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Sano NY, Herrera HM, Porfirio GEDO, de Macedo GC, Santos FM. Exploring interactions between parasites and their hosts in the Pantanal floodplain using an ecological network approach. Parasitol Res 2024; 123:128. [PMID: 38332167 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08140-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
The study of host-parasite interactions is essential to understand the role of each host species in the parasitic transmission cycles in a given community. The use of ecological network highlights the patterns of interactions between hosts and parasites, allowing us to evaluate the underlying structural features and epidemiological roles of different species within this context. Through network analysis, we aimed to understand the epidemiological roles of mammalian hosts species (n = 67) and their parasites (n = 257) in the Pantanal biome. Our analysis revealed a modular pattern within the network, characterized by 14 distinct modules, as well as nestedness patterns within these modules. Some key nodes, such as the multi-host parasites Trypanosoma cruzi and T. evansi, connect different modules and species. These central nodes showed us that various hosts species, including those with high local abundances, contribute to parasite maintenance. Ectoparasites, such as ticks and fleas, exhibit connections that reflect their roles as vectors of certain parasites. Overall, our findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the structure of host-parasite interactions in the Pantanal ecosystem, highlighting the importance of network analysis as a tool to identifying the main transmission routes and maintenance of parasites pathways. Such insights are valuable for parasitic disease control and prevention strategies and shed light on the broader complexities of ecological communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nayara Yoshie Sano
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Ambientais E Sustentabilidade Agropecuária, Interface Between Animal, Environmental, and Human Health Research Group, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil.
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia E Conservação, Universidade Federal Do Mato Grosso Do Sul, INBIO - Cidade Universitária, Av. Costa E Silva - Pioneiros, MS, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79070-900, Brazil.
- LAMP LAB - LAMP Diagnostico LTDA, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil.
| | - Heitor Miraglia Herrera
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Ambientais E Sustentabilidade Agropecuária, Interface Between Animal, Environmental, and Human Health Research Group, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia E Conservação, Universidade Federal Do Mato Grosso Do Sul, INBIO - Cidade Universitária, Av. Costa E Silva - Pioneiros, MS, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79070-900, Brazil
| | | | - Gabriel Carvalho de Macedo
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Ambientais E Sustentabilidade Agropecuária, Interface Between Animal, Environmental, and Human Health Research Group, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil
| | - Filipe Martins Santos
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Ambientais E Sustentabilidade Agropecuária, Interface Between Animal, Environmental, and Human Health Research Group, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil
- LAMP LAB - LAMP Diagnostico LTDA, Av. Tamandaré, 6000, Jardim Seminário, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso Do Sul, 79117-900, Brazil
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Mutualistic interaction network structure between bird and plant species in a semi-arid Neotropical environment. ACTA OECOLOGICA 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.actao.2023.103897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
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Diniz UM, Aguiar LMDS. The interplay between spatiotemporal overlap and morphology as determinants of microstructure suggests no 'perfect fit' in a bat-flower network. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2737. [PMID: 36792891 PMCID: PMC9932087 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29965-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Plant-pollinator interactions in diverse tropical communities are often predicted by a combination of ecological variables, yet the interaction drivers between flower-visiting bats and plants at the community level are poorly understood. We assembled a network between Neotropical bats and flowering plants to describe its macrostructure and to test the role of neutral and niche variables in predicting microstructure. We found a moderately generalized network with internally nested modules comprising functionally similar plant and bat species. Modules grouped bats and plants with matching degrees of specialization but had considerable overlap in species morphologies and several inter-module interactions. The spatiotemporal overlap between species, closely followed by morphology, and not abundance, were the best predictors of microstructure, with functional groups of bats also interacting more frequently with plants in certain vegetation types (e.g., frugivores within forests) and seasons (e.g., long-snouted nectarivores in the dry season). Therefore, flower-visiting bats appear to have species-specific niche spaces delimited not only by their ability to exploit certain flower types but also by preferred foraging habitats and the timing of resource availability. The prominent role of resource dissimilarity across vegetation types and seasons likely reflects the heterogeneity of Neotropical savannas, and further research in biomes beyond the Cerrado is needed to better understand the complexity of this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ugo Mendes Diniz
- Plant-Insect Interactions, School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany. .,Graduate Program in Ecology, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil.
| | - Ludmilla Moura de Souza Aguiar
- grid.7632.00000 0001 2238 5157Graduate Program in Ecology, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil ,grid.7632.00000 0001 2238 5157Zoology Department, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
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Rumeu B, González‐Varo JP, de Castro C, López‐Orta A, Illera JC, Miñarro M, García D. Increasing efficiency and reducing bias in the sampling of seed–dispersal interactions based on mist‐netted birds. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Rumeu
- Depto de Biología – IVAGRO, Univ. de Cádiz Puerto Real Spain
| | | | - Cristina de Castro
- Depto de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas (Univ. de Oviedo) and: Inst. Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (Univ. Oviedo‐CSIC‐Princ. Asturias) Mieres Spain
| | - Antonio López‐Orta
- Inst. Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (Univ. Oviedo‐CSIC‐Princ. Asturias), Univ. de Oviedo Mieres Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Illera
- Inst. Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (Univ. Oviedo‐CSIC‐Princ. Asturias), Univ. de Oviedo Mieres Spain
| | - Marcos Miñarro
- Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA) Villaviciosa Spain
| | - Daniel García
- Depto de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas (Univ. de Oviedo) and: Inst. Mixto de Investigación en Biodiversidad (Univ. Oviedo‐CSIC‐Princ. Asturias) Mieres Spain
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