Body size and coexistence in gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals: null model analyses at three hierarchical scales

Korallo‐Vinarskaya, Natalia P.; Vinarski, Maxim V.; Khokhlova, Irina S.; Krasnov, Boris R.

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07779.x

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…This is especially true for small and cryptic taxa such as gamasid mites, so that the information on traits that could affect co‐occurrence was, perhaps, simply unavailable. Nevertheless, a tendency to reduced body size overlap was previously found in component and compound communities of mites (Korallo‐Vinarskaya et al ., ). It is thus also possible that the effect of, for example, body size on co‐occurrence is masked by the lack of effects of other multiple traits when all traits were considered together.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…On the contrary, we expected the opposite trend in infracommunities because of the reduced body size overlap of co‐occurring species (Surkova et al ., ). In gamasid mites, the body size distribution of co‐occurring species in infracommunities did not differ from random, whereas in component and compound communities, it indicated body size segregation (Korallo‐Vinarskaya et al ., ). Consequently, we predicted a positive relationship between the strength of species associations and trait dissimilarity in component and compound communities of mites, whereas we did not have any specific expectation regarding infracommunities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Species associations and trait dissimilarity in communities of ectoparasitic arthropods harboured by small mammals at three hierarchical scales

Vinarski

Korallo‐Vinarskaya

Shenbrot

et al. 2019

Ecological Entomology

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1. This study tested the relationships between the probability of pairwise species co‐occurrence and pairwise dissimilarity in their traits in infracommunities (across assemblages harboured by conspecific individual hosts within a locality), component communities (across assemblages harboured by host species within a locality), and compound communities (across assemblages in different localities) of fleas and gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals in Western Siberia. 2. A significant, albeit weak, tendency was found for flea communities harboured by conspecific host individuals, host species, and host communities to be composed of similar species. No relationship between the probability of co‐occurrence and trait dissimilarity was detected for mite communities at any hierarchical scale. 3. For fleas, this study explained the link between positive co‐occurrence and trait dissimilarity by a process resembling environmental filtering realised mainly via host traits for infracommunities and component communities and via off‐host environment for compound communities, thus suggesting that the identical shape of the relationships between co‐occurrence and trait dissimilarity at different scales was driven by different mechanisms. 4. The explanation of the lack of this relationship in mites included: (i) the paucity of the subset of mite traits used in this study and its potential inadequacy for the question at hand; and (ii) possible masking of the effect induced by one trait on co‐occurrence owing to the lack of this effect induced by another trait(s). 5. Caution is recommended regarding the compilation of a dataset involving multiple traits, its analysis, and the interpretation of the results.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Species associations and trait dissimilarity in communities of ectoparasitic arthropods harboured by small mammals at three hierarchical scales

Vinarski

Korallo‐Vinarskaya

Shenbrot

et al. 2019

Ecological Entomology

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“…Details of sampling procedures are given elsewhere (Stanko 1994, Stanko et al 2002, Krasnov et al 2006b). In total, our database included data on 24 278 individual hosts belonging to 43 species from which 38 511 individual fleas belonging to 37 species were collected (see Stanko et al 2002, Krasnov et al 2006b, 2011b and Korallo‐Vinarskaya et al 2013 for species lists).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co‐occurrence and phylogenetic distance in communities of mammalian ectoparasites: limiting similarity versus environmental filtering

Krasnov

Pilosof

Stanko

et al. 2013

Oikos

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Similarity between species plays a key role in the processes governing community assembly. The co‐occurrence of highly similar species may be unlikely if their similar needs lead to intense competition (limiting similarity). On the other hand, persistence in a particular habitat may require certain traits, such that communities end up consisting of species sharing the same traits (environmental filtering). Relatively little information exists on the relative importance of these processes in structuring parasite communities. Assuming that phylogenetic relatedness reflects ecological similarity, we tested whether the co‐occurrence of pairs of flea species (Siphonaptera) on the same host individuals was explained by the phylogenetic distance between them, among 40 different samples of mammalian hosts (rodents and shrews) from different species, areas or seasons. Our results indicate that frequency of co‐occurrence between flea species increased with decreasing phylogenetic distance between them in 37 out of 40 community samples, with 14 of these correlations being statistically significant. A meta‐analysis across all samples confirmed the overall trend for closely related species to co‐occur more frequently on the same individual hosts than expected by chance, independently of the identity of the host species or of environmental conditions. These findings suggest that competition between closely related, and therefore presumably ecologically similar, species is not important in shaping flea communities. Instead, if only fleas with certain behavioural, ecological and physiological properties can encounter and exploit a given host, and if phylogenetic relationships determine trait similarity among flea species, then a process akin to environmental filtering, or host filtering, could favour the co‐occurrence of related species on the same host.

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“…Single findings of a mite species on a host species or in a region were considered accidental and were not included in the analyses. This selection resulted in data on 58 mite species used in subsequent analyses, including 21 obligate exclusive haematophagous, 27 obligate non‐ exclusive haematophages, and 10 facultative haematophages (see species list in Korallo‐Vinarskaya et al 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological correlates of body size in gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals: abundance and niche breadth

Krasnov¹,

Vinarski²,

Korallo‐Vinarskaya³

et al. 2013

Ecography

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We studied ecological correlates of body size (abundance and niche breadth) in gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals in 28 regions of the Palearctic. We predicted that smaller species would be characterized by higher abundance than larger species, all else (e.g. host species) being equal. We also predicted that host specificity of mites would decrease (that is, number of host species they use would increase) with an increase in their body size. We focused on mites collected from host bodies that include a) species that feed solely on host’s blood (obligate exclusive haematophages), b) species that feed on both host’s blood and small arthropods (obligate non‐exclusive haematophages), and c) facultative haematophages. We expected that the relationship between body size and abundance and/or host specificity would be more pronounced in obligate exclusively haematophagous mites than for obligate non‐exclusively and facultative haematophagous mites. Across all mite species across regions, mean abundance correlated negatively with body size. The same was true for obligate haematophagous species, but not for facultative haematophages. When mite communities on the same host in a location were considered, the negative body mass–abundance relationship was found in only 3 of 44 communities. Nevertheless, a meta‐analytic (across host species) estimate of the slope of this relationship appeared to be significantly negative. No significant relationship between mite body size and host specificity was found in the analyses across all mite species as well as in obligate exclusive or obligate non‐exclusive haematophages. However, the number of hosts used by facultative haematophagous mites decreased significantly with an increase in their body size. We explain the relationships between morphological (body size) and ecological (abundance and niche breadth) properties of ectoparasites by their interactions with hosts or physical environment.

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Body size and coexistence in gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals: null model analyses at three hierarchical scales

Cited by 10 publications

References 75 publications

Species associations and trait dissimilarity in communities of ectoparasitic arthropods harboured by small mammals at three hierarchical scales

Species associations and trait dissimilarity in communities of ectoparasitic arthropods harboured by small mammals at three hierarchical scales

Co‐occurrence and phylogenetic distance in communities of mammalian ectoparasites: limiting similarity versus environmental filtering

Ecological correlates of body size in gamasid mites parasitic on small mammals: abundance and niche breadth

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