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The helminth community structure as an indicator of habitat use: the case of the Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) and the White-Rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) on their non-breeding grounds in Patagonia

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Abstract

During migrations, birds are exposed to a wide variety of parasites. It has been suggested that shorebird migration and other movements play a critical role in structuring their parasite communities. The objective of this study was to characterize the helminth communities of two sympatric Nearctic migratory shorebird species in their non-breeding grounds in Argentine Patagonia and to assess what factors influence their structuring. The migration of these two bird species span from pole to pole as they breed in the Canadian Arctic and winter at southernmost South America. In contrast to the Arctic, the helminth communities of these birds have never been studied at their austral non-breeding sites. A total of 44 Calidris bairdii and 50 Calidris fuscicollis collected at various coastal marine and inland sites were analyzed for helminths. Ecological parameters were calculated at component community (host population) and infracommunity (single individual hosts) levels. A total of 26 helminth taxa were found, included in 14 families and 20 genera. Results showed that parasite richness and total prevalence were higher in C. bairdii than in C. fuscicollis. Richness, diversity, dominance and abundance values in the infracommunities were generally low, being lower in C. fuscicollis. The infracommunities were characterized by being heterogeneous, unstructured and unpredictable. Possible causes of this pattern are discussed. It is clear that multiple factors influence parasitic diversity; however, considering our observations, we think that habitat use is possibly the main structuring factor of the helminth communities of these two shorebird species.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mónica Abril, Graciela Escudero, Florencia Cremonte and Marcelo Bertellotti for providing us the hosts and Guillermo Panisse for his contribution in processing the hosts. A special thanks to Marina Arias for the critical reading of the manuscript and to Carl Christian Tofte for the illustrations of the birds in Figure 1. Authors thank Martha Brandão, Pablo Oyarzún-Ruiz as well as the Editor for the helpful comments on the manuscript

Funding

Funding was provided to JID by ANPCyT (PICT 525), CONICET (PIP 698) and UNLP (N859).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores (CEPAVE), FCNyM, UNLP, CONICET, Boulevard 120 s/n e/61 y 62, 1900, La Plata, Argentina

    Sofia Capasso, Graciela Minardi & Julia I. Diaz

  2. Centro Para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos (CESIMAR), CONICET, Brown 2915, 9120, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina

    Verónica L. D’Amico

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  1. Sofia Capasso
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  2. Verónica L. D’Amico
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  3. Graciela Minardi
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  4. Julia I. Diaz
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Contributions

SC and JID conceived and designed research. SC and JID analyzed host samples and determined parasites. SC and GM analyzed data. SC, VLD and JID wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sofia Capasso.

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Capasso, S., D’Amico, V.L., Minardi, G. et al. The helminth community structure as an indicator of habitat use: the case of the Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) and the White-Rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) on their non-breeding grounds in Patagonia. Polar Biol 45, 297–307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02990-6

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