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
RON MOEN
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota, Duluth. 5013 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, Minnesota 55811, USA
*
* Corresponding author. Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1365 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA. E-mail: kvw@umn.edu
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Summary

Parasites that primarily infect white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), such as liver flukes (Fascioloides magna) and meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis), can cause morbidity and mortality when incidentally infecting moose (Alces alces). Ecological factors are expected to influence spatial variation in infection risk by affecting the survival of free-living life stages outside the host and the abundance of intermediate gastropod hosts. Here, we investigate how ecology influenced the fine-scale distribution of these parasites in deer in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. Deer pellet groups (N = 295) were sampled for the presence of P. tenuis larvae and F. magna eggs. We found that deer were significantly more likely to be infected with P. tenuis in habitats with less upland deciduous forest and more upland mixed conifer forest and shrub, a pattern that mirrored microhabitat differences in gastropod abundances. Deer were also more likely to be infected with F. magna in areas with more marshland, specifically rooted-floating aquatic marshes (RFAMs). The environment played a larger role than deer density in determining spatial patterns of infection for both parasites, highlighting the importance of considering ecological factors on all stages of a parasite's life cycle in order to understand its occurrence within the definitive host.

Keywords

disease ecologyhabitatinfection riskparasite transmissionwildlife diseasewetlands
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 142 , Issue 5 , April 2015 , pp. 706 - 718
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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