Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Environmental, geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species

Ferraguti, Martina LU ; Magallanes, Sergio ; Jiménez-Peñuela, Jéssica LU ; Martínez-de la Puente, Josué LU ; Garcia-Longoria, Luz LU ; Figuerola, Jordi ; Muriel, Jaime ; Albayrak, Tamer ; Bensch, Staffan LU orcid and Bonneaud, Camille , et al. (2023) In Global Ecology and Biogeography 32(5). p.809-823
Abstract

Aim: The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location: Global. Time period: 2002–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods: We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density),... (More)

Aim: The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location: Global. Time period: 2002–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods: We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results: Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions: Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
haemosporidian parasites, mosquito-borne pathogens, Plasmodium, urbanization index, vector-borne diseases
in
Global Ecology and Biogeography
volume
32
issue
5
pages
15 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85150612224
ISSN
1466-822X
DOI
10.1111/geb.13651
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5159d396-c3bf-4e71-a9e3-d06d4209c749
date added to LUP
2023-05-29 14:28:40
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:06:12
@article{5159d396-c3bf-4e71-a9e3-d06d4209c749,
  abstract     = {{<p>Aim: The increasing spread of vector-borne diseases has resulted in severe health concerns for humans, domestic animals and wildlife, with changes in land use and the introduction of invasive species being among the main possible causes for this increase. We explored several ecological drivers potentially affecting the local prevalence and richness of avian malaria parasite lineages in native and introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) populations. Location: Global. Time period: 2002–2019. Major taxa studied: Avian Plasmodium parasites in house sparrows. Methods: We analysed data from 2,220 samples from 69 localities across all continents, except Antarctica. The influence of environment (urbanization index and human density), geography (altitude, latitude, hemisphere) and time (bird breeding season and years since introduction) were analysed using generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) and random forests. Results: Overall, 670 sparrows (30.2%) were infected with 22 Plasmodium lineages. In native populations, parasite prevalence was positively related to urbanization index, with the highest prevalence values in areas with intermediate urbanization levels. Likewise, in introduced populations, prevalence was positively associated with urbanization index; however, higher infection occurred in areas with either extreme high or low levels of urbanization. In introduced populations, the number of parasite lineages increased with altitude and with the years elapsed since the establishment of sparrows in a new locality. Here, after a decline in the number of parasite lineages in the first 30 years, an increase from 40 years onwards was detected. Main conclusions: Urbanization was related to parasite prevalence in both native and introduced bird populations. In invaded areas, altitude and time since bird introduction were related to the number of Plasmodium lineages found to be infecting sparrows.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ferraguti, Martina and Magallanes, Sergio and Jiménez-Peñuela, Jéssica and Martínez-de la Puente, Josué and Garcia-Longoria, Luz and Figuerola, Jordi and Muriel, Jaime and Albayrak, Tamer and Bensch, Staffan and Bonneaud, Camille and Clarke, Rohan H. and Czirják, Gábor and Dimitrov, Dimitar and Espinoza, Kathya and Ewen, John G. and Ishtiaq, Farah and Flores-Saavedra, Wendy and Garamszegi, László Zsolt and Hellgren, Olof and Horakova, Dita and Huyvaert, Kathryn P. and Jensen, Henrik and Križanauskienė, Asta and Lima, Marcos R. and Lujan-Vega, Charlene and Magnussen, Eyðfinn and Martin, Lynn B. and Matson, Kevin D. and Møller, Anders Pape and Munclinger, Pavel and Palinauskas, Vaidas and Pap, Péter L. and Pérez-Tris, Javier and Renner, Swen C. and Ricklefs, Robert and Scebba, Sergio and Sehgal, Ravinder N.M. and Soler, Manuel and Szöllősi, Eszter and Valkiūnas, Gediminas and Westerdahl, Helena and Zehtindjiev, Pavel and Marzal, Alfonso}},
  issn         = {{1466-822X}},
  keywords     = {{haemosporidian parasites; mosquito-borne pathogens; Plasmodium; urbanization index; vector-borne diseases}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{809--823}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Global Ecology and Biogeography}},
  title        = {{Environmental, geographical and time-related impacts on avian malaria infections in native and introduced populations of house sparrows (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/geb.13651}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/geb.13651}},
  volume       = {{32}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}