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Habitat fragmentation and haemoparasites in the common fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicensis (Phyllostomidae) in a tropical lowland forest in Panamá

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2009

V. M. COTTONTAIL ,
N. WELLINGHAUSEN  and
E. K. V. KALKO
V. M. COTTONTAIL*
Affiliation:
Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Robert-Koch-Strasse 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany
N. WELLINGHAUSEN
Affiliation:
Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Robert-Koch-Strasse 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany
E. K. V. KALKO
Affiliation:
Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Panamá
*
*Corresponding author: Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany. Tel: 0049 (0) 731 5022660. Fax: 0049 (0) 731 5022683. E-mail: veronika.cottontail@uni-ulm.de.
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Summary

Anthropogenic influence on ecosystems, such as habitat fragmentation, impacts species diversity and interactions. There is growing evidence that degradation of habitats favours disease and hence affects ecosystem health. The prevalence of haemoparasites in the Common Fruit Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis) in a tropical lowland forest in Panamá was studied. We assessed the relation of haemoparasite to the general condition of the animals and tested for possible association of haemoparasite prevalence to habitat fragmentation, with special focus on trypanosomes. Overall, a total of 250 A. jamaicensis sampled from fragmented sites, here man-made, forested islands in Lake Gatùn, and sites in the adjacent, continuous forest in and around the Barro Colorado Nature Monument were examined. Using microscopy and DNA-sequencing 2 dominant types of haemoparasite infections, trypanosomes and Litomosoides (Nematoda) were identified. Trypanosome prevalence was significantly higher in bats from forest fragments, than in bats captured in continuous forest. We attribute this to the loss of species richness in forest fragments and specific characteristics of the fragments favouring trypanosome transmission, in particular changes in vegetation cover. Interestingly, the effect of habitat fragmentation on the prevalence of trypanosomes as multi-host parasites could not be observed in Litomosoides which probably has a higher host specificity and might be affected less by overall diversity loss.

Keywords

Artibeus jamaicensishabitat fragmentationdiversitymulti-host parasitehaemoparasitesTrypanosomaLitomosoides
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 136 , Issue 10 , September 2009 , pp. 1133 - 1145
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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