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Beta-diversity of ectoparasites at two spatial scales: nested hierarchy, geography and habitat type

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Abstract

Beta-diversity of biological communities can be decomposed into (a) dissimilarity of communities among units of finer scale within units of broader scale and (b) dissimilarity of communities among units of broader scale. We investigated compositional, phylogenetic/taxonomic and functional beta-diversity of compound communities of fleas and gamasid mites parasitic on small Palearctic mammals in a nested hierarchy at two spatial scales: (a) continental scale (across the Palearctic) and (b) regional scale (across sites within Slovakia). At each scale, we analyzed beta-diversity among smaller units within larger units and among larger units with partitioning based on either geography or ecology. We asked (a) whether compositional, phylogenetic/taxonomic and functional dissimilarities of flea and mite assemblages are scale dependent; (b) how geographical (partitioning of sites according to geographic position) or ecological (partitioning of sites according to habitat type) characteristics affect phylogenetic/taxonomic and functional components of dissimilarity of ectoparasite assemblages and (c) whether assemblages of fleas and gamasid mites differ in their degree of dissimilarity, all else being equal. We found that compositional, phylogenetic/taxonomic, or functional beta-diversity was greater on a continental rather than a regional scale. Compositional and phylogenetic/taxonomic components of beta-diversity were greater among larger units than among smaller units within larger units, whereas functional beta-diversity did not exhibit any consistent trend regarding site partitioning. Geographic partitioning resulted in higher values of beta-diversity of ectoparasites than ecological partitioning. Compositional and phylogenetic components of beta-diversity were higher in fleas than mites but the opposite was true for functional beta-diversity in some, but not all, traits.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the handling editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Author contribution statement

EMW and BRK conceived of the study. MS, MVV, and NPK collected data. EMW, LVDM, and BRK analyzed data. EMW, LVDM, ISK, and BRK wrote the manuscript. All authors provided editorial advice.

Funding

This study was partly supported by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant Number 26/12 to BRK and ISK), the Scientific Agency of Ministry of Education and Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA Project 2/0059/15 to MS), and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 15-44-04030_sibir_a to MVV). EMW received financial support from the United States-Israel Educational Foundation (USIEF Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellowship) and the Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research. LVDM received financial support from the Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation and the French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands. This is publication number 928 of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute of Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel

    Elizabeth M. Warburton, Luther van der Mescht & Boris R. Krasnov

  2. Institute of Parasitology and Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Lofflerova 10, 04001, Kosice, Slovakia

    Michal Stanko

  3. Omsk State University, 28 Adrianova Str., Omsk, Russian Federation, 644077

    Maxim V. Vinarski

  4. Saint-Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya Emb., Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, 199034

    Maxim V. Vinarski

  5. Laboratory of Arthropod-Borne Viral Infections, Omsk Research Institute of Natural Foci Infections, 7 Mira Str., Omsk, Russian Federation, 644080

    Natalia P. Korallo-Vinarskaya

  6. Omsk State Pedagogical University, 14 Tukhachevskogo Emb., Omsk, Russian Federation, 644099

    Natalia P. Korallo-Vinarskaya

  7. Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus, 84990, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel

    Luther van der Mescht & Irina S. Khokhlova

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  1. Elizabeth M. Warburton
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  2. Luther van der Mescht
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  3. Michal Stanko
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  4. Maxim V. Vinarski
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  6. Irina S. Khokhlova
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  7. Boris R. Krasnov
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Correspondence to Elizabeth M. Warburton.

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This article relies on previously published data and does not contain experiments with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Communicated by George Heimpel.

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Warburton, E.M., van der Mescht, L., Stanko, M. et al. Beta-diversity of ectoparasites at two spatial scales: nested hierarchy, geography and habitat type. Oecologia 184, 507–520 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3876-6

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