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Sex-biased parasitism is not universal: evidence from rodent–flea associations from three biomes

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Abstract

The distribution of parasites among individual hosts is characterised by high variability that is believed to be a result of variations in host traits. To find general patterns of host traits affecting parasite abundance, we studied flea infestation of nine rodent species from three different biomes (temperate zone of central Europe, desert of Middle East and tropics of East Africa). We tested for independent and interactive effects of host sex and body mass on the number of fleas harboured by an individual host while accounting for spatial clustering of host and parasite sampling and temporal variation. We found no consistent patterns of the effect of host sex and body mass on flea abundance either among species within a biome or among biomes. We found evidence for sex-biased flea infestation in just five host species (Apodemus agrarius, Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis, Gerbillus andersoni, Mastomys natalensis). In six rodent species, we found an effect of body mass on flea abundance (all species mentioned above and Meriones crassus). This effect was positive in five species and negative in one species (Microtus arvalis). In M. glareolus, G. andersoni, M. natalensis, and M. arvalis, the relationship between body mass and flea abundance was mediated by host sex. This was manifested in steeper change in flea abundance with increasing body mass in male than female individuals (M. glareolus, G. andersoni, M. natalensis), whereas the opposite pattern was found in M. arvalis. Our findings suggest that sex and body mass are common determinants of parasite infestation in mammalian hosts, but neither of them follows universal rules. This implies that the effect of host individual characteristics on mechanisms responsible for flea acquisition may be manifested differently in different host species.

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Acknowledgments

Allan Degen read an earlier version of the manuscript and made helpful comments. Two anonymous referees provided excellent comments that considerably improved the manuscript. C.K. received a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Studies in Israel were partly supported by Israel Science Foundation (grant 26/12 to I.S.K. and B.R.K.). Studies in Slovakia were conducted under the licenses of the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic No. 297/108/06-3.1 and No. 6743/2008-2.1. Studies in Tanzania were supported by the Belgian Fund for the Research in Industry and Agro-alimentary, the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders for scientific research, the University of Antwerp, and the Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania). This is publication no. 798 of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Christian Kiffner

  2. Department of Forest Zoology and Forest Conservation, incl. Wildlife Biology and Game Management, Büsgen-Institute, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany

    Christian Kiffner

  3. Institute of Zoology and Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Kosice, Slovakia

    Michal Stanko

  4. Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Serge Morand

  5. Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel

    Irina S. Khokhlova, Georgy I. Shenbrot, Hadas Hawlena & Boris R. Krasnov

  6. Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Anne Laudisoit & Herwig Leirs

  7. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Anne Laudisoit

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  1. Christian Kiffner
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  2. Michal Stanko
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Kiffner, C., Stanko, M., Morand, S. et al. Sex-biased parasitism is not universal: evidence from rodent–flea associations from three biomes. Oecologia 173, 1009–1022 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2664-1

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