Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Parasites of the endangered Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus): correlates with host abundance and lek site characteristics

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Parasitology Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In April 2000, we collected and analyzed for parasites 174 feces belonging to 48 different and identified Cantabrian capercaillies (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) from 39 lek sites in the Cantabrian Mountains (North Spain) and determined the factors related with prevalence and abundance of propagule excretion: (1) interrelations with other parasite species, (2) characteristics of the capercaillie population (number of capercaillies in the lek site, number of occupied lek sites in a 2-km area, and abundance trend), and (3) characteristics of the lek site (orientation and altitude). The higher prevalence was observed for Eimeria sp. oocysts (29% of feces). Capillaria-like eggs were the most frequently detected among nematodes (9%). Excretion of Heterakis sp., Ascaridia sp., and Trichostrongylus sp. eggs was low. The presence of Capillaria propagules in feces was negatively related with those of Eimeria and Heterakis. This could be explained by differences in parasite transmission and capercaillie exposure because Eimeria and Heterakis have direct life cycle, whereas subfamily Capillariinae includes many heteroxenous species. Capillaria eggs were more prevalent in lek sites at lower altitude, which could be explained by altitude-related factors such as humidity, temperature, or soil characteristics that may affect intermediate host abundance. Although no relation was found with host abundance, the low parasite species diversity, prevalence, and abundance may indirectly reflect the decline of the Cantabrian capercaillie populations.

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

References

  • Anderson RC (2000) Nematode parasites of vertebrates: their development and transmission. CAB International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

  • Barus V, Sonin MD, Tenora F, Wiger R (1984) Survey of nematodes parasitizing the genus Tetrao (Galliformes) in the Paleartic region. Helminthologia 21:3–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Beer J (1944) Parasites of the blue grouse. J Wildlife Dis 8:91–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell G, Burt A (1991) The comparative biology of parasite species diversity: intestinal helminths of freshwater fishes. J Anim Ecol 60:1046–1063

    Google Scholar 

  • Belleau E, Leonard P (1991) Le parasitisme digestif chez la perdrix bartavelle (Alectoris graeca saxatilis), le lagopede alpin (Lagopus mutus), le tetras-lyre (Tetrao tetrix), dans le departement des hautes-alpes. Gibier Faune Sauvage 8:161–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Brawner WR, Hill GE (1999) Temporal variation in shedding of coccidian oocysts: implications for sexual-selection studies. Can J Zool 77:347–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush AO, Lafferty KD, Lotz JM, Shostak AW (1997) Parasitology meets ecology on its own terms: Margolis et al. revisited. J Parsitol 83:575–583

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson AP, May RM (1986) Disease and conservation. In: Soule ME (ed) Conservation biology: The science of scarity and diversity. M.A. Sinauer Associates, Sinderland, pp 345–365

    Google Scholar 

  • Forbes M, Watherhead PJ, Bennett GF (1994) Blood parasites of blue grouse: variation in prevalence and patterns of interspecific association. Oecologia 97:520–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forrester JE, Scott ME (1990) Measurement of Ascaris lumbricoides infection intensity and the dynamics of expulsion following treatment with mebendazole. Parasitol 100:303–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeland WJ (1979) Primate social-groups as biological islands. Ecology 60:719–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Quirós P, Solano S, Silva P, Benito JL, Ballesteros F, Argüelles J (2000) Estimación de la población de urogallo en los sectores central y oriental de Asturias. Unpublished report to the Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Principado de Asturias

  • Holmes JC (1996) Parasites as threats to biodiversity in shrinking ecosystems. Biodiv Conserv 5:975–983

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Homstald R, Skorping A (1998) Covariation of parasite intensity in willow ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus L. Can J Zool 76:1581–1588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little RC, Milliken GA, Stroup WW, Wolfinger RD (1996) SAS system for mixed models. SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • MacCullagh P, Nelder JA (1989) Generalised linear modeling. Chapman and Hall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Melhorn H, Düwell D, Raether W (1992) Atlas de Parasitología Veterinaria. GRASS ediciones, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Millán J, Gortazar C, Villafuerte R (2001) Cuantitative coprology and parasite burden: preliminary results on Capillaria caudinflata (Molin, 1858) in Alectoris rufa (L.). Bulletin d’Information sur la Patologie des Animaux Sauvages 24:149–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Morand S, Cribb TH, Kulbicki M, Rigby MC, Chauvet C, Dufour V, Faliex E, Galzin R, Lo CM, Lo-Yat A, Pichelin S, Sasal P (2000) Endoparasite species richness of new caledonian butterfly fishes: host density and diet matter. Parasitol 121:65–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss R, Trenhlom IB, Watson A, Parr R (1990) Parasitism, predation and survival of hen ren grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus in spring. J Anim Ecol 59:631–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obeso JR, Rodríguez LD, Álvarez I, Eloy N, del Campo JC (2000) Intestinal parasites in the Cantabrian capercaillie Tetrao urogallus cantabricus: a coprological study. Ardeola 47:191–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson MJ (1996) The endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken and an analysis of prairie grouse helminthic endoparasitism. Ecography 19:424–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solano S, Silva P, Ballesteros F, González-Quirós P, Benito JL (1998) Estimación de la población de urogallo en el suroccidente asturiano. Unpublished report to the Consejería de Agricultura, Principado de Asturias. Informe inédito

  • Storch I (1995) Habitat requirements of capercaillie. Proc Int Symp Grouse 6:151–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Storch I (2000) Grouse status survey and conservation action plan 2000–2004. WPA/Birdlife/SSC grouse specialist group. IUCN. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K. World Pheasant Association, Reading

  • Villanúa D, Pérez-Rodríguez L, Gortázar C, Höfle U, Viñuela J (2006) Avoiding bias in parasite excretion estimates: the effect of sampling time and type of faeces. Parasitol 133:251–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watve MG, Sukumar R (1995) Parasite abundance and diversity in mammals: correlates with host ecology. Proc Nat Acad Sci 92:8945–8949

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson K, Grenfell BT (1997) Generalized linear modelling for parasitologists. Parasitol Today 13:33–38

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This was a contribution to the joint project CSIC/Principado de Asturias. We wish to thank Ángel de Miguel and Jaime Marcos (Asturias Government) and the Asturias Natural Environment keepers. G. Blanco kindly helped us with the statistical analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundació Natura Parc, 07142, Santa Eugènia (Balearic Islands), Spain

    Javier Millán

  2. Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Christian Gortazar

  3. Sistemas Naturales S.A., c/ Sta. Susana 15, 3°C, 33007, Oviedo, Spain

    Fernando Ballesteros

Authors
  1. Javier Millán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian Gortazar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fernando Ballesteros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Javier Millán.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Millán, J., Gortazar, C. & Ballesteros, F. Parasites of the endangered Cantabrian capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus): correlates with host abundance and lek site characteristics. Parasitol Res 103, 709–712 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1015-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1015-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation