Ectoparasite burden influences the denning behavior of a small desert carnivore

Kluever, Bryan M.; Iles, David T.; Gese, Eric M.

doi:10.1002/ecs2.2749

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Conservation is urgently needed for some fleas, their hosts, and ecosystems [158][159][160][161][162][163][164][165] since fleas could play important but poorly understood roles in their communities [166][167][168][169][170]. Therefore, flea surveys would be helpful in every biogeographical realm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Bossard,

Lareschi,

Urdapilleta

et al. 2023

Preprint

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This overview of extant Siphonaptera lists 19 families with major hosts and general distribution, estimated numbers of genera, species, and subspecies, with a brief taxonomic and phylogenetic review. With around 10 new species described annually, global flea fauna has an estimated extant 249 genera, 2215 species, and 714 subspecies, mostly mammal parasites but 5% of species are on birds. Host specificity varies from euryxenous (i.e. infesting two or more host orders)(e.g. cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis) to monoxenous (e.g. rabbit fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi) . The largest family is the paraphyletic Hystrichopsyllidae, making up a third of all flea species. The largest monophyletic family, Ceratophyllidae (rodent and bird fleas), comprise another 20%, and has dispersed to every continent including Antarctica. Fleas descend from scorpionflies (Mecoptera), possibly snow scorpionflies (Boreidae) or Nannochoristidae, and even giant fossils found from the Mesozoic could be Siphonaptera. Flea diversification shows evidence of taxon cycles: "Relict" families such as helmet fleas (Stephanocircidae) have a disjunct distribution reflecting the breakup of Gondwanaland, 70 million years ago. "Niche specialists" include nest fleas (Anomiopsyllus), bat fleas (Ischnopsyllidae), and burrowing fleas, the chigoes (Tungidae). By contrast, Ceratophyllidae fleas could be considered "great speciators". Cat fleas and several other synanthropic flea species are invasive "supertramps". Although those species are intensively studied, many flea species and their hosts require urgent surveys and conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Bossard,

Lareschi,

Urdapilleta

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conservation is needed urgently for some fleas, their hosts, and their ecosystems [48,49,[76][77][78]116,128,159,[161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168], and fleas could play important but poorly understood roles in their communities [169][170][171][172][173]. Therefore, flea surveys would be helpful in every biogeographical realm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Bossard,

Lareschi,

Urdapilleta

et al. 2023

Diversity

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This overview of extant Siphonaptera lists 19 families with major hosts and their general distribution, estimated numbers of genera, species, and subspecies, with a brief taxonomic and phylogenetic review. With around 10 new species described annually, extant flea fauna comprises an estimated 249 genera, 2215 species, and 714 subspecies globally, mostly mammal parasites, but 5% of species are on birds. Host specificity varies from euryxenous (i.e., infesting two or more host orders) (e.g., cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis) to monoxenous (e.g., rabbit fleas, Spilopsyllus cuniculi). The largest family is the paraphyletic Hystrichopsyllidae, making up a third of all flea species. The largest monophyletic family, Ceratophyllidae (rodent and bird fleas), comprises another 20% and has dispersed to every continent, including Antarctica. Fleas descend from scorpionflies (Mecoptera), possibly snow scorpionflies (Boreidae) or Nannochoristidae, and even giant fossils found from the Mesozoic could be Siphonaptera. The diversification of fleas shows evidence of taxon cycles. “Relict” families, such as helmet fleas (Stephanocircidae), have a disjunct distribution reflecting the breakup of Gondwanaland 70 million years ago. “Niche specialists” include nest fleas (Anomiopsyllus), bat fleas (Ischnopsyllidae), and burrowing fleas, such as chigoes (Tungidae). By contrast, Ceratophyllidae fleas could be considered “great speciators”. Cat fleas and several other synanthropic flea species are invasive “supertramps”. Although those species are intensively studied, many flea species and their hosts require urgent surveys and conservation.

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“…Kit foxes use dens year-round to alleviate thermal stress (behavioral thermoregulation), reduce predation risk, and rear young (Golightly and Ohmart 1983;. In addition to a natal den, kit foxes maintain auxiliary dens throughout their home range, providing spatially disseminated refugia from predation and alternative dens to mitigate ectoparasite loads (Egoscue 1962;O'Neal et al 1987;Arjo et al 2003;Kluever et al 2019a). Kit foxes may dig their own dens, exploit burrows of other species (e.g., badgers Taxidea taxus and kangaroo rats Dipodomys spp.…”

Section: Current State Of Knowledge Distribution and Habitat Associationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation of Kit Foxes in the Great Basin Desert: Review and Recommendations

Lonsinger

Kluever

Hall

et al. 2020

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management

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The kit fox Vulpes macrotis is a species of concern to land managers in the Great Basin Desert of North America. Once common, kit foxes have declined from historical levels. Research on kit foxes in western Utah has spanned nearly 70 y and has potential to inform management and conservation within the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion of the Great Basin Desert. We conducted a systematic literature review on the northern kit fox subspecies V. m. nevadensis. We focused on studies conducted in the Central Basin and Range Ecoregion, which represents the majority of the Great Basin Desert, and provided a comprehensive summary of their ecology and demographics for resource managers. To guide future monitoring, we also reviewed techniques used for kit fox monitoring and research, and evaluated the strengths, limitations, and advances of these techniques. We identified four key factors that deserve consideration when selecting monitoring techniques for kit foxes: estimable parameters, reliability, cost, and rate of data return. Finally, we identify four primary management recommendations. We recommend that managers (1) expand kit fox monitoring and population assessments more broadly across the Great Basin Desert. To ensure future monitoring meets the needs of resource managers, we recommend (2) the application of a structured decision-making process to identify key parameters and approaches. To better understand the factors limiting kit fox populations we recommend (3) population viability and parameter sensitivity analyses to identify drivers of population change. Finally, based on evidence that genetic diversity of kit fox populations has been maintained by undescribed patterns of gene flow, we recommend (4) a broad-scale assessment of population connectivity to identify corridors supporting metapopulation dynamics. These recommendations will facilitate proactive conservation of kit foxes and management practices to reduce future population declines.

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Ectoparasite burden influences the denning behavior of a small desert carnivore

Cited by 5 publications

References 68 publications

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Flea (Insecta: Siphonaptera) Family Diversity

Conservation of Kit Foxes in the Great Basin Desert: Review and Recommendations

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