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Factors associated with the geographic distribution of leucocytozoa parasitizing nestling eagle owls (Bubo bubo): a local spatial-scale analysis

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Abstract

Knowledge of the factors influencing the patterns and distribution of parasite infections and disease outbreaks is a major question in disease ecology and conservation research. In this study, we use a highly efficient PCR approach to detect blood parasites and investigate the factors influencing geographical variation in the distribution of leucocytozoids parasitizing nestling eagle owls (Bubo bubo) over a 3-year study period. We found that both prevalence and intensity of infections by the single lineage of Leucocytozoon ziemanni infecting nestling eagle owls in the study area increased with local owl population density and decreased with nest height above sea level. Overall, these results suggest that higher horizontal transmission rates under higher host density conditions together with the presence of adequate habitats for larval development of vectors are relevant factors influencing blood parasite distribution in the study system.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank F. Espada for determining blood parasite prevalence and intensities of infections in the blood smears. Four anonymous referees and the associate editor of Conservation Genetics provided valuable comments that improved the manuscript. This work received financial support from the projects: CGL2005-05611-C02-02/BOS (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia), PAI05-053 (Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha), and PCI08-0130-3954 (Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha). We manipulated, bled, and banded nestling eagle owls under license from the Spanish institutional authorities (Environmental Agency of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and the Ringing Office of the Ministry of Environment) and we followed general ethical guidelines for animal welfare and nature conservation. During this work J.O. was supported by a post-doctoral JAE-Doc (CSIC) contract. We performed all the laboratory work at the Laboratory of Genetics of the IREC and fragment genotyping was performed by the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC) of Madrid.

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  1. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Joaquín Ortego

  2. Grupo de Investigación de la Biodiversidad Genética y Cultural, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC, UCLM, JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13005, Ciudad Real, Spain

    Pedro J. Cordero

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Correspondence to Joaquín Ortego.

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Ortego, J., Cordero, P.J. Factors associated with the geographic distribution of leucocytozoa parasitizing nestling eagle owls (Bubo bubo): a local spatial-scale analysis. Conserv Genet 11, 1479–1487 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-9978-x

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