Biology ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-10-2020
Abstract
Avian haemosporidians are protist parasites that are distributed worldwide. We investigated these parasites in a tropical South Pacific archipelago to answer two questions: 1) Which community characteristics influence haemosporidian diversity; 2) Does host specificity vary across islands? To answer these questions we sequenced a mitochondrial gene and created linear models to establish relationships between select variables and diversity. In addition, we calculated host breadth of each lineage and constructed models to infer predictors of diversity. The percent of infected individuals on each island was correlated with island area. Haemosporidian phylogenetic diversity on a given island was associated with the proportion of community infected, maximum elevation, and area; parasite richness was related to richness of the sampled bird community. Host-specificity of Parahaemoproteus was different across islands, which was best predicted by elevation. Studying diversity and host specificity across isolated, insular systems will continue to inform our theories on parasite-host interactions.
Language
English
Keywords
avian malaria, New Georgia Group, phylogenetic diversity, host breadth, coevolution
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Biology
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
UNM Biology Department
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Michael Andersen
Second Committee Member
Dr. Christopher Witt
Third Committee Member
Dr. Bruce Hofkin
Recommended Citation
Mapel, Xena Marie. "Driver of avian haemosporidian diversity and host specificity in the Solomon Islands." (2020). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/biol_etds/348