Colonization of Parasites and Vectors

Abstract

Colonization comprises the physical arrival of a species in a new area, but also its successful establishment within the local community. Oceanic islands, like the Hawaiian and the Galapagos archipelagos, represent excellent systems to study the mechanisms of colonization because of their historical isolation. In this chapter, we first review some of the major mechanisms by which parasites and vectors could arrive to an oceanic island, both naturally or due to human activities, and the factors that may influence their successful establishment in the insular host community. We then explore examples of natural and anthropogenic colonization of the Galapagos Islands by parasites and vectors, focusing on one or more case studies that best represent the diversity of colonization mechanisms that has shaped parasite distribution in the archipelago. Finally, we discuss future directions for research on parasite and vector colonization in Galapagos Islands.

Where are we in the host-parasite relationships of native land vertebrates in Macaronesia?

“…Es bien conocido el daño directo que provocan a las especies nativas con las que compiten por los recursos y el espacio, y/o depredan (Nogales et al 2006). Sin embargo, otra vertiente menos conocida de este problema es la introducción de nuevas especies o nuevos linajes de parásitos, que llegarían junto a los hospedadores (invertebrados o vertebrados) introducidos (Rózsa et al 2015;Bataille et al 2018). La llegada de las especies alóctonas podría tener consecuencias nefastas en la fauna vertebrada nativa, y también en los parásitos endémicos macaronésicos ya que podrían establecerse procesos competitivos entre los parásitos nativos e introducidos (Graham 2008).…”

Parasite diversity at isolated, disturbed hydrothermal vents

“…Theory suggests island-like habitats may filter certain types of parasites based on their life histories [ 28 ]. For example, parasites with indirect (multiple-host) life cycles (ILCs) may be slower to invade or establish in isolated habitats than parasites with direct (one-host) life cycles (DLCs) because they require multiple, sometimes obligate, host species to first establish and reach threshold densities [ 29 ].…”

Long-distance dispersal of pigeons and doves generated new ecological opportunities for host-switching and adaptive radiation by their parasites

“…Here, we specifically focused on the role host dispersal plays in bringing parasite lineages into contact with novel host species with which they did not previously overlap in geographic range. We then evaluated whether this novel range overlap provided new opportunities for host-switching by identifying host dispersal events that preceded parasite speciation through host-switching [17]. If host-switching was facilitated by host sympatry, two possibilities exist: first, resident parasites may have switched to newly arriving hosts; reciprocally, parasites on the newly arriving hosts may have switched to resident hosts [18,19].…”