Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Richness, nestedness, and randomness in parasite infracommunity structure

  • Community Ecology
  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Within a host population, parasite infracommunities vary in both richness and species composition. If interspecific interactions among parasites are important in shaping infracommunities, the structure of these assemblages is expected to differ from the one predicted by null models, i.e. from the one that would result from chance alone. Using data from the literature, I tested for discrepancies between observed and random patterns in the richness and composition of gastrointestinal helminth infracommunities of birds and mammals. Both the Poisson distribution and a more sophisticated null model, derived from prevalence of the different parasite species in the host population, usually provided a good fit to the observed distributions of infracommunity richness among hosts. This suggests that parasite species do not co-occur more or less frequently than expected by chance. In mammals, the co-occurrence of all available parasite species in the same host individual, or maximum potential infracommunity richness, was less likely to be observed when several parasite species were available; this is also a phenomenon expected from the random assembly of parasite species. Finally, there was no evidence for a nested subset pattern among parasite species in a host population: rate species were distributed independently of common ones. The overall picture emerging from these results is one in which parasite assemblages are more likely to be the product of random events than of predictable and repeatable processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andrews SE, Threlfall W (1975) Parasites of the common crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm, 1822) in insular Newfoundland. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 42: 24–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Babero BB (1953) Some helminth parasites of Alaskan beavers. J Parasitol 39: 674–675

    Google Scholar 

  • Babero BB, Lee JW (1961) Studies on the helminths of nutria, Myocastor coypus (Molina), in Louisiana with check-list of other worm parasites from this host. J Parasitol 47: 378–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Bain GA, Threlfall W (1977) Helminth parasites of hooded mergansers, Lophodytes cucullatus (L.), from Ontario. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 44: 219–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck C, Forrester DJ (1988) Helminths of the Florida manatee, Trichechus manatus latirostris, with a discussion and summary of the parasites of sirenians. J Parasitol 74: 628–637

    Google Scholar 

  • Beverley-Burton M (1971) Helminths from the Weddell seal, Leptonychotes weddelli (Lesson, 1826), in the Antarctic. Can J Zool 49: 75–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop CA, Threlfall W (1974) Helminth parasites of the common eider duck, Somateria mollissima (L.), in Newfoundland and Labrador. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 41: 25–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolger DT, Alberts AC, Soulé ME (1991) Occurrence patterns of bird species in habitat fragments: sampling, extinction, and nested species subsets. Am Nat 137: 155–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks DR, Hoberg EP, Houtman A (1993) Some platyhelminths inhabiting white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis (Aves: Emberizidae: Emberizinae), from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada. J Parasitol 79: 610–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Buscher HN, Haley AJ (1971) Intestinal helminths of Rattus rattus from urban and rural areas in the Punjab region of West Pakistan. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 38: 96–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush AO (1990) Helminth communities in avian hosts: determinants of pattern. In: Esch GW, Bush AO, Aho JM (eds) Parasite communities: patterns and processes. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 197–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Bush AO, Holmes JC (1986) Intestinal helminths of lesser scaup ducks: patterns of association. Can J Zool 64: 132–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Calero C, Ortiz P, De Souza L (1950) Helminths in rats from Panama City and suburbs. J Parasitol 36: 426

    Google Scholar 

  • Calero C, Ortiz P, De Souza L (1951) Helminths in cats from Panama City and Balboa, C.Z. J Parasitol 37: 326

    Google Scholar 

  • Choquette LPE, Gibson GG, Pearson AM, (1969) Helminths of the grizzly bear, Ursus arctos L., in northern Canada. Can J Zool 47: 167–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen ZD, Pence DB (1977) Helminths of the plain chachalaca, Ortalis vetula maccalli, from the south Rio Grande Valley. J Parasitol 63: 830

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor EF, Simberloff D (1979) The assembly of species communities: chance or competition? Ecology 60: 1132–1140

    Google Scholar 

  • Conti JA (1984) Helminths of foxes and coyotes in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 51: 365–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Conti JA, Forrester DJ, Brady JR (1983) Helminths of black bears in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 50: 252–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook RR (1995) The relationship between nested subsets, habitat subdivision, and species diversity. Oecologia 101: 204–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornell HV, Lawton JH (1992) Species interactions, local and regional processes, and limits to the richness of ecological communities: a theoretical perspective. J Anim Ecol 61: 1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Crichton VFJ, Welsh HE (1972) Helminths from the digestive tracts of mallards and pintails in the Delta Marsh, Manitoba. Can J Zool 50: 633–637

    Google Scholar 

  • Dancak K, Pence DB, Stormer FA, Beasom SL (1982) Helminths of the scaled quail, Callipepla squamata, from Northwest Texas. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 49: 144–146

    Google Scholar 

  • De Bruin D, Pfaffenberger GS (1984) Helminths of desert cotton-tail rabbits (Sylvilagus auduboni (Baird)) inhabiting prairie dog towns in eastern New Mexico. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 51: 369–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Dobson AP (1990) Models for multi-species parasite-host communities. In: Esch GW, Bush AO, Aho JM (eds) Parasite communities: patterns and processes. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 261–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Esch GW, Bush AO, Aho JM (1990) Parasite communities: patterns and processes. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester DJ, Bush AO, Williams LE Jr, Weiner DJ (1974) Parasites of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) on their wintering grounds in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 41: 55–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester DJ, Bush AO, Williams LE Jr (1975) Parasites of Florida sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis pratensis. J Parasitol 61: 547–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester DJ, Conti JA, Shamis JD, Bigler WJ, Hoff GL (1983) Ecology of helminth parasitism of mourning doves in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 50: 143–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrester DJ, Conti JA, Bush AO, Campbell LD, Frohlich RK (1984) Ecology of helminth parasitism in bobwhites in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 51: 255–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Guégan JF, Hugueny B (1994) A nested parasite species subset pattern in tropical fish: host as major determinant of parasite infracommunity structure. Oecologia 100: 184–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanski I (1982) Dynamics of regional distribution: the core and satellite species hypothesis. Oikos 38: 210–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoberg EP, McGee SG (1982) Helminth parasitism in raccoons, Procyon lotor hirtus Nelson and Goldman, in Saskatchewan. Can J Zool 60: 53–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes JC, Podesta R (1968) The helminths of wolves and coyotes from the forested regions of Alberta. Can J Zool 46: 1193–1204

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes JC, Price PW (1986) Communities of parasites. In: Anderson DJ, Kikkawa J (eds) Community ecology: patterns and processes. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 187–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Huston MA (1994) Biological diversity: the coexistence of species on changing landscapes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • James BL, Llewellyn LC (1967) A quantitative analysis of helminth infestation in some passerine birds found dead on the Island of Skomer. J Helminthol 41: 19–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Janovy J Jr, Ferdig MT, McDowell MA (1990) A model of dynamic behavior of a parasite species assemblage. J Theor Biol 142: 517–529

    Google Scholar 

  • Janovy J Jr, Clopton RE, Clopton DA, Snyder SD, Efting A, Krebs L (1995) Species density distributions as null models for ecologically significant interactions of parasite species in an assemblage. Ecol Model 77: 189–196

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsella JM (1988) Comparison of helminths of rice rats, Oryzomys palustris, from freshwater and saltwater marshes in Florida. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 55: 275–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuris AM, Blaustein AR, Alió JJ (1980) Hosts as islands. Am Nat 116: 570–586

    Google Scholar 

  • Lotz JM, Font WF (1985) Structure of enteric helminth communities in two populations of Eptesicus fuscus (Chiroptera). Can J Zool 63: 2969–2978

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer MC, Chitwood BG (1951) Helminths from fisher (Martes p. pennanti) in Maine. J Parasitol 37: 320–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Naderman J, Pence DB (1980) Helminths of the common crow. Corvus brachyrhynchos Brehm, from West Texas. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 47: 100–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Nickel PA, Hansen MF (1967) Helminths of bats collected in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Am Midl Nat 78: 481–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmieri JR, Thurman JB, Andersen FL (1978) Helminth parasites of dogs in Utah. J Parasitol 64: 1149–1150

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson BD (1990) On the temporal development of nested subset patterns of species composition. Oikos 59: 330–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson BD, Atmar W (1986) Nested subsets and the structure of insular mammalian faunas and archipelagos. Biol J Linn Soc 28: 65–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, (1990) Helminth community of mammalian hosts: concepts at the infracommunity, component and compound community levels. In: Esch GW, Bush AO, Aho JM (eds) Parasite communities: patterns and processes. Chapman and Hall, London, pp 233–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Dowler RC (1979) Helminth parasitism in the badger, Taxidea taxus (Schreber, 1778), from the Western Great Plains. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 46: 245–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Meinzer WP (1979) Helminth parasitism in the coyote, Canis latrans, from the Rolling Plains of Texas. Int J Parasitol 9: 339–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Willis KD (1978) Helminths of the ringtail, Bassariscus astutus, from West Texas. J Parasitol 64: 568–569

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Windberg LA (1984) Population dynamics across selected habitat variables of the helminth community in coyotes, Canis latrans, from South Texas. J Parasitol 70: 735–746

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Young VE, Guthery FS (1980) Helminths of the ringnecked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus (Gmelin) (Phasianidae), from the Texas Panhandle. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 47: 144–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Pence DB, Murphy JT, Guthery FS, Doerr TB (1983) Indications of seasonal variation in the helminth fauna of the lesser prairie chicken, Tympanuchus pallidicinctus (Ridgway) (Tetraonidae), from Northwestern Texas. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 50: 345–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramalingam S, Samuel WM (1978) Helminths in the great horned owl, Bubo virginianus, and snowy owl, Nyctea scandiaca, of Alberta. Can J Zool 56: 2454–2456

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricklefs RE, Schluter D (1993) Species diversity in ecological communities: historical and geographical perspectives. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuel WM, Ramalingam S Carbyn LN (1978) Helminths in coyotes (Canis latrans Say), wolves (Canis lupus L.), and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.) of southwestern Manitoba. Can J Zool 56: 2614–2617

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott ME (1984) Helminth community in the belted kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon (L.), in southern Quebec. Can J Zool 62: 2679–2681

    Google Scholar 

  • Seidenberg AJ, Kelly PC, Lubin ER, Buffington JD (1974) Helminths of the cotton rat in southern Virginia, with comments on the sex ratios of parasitic nematode populations. Am Midl Nat 92: 320–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Slater RL (1967) Helminths of the robin, Turdus migratorius Ridgway, from northern Colorado. Am Midl Nat 77: 190–199

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa WP (1992) Interspecific interactions among larval trematode parasites of freshwater and marine snails. Am Zool 32: 583–592

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa WP (1994) Patterns and processes in communities of helminth parasites. Trends Ecol Evol 9: 52–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Stock TM, Holmes JC (1987) Host specificity and exchange of intestinal helminths among four species of grebes (Podicipedidae). Can J Zool 65: 669–676

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone JE, Pence DB (1978) Ecology of helminth parasitism in the bobcat from West Texas. J Parasitol 64: 295–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Thoney DA (1993) Community ecology of the parasites of adult spot, Leiostomus xanthurus, and Atlantic croaker, Micropogonias undulatus (Sciaenidae) in the Cape Hatteras region. J Anim Ecol 43: 781–804

    Google Scholar 

  • Thul JE, Forrester DJ, Abercrombie CL (1985) Ecology of parasitic helminths of wood ducks Aix sponsa, in the Atlantic flyway. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 52: 297–310

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiekotter KL (1985) Helminth species diversity and biology in the bobcat, Lynx rufus (Schreber), from Nebraska. J Parasitol 71: 227–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner BC, Threlfall W (1975) The metazoan parasites of greenwinged teal (Anas crecca L.) and blue-winged teal (Anas discors L.) from eastern Canada. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 42: 157–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhazy LS, Holmes JC (1971) Helminths of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Western Canada. Can J Zool 49: 507–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace BM, Pence DB (1986) Population dynamics of the helminth community from migrating blue-winged teal: loss of helminths without replacement on the wintering grounds. Can J Zool 64: 1765–1773

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams IC, Newton I (1969) Intestinal helminths of the bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula (L.), in southern England. Proc Helminthol Soc Wash 36: 76–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright DH, Reeves JH (1992) On the meaning and measurement of nestedness of species assemblages. Oecologia 92: 416–428

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright SJ, Biehl CC (1982) Island biogeographic distributions: testing for random, regular, and aggregated patterns of species occurrence. Am Nat 119: 345–357

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    R. Poulin

Authors
  1. R. Poulin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Poulin, R. Richness, nestedness, and randomness in parasite infracommunity structure. Oecologia 105, 545–551 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330018

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330018

Key words

Search

Navigation